dahlia in bloom

By Hisaya Amagishi and Hachi Komada. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by A.M. Cola.

Entirely unintentionally, I suspect, this volume of Dahlia came out so that I read it on New Year’s Day, and its own plotline is about celebrating the New Year. That made me smile. It’s a more leisurely book in general, with few ominous hints for the future beyond people with tremendous amounts of power and influence reminding everyone that Dahlia is not to be messed with. If we can’t get Dahlia to acknowledge her own worth, well, at least she has everyone else in multiple countries in her corner. I also owe Dahlia an apology. I’ve put the bulk of the blame for her utter lack of romantic progress on her complete lack of self-esteem, and while that’s true, there are two people in this relationship. And somewhere between Volf running around the training grounds in a giant wolf onesie and starting snowball battles with local children, I realized that Dahlia may need to wait a bit for her handsome young best friend to have the childhood he never got as a child but is having now.

It’s the New Year, and Dahlia and Volf plan to go around the festival together eating all the food. They’re convinced to go as a couple and wear the special masks made for couples to avoid unwanted attention. really. I’m sure that’s the only reason. Meanwhile, Dahlia and Lucia come up with some silly-looking but comfy nightwear for her, and Volf accidentally sees it one day. And then suddenly it’s become a huge invention, and they’re introducing various kinds to the Beast Hunters which they’re not only using to sleep better at night, but as camouflage when they fight monsters. Jonas’ father comes for a visit, and while Jonas wants to avoid him, Dahlia ends up meeting him and being thanked for being Jonas’ friend. And possibly more than friends? Finally, Irma gives birth safely and the twins are fine, much to everyone’s relief, especially Bernigi, who, with the help of Jonas, arranges a serious injury that requires that he and his wife go to the temple to get healed, where by pure coincidence Marcella and Irma are located.

Dahlia in Bloom’s sense of humor is usually more “put a smile on your face” than making you laugh till you’re sick, but the scene with the Beast Hunters all trying on their animal onesies and going outside to test and see if the flying squirrel one can make them fly… that was pure comedy gold. There’s also plenty of heartwarming here as well – Dahlia makes Volf a new magic sword, which as it turns out resembles his late mother’s a great deal, filling him with glee. (Though, as Jonas darkly notes, when used by someone with evil intentions it would be a fantastic assassination weapon.) And there’s dark tragedy here as well – each volume to date has ended with a flashback to Dahlia working with her father on something or another, but they’ve gotten closer and closer to the present each time, and with this volume, we finally see Carlo’s death. It’s well written and will make you choke up.

All this plus zero romantic progress! But that’s why we read Dahlia, of course. (Oh, and her big New Year’s gift is essentially a wine-of-the-month club, in case you worried she and Volf weren’t still drinking like fish.)

By Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by A.M. Cola.

After a volume of side stories that focused on other characters, we’re back to Dahlia and Volf. Who, you can be assured, are exactly the same. For better and for worse. Volf, at least, seems to be trying a bit harder to realize what his feelings for Dahlia are. Dahlia KNOWS what her feelings for Volf are, but he can’t possibly love her back, because there’s no way he can possibly get over the massive wall that is her low self-esteem. Fans of seeing Dahlia try to avoid getting credit for anything or paid for anything will be pleased to see that folks are kicking back against that on a regular basis now. Oh well, at least she managed to do well in her debut ball. Indeed, that’s the basic core of Dahlia. She’s beautiful, brilliant, and savvy, but refuses to see herself as anything but plain, basic, and doing the same things anyone could do. I hope a barony will help a bit, but I suspect she may need stronger methods.

It’s time for Dahlia’s debut, and that means learning how to dance. Fortunately, as with everything else she does, she picks up on it really fast – though she’s her own worst critic, as always. Unfortunately, Volf is called away to subdue a wyvern, and then take on giant bears, so may not be able to get there in time to dance with her. Fortunately, Gildo, his wife, and their staff are here to help, and it turns out Dahlia is a natural at making friends with noble wives almost without thinking about it. Later on she helps to invent a new kind of magical weapon just by thinking of the idea of insribing spell circles on both the inside and outside of the wand, and she and Volf go out for dinner at a high-class restaurant that specializes in monster recipes. But it’s not a date. Honest.

I do appreciate that it’s made clear every book that it’s not the readers. Half the cast assume they’re already dating, and the other half desperately want to do everything to make them date. And yes, this includes breaking the noble rules that say it’s too big a jump. Also, for all that Dahlia still occasionally reminds you this is technically an isekai by thinking about Japan, it’s made clear from the way others react that even without her memories from there, she is her father’s daughter, and would have been brilliant regardless. We haven’t seen Tobias for some time now, but it’s clear that his dumping her, along with her father’s death, really is responsible for EVERYTHING in this series, because Dahlia’s lack of desire for anything good to happen to her is painful. Fortunately, sometimes good things happen anyway. The ball is terrific.

Next time we might get a festival, which traditionally you invite a girlfriend or lover to. Volf has invited Dahlia. She’s already rationalized it. So has he, I think. For romantic masochists.

By Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by A.M. Cola.

I like to think that Dahlia in Bloom is a reasonably popular series. It’s gotten a manga and an anime (let’s not talk about the anime). That said, it’s not ludicrously popular with trivia-loving nerds. This is no Re: Zero or A Certain Magical Index. As such, when it comes to wiki power, Dahlia is lacking. Which makes it unfortunate when you’re reading a volume filled with side stories, only a few of which focus on Dahlia and Volf, and I kept thinking to myself “have I seen this character before? Have they been a minor character in the series I’d simply forgotten as they aren’t plot-relevant, or have they been especially written for this volume?”. This is especially true with all the wives we meet in this volume. The main series, and its spinoff, both run on, primarily, an utter lack of romantic progress. Dahlia is oblivious, Lucia is too job-focused. As such, a lot of this book seems devoted to giv9ing us actual happy romantic ends.

This is a short story volume, so there’s no real plot to speak of. The only stories that connect to each other are one or two “we get this from one perspective, then the other side” twofers, and one story where Volf is convinced to buy fancy, scented stationary to send letters to Dahlia, who keeps every single one in her room. You know, like besties do. Other than that, we see how Grato met his wife (she’s been waiting for him to get a clue), how Gildo met his wife (he fell for her, unthinkingly, when she was six years old… no, not like that), Ivano trying to run away from his future wife (he fails), how craftsman Fermo met his wife (she’s the granddaughter of his master, but they’d never seen each other before), how Irma got her husband (the family had to approve), and how Oswald got to be the silver fox (being bullied is different when you’re in a noble society).

That last one is the longest story in the book, and it reminds you that while a whole hell of a lot of light novels deal with nobles and the different tiers between them, none of them quite drench themselves in the culture quite like Dahlia in Bloom. Dahlia herself is finally getting her barony, so might be able to marry Volf… except his family is also getting elevated. Back to square one. Oswald having a girl date him on a bet ends up with the girl AND the two nobles who forced her to do it all getting punished, while the humiliation forces Oswald to throw off his family’s kid gloves and give himself a makeover. Volf is forced to learn about noble etiquette, and he’s absolutely terrible at it. Yes, the main reason this is the slowest of slow burns is because Dahlia’s lack of self-esteem causes her to throw Volf into the friend zone, but there are also real reasons why nothing has happened just yet.

We’re back to the main series next time, as Dahlia finally meets barony. Will this mean anything new? Probably not. Will she get to dance with Volf, and maybe have some really good alcohol? Most definitely.

By Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by A.M. Cola.

It’s been a while since we saw the last volume of Dahlia, long enough for me to think that Lucia was the real protagonist and Dahlia was a mysterious side character. But there’s a big difference between Lucia and Dahlia. Lucia may be self-effacing, but she recognizes her own talent and can take an actual compliment. Whereas to Dahlia, taking credit for anything is like being asked to walk over hot coals. We’ve joked about the slow burn between Dahlia and Volf, which at this point may be less slow burn and more a fire that has had water poured over it, but frankly, there’s no way it can go anywhere right now. Not because Dahlia is a commoner – that’s taken care of here – but because Dahlia has no sense of her own worth at all. Which may be partly Tobias’ fault, yes, but could also be due to Carlo, as his desire to protect his daughter seems to have left his daughter thinking she’s TOO ordinary.

As I hinted above, Dahlia’s commoner days will soon be over – she’s getting a barony. As is Jonas, who is equally surprised. This means that she’ll also need to make her noble debut, which will mean… shudder… conversing with others. And dancing. She’d much rather work on magical tools, thanks you, or at least spend her evenings eating delicious food and getting drunk with her bestie Volf, who is so gorgeous but doesn’t see her in a romantic light at all. Right. Dahlia’s lack of perception has never been more annoying. She also gets a tour of the magical tool facility, where she would likely be working if she had enough magic… and the residents of said facility quickly realize that ‘a lot of magic’ is not the be-all and end-all of being brilliant. She’s also helping to bring together different guilds to make better products… really, is there anything Dahlia can’t do? Other than understand her own heart?

There is a genre of Japanese novels where an overworked office worker in a horrible environment dies and ends up in a fantasy world, usually while bemoaning the horrible work standards they have to deal with in modern-day Japan. It’s a typical type of escape. This is its counterpart, where you invent a world where everyone wants to work, work, WORK SO HARD. The heads of the company have to tell their employees to work less. There are literal hypnotic machines designed to force people who have been staying up too much to sleep. What’s more, when you see people that are working incorrectly, or being uncaring or callous, there’s an easy solution. Just add Dahlia, who with a few words and frantic hand waving that it wasn’t anything she did really denials, you can move mountains and get the lions to lie down with the lambs. Or the shoemakers to lie down with the magical tool makers. Honestly, dying and reincarnating as a villainess may be a lot more realistic.

That said, as the “extra” story shows this time around, we may have to do more than just get Dahlia to be noble and somehow hook her up with Volf. She’s special, and it’s only a matter of time before her specialness impacts the plot a lot more than it is now. But till then, please have some nice food, some wonderful alcohol, and for dessert, modesty that is so ridiculous it’s become a literal Tragic Flaw.

By Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Osman Wong.

It’s bad enough when Dahlia deliberately invents something that will revolutionize the world (no, not like that), but it’s even worse when Dahlia does it accidentally. The theme to this book is “Dahlia invents ______ but doesn’t immediately see the commercial application for it”, and while we’ve seen that plot before it’s never been hammered home quite as much as it is here. Dahlia invents memory foam. Dahlia invents beanbag chairs. Dahlia invents better breast pads. Dahlia invents… well, no one is quite sure what it’s good for, but we’ll think of something later. It’s that last one that gets her in trouble, as “what it’s good for” is magical fodder for magical horses, meaning that expeditions need far less room for hay/etc. Dahlia and Volf both think this is really cool. Guido thinks this is really terrifying, as the nation next door who hates them has a LOT of magical horses, and would kill to have this new invention. Or, more accurately, kidnap. Dahlia needs better protection.

I pretty much summed up the bulk of the plot above, though we do get one other major arc. Dahlia goes on an expedition with Volf and company to watch them take down Giant Monster Crabs (they hit its weak point for massive damage, trust me), and while there she meets the old vice-captain of the group, now retired. Bernigi is rather grumpy at first, as he’s unsatisfied with how “soft” the unit is with all Dahlia’s new inventions. As we learn more about him we see that he’s also still grieving for his son, who had the standard “I will get into a fight with my dad and then go fight monsters and get killed and so leave everything unresolved” plot. He also has a wooden prosthesis as he lost a leg in battle, and it’s not a great one. Fortunately, it breaks in front of Dahlia, and she (for once) deliberately invents something fantastic. Oh yes, and it turns out Bernigi’s got a grandson who’s very familiar to the readers.

Fans of the Dahlia/Volf relationship will once again be pleased but also frustrated. Dahlia is told that loved ones frequently embroider designs onto a man’s undershirt to give some blessing and protection. She decides to do this for Volf, and ends up embroidering a design that is a flower (dahlia) and a wolf (Volf) intertwined. It’s so good she ends up using it as the Emblem of her company. But she remains 100% oblivious to the meaning of this, even when told point blank. They’re pals! As for Volf, Guido tells him point blank to marry Dahlia in order to protect her from foreign infiltrators kidnapping her and forcing her to invent, and his first thought is “what else could we do?”. They’re buddies! Volf remains SLIGHTLY ahead of Dahlia in terms of self-awareness, as when Guido suggests adopting Dahlia instead, making her and Volf siblings, he feels vaguely uncomfortable but is not sure why. They’re so cute. I want to strangle them.

The 9th volume just came out in Japan (with a new artist), so we should see that soon. I’m 100% sure it won’t end with Dahlia and Volf hooking up, though,. The slowest of slow burns.

By Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Osman Wong.

One thing I haven’t really talked about with Dahlia in Bloom is a fact that it shares with a lot of more male-oriented isekai/reincarnation titles, which is polygamy. It’s made clear here that a lot of nobles have multiple wives (it does not go the other way round, btw), and that commoners can also do this, but most don’t. And this is important because Dahlia and Volf are still denying that they have anything but friendship between each other, which makes Dahlia very vulnerable, not only to single men, but to married men who see her as a hot commodity and can afford a second wife. The trouble is that Dahlia is a one-man woman, and she wants her partner to be a one-woman man. Plus, y’know, Dahlia’s usual self-deprecation. Things are going to have to come to a head soon, because as this volume shows, Dahlia’s inventions are revolutionizing everything, be it military-grade weaponry or a kotatsu.

There are basically two subplots in this book. The first involves Dahlia and Volf’s quest for the perfect magic sword, which in this case ends up being two swords connected by a wire. When showing them off to his fellow knights, Volf doesn’t want to make Dahlia more popular than she is, so says it came from a weapons company started by his brother. Sadly, the weapon proves SO popular that everyone then goes to his brother to talk about it. The other subplot is Dahlia making a kotatsu, which immediately becomes the biggest thing since sliced bread. Everyone wants one, they’re (relatively) easy to make, and the lead to “degeneracy” as no one wants to come out from under them after they first try it. Even the royal family are buying it. Which, again, reminds you that Dahlia has come up with at least 7-8 history-changing inventions during this series, and is still single. Please be careful, Dahlia.

This volume has a much larger role for Dahlia’s friend Lucia, probably because Lucia’s spinoff series, Lucia and the Loom (also licensed by J-Novel Club recently) debuted between books 6 and 7. Lucia is basically what Dahlia would be if she had confidence, and she’s a lot of fun. She too is single, and she too is vulnerable to getting marriage proposals, this time from Forto, whose wife shows up asking if Lucia will become Forto’s second wife. The first wife is basically pure nobility, which does not help, but also, like Dahlia, Lucia wants to marry for love, to one man, who will also only have one partner. That last one is the definite sticking point in this series, as there’s a lot of guys who are “not exclusive”. Dahlia’s solution is obvious – just hit her and Volf in the head over and over till they get it – but I’m not sure what will be happening with Lucia down the road, especially if her star is hitched to Dahlia’s.

There’s only one more volume to go till we’re caught up with Japan, so folks waiting for the payoff may have to wait even longer. Till then, this is fine.

By Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Osman Wong.

There’s a lot going on in this volume of Dahlia in Bloom, but the most important part involves a conversation that really should have happened ages ago. This series began with Dahlia’s fiance, Tobias, being SUCH trash that he gained an almost memetic reputation as a trash man, and several volumes in we’re still piling on the humiliation for him, his family, and his company. But there’s also a backstory here. One of Tobias and Dahlia growing up together and knowing exactly how the other works. One of their marriage being one of convenience rather than romance, something that even Dahlia’s father is aware of. And it also helps show exactly why Tobias did what he did, and so rapidly: he’s never remotely felt romantic love before, and certainly not with Dahlia. It was a bolt from the blue. As such, when a crisis unfolds that requires Dahlia and Tobias to work together again, they’re finally able to sit down and have a conversation about what happened, and begin to move past it.

The crisis takes up the first half of the book. What was thought to be an illness turns out to be that her friend Irma is pregnant. Unfortunately, this is one of those worlds where magic is biased against the lower classes, and Irma’s husband turns out to be a noble’s illegitimate child, so he has far more magic than she does. As such, the pregnancy might kill her. To solve this, there’s a complex enchantment of a bracelet that needs to be done, and when Oswald and Dahlia find their magic is not compatible enough, they’re forced to turn to Tobias. Who, to be fair, helps immediately, and is quite chastened the entire time. We also see Dahlia’s influence and creativity inspiring others, either to expand on her inventions or expanding into their own companies. And, rest assured, food is eaten and alcohol is consumed.

I will admit, one thing in this book really surprised me, and that was the presence of Emilia in it. Emilia was not really a character so much as a macguffin, there to jump start the plot, and I have to admit that I was expecting, after Tobias was disgraced and everyone in town started to shun him, that she’d have simply vanished. But it actually works better for the book that she and Tobias really ARE in love, and that she’s still with him even after all that’s happened. And even though the two are very bad at talking with each other – she’s mostly convinced herself that if Dahlia tried to win Tobias back from her, it wouldn’t take much. I still don’t like either character, but I respect their poor choices. I also want to note that I hate the “nobles have stronger magic” system. We also see it in Bookworm, and I hate it there too. It’s an excuse to keep the common folk where they are. Dahlia’s inventions help a bit, but she has a ways to go before she’s Princess Anisphia.

Dahlia in Bloom continues to be one of the best J-Novel Heart titles, even if those waiting for the romance to happen must be groaning at another volume where neither party get any closer to admitting their feelings.

By Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Osman Wong.

The fact that I still greatly enjoy this series despite it moving at a pace that would make a snail speed past it is testament to the good writing and strong characterization of the two leads. Last time I said that I didn’t feel Dahlia was quite mature enough to enter into a relationship, and that’s still true, but it has to be said that the exact same thing can be said about Volf. Plus, let’s face it, they’re essentially already married in how they act around each other every day. It just lacks the acknowledgement of attraction and desire. But boy, we’d really like to see that attraction and desire, huh? Volf is one slight step ahead of Dahlia in that he occasionally can admit his feelings (see his reaction when he hears Oswald has recommended Dahlia get a “large black-haired dog” to guard her at night. (Dahlia, of course, does not pick up on this at all, and starts asking about actual dogs.) Slow burn isn’t the word. Slow heating pad.

It’s a new volume, so we must be getting a new person who’s challenging Dahlia to verify that she’s not after Volf’s status or wealth and that she really is who she says she is. This time it’s Volf’s brother Guido, who tries to bribe Dahlia with a pile of cash, which works about as well as you’d expect. After this misunderstanding is cleared up (and Volf, who arrived late, expresses his displeasure at the whole thing), she bonds with Guido pretty quickly, as well as his bodyguard Jonas. She’s also becoming fast friends with her mentor Oswald, who is teaching her the proper, safe way to make tools (as opposed to the various not safe things she’s been doing to date), and giving her a protection bracelet made from precious materials. This triggers Volf’s jealousy… not that he’ll admit it. And she doesn’t notice it anyway.

Probably the most interesting part of the book is when Dahlia is convinced to actually outsource things so that she’ll have time to come up with new ideas. The problem with this is that the best company to outsource to is Orlando & Co., home of her ex. It is rather fitting how the company has fallen on hard times. At times you might think it’s a bit too much, and if you do I urge you to go back and read the first volume and see what Tobias did. Dahlia, of course, goes nowhere near the place, which is just as well, as she might be tempted to be too nice – indeed, she’s being too nice just subcontracting to them at all. Ivano’s scene with Ireneo is dark and chilling, both for his attitude towards the company and also for his ability to see that Tobias’ mother (who blames herself for everything that happens) is suicidal, and pauses things to make Ireneo stop her. This is a long way from “Dahlia and Volf drink and drink and drink some more”.

That said, rest assured we have that as well. (Also, have we even seen Tobias’ wife since she arrived to be the other woman? I will be 100% unsurprised if she did not bail as soon as the world turned against him.) Dahlia in Bloom remains a top-tier Heart title.

By Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Osman Wong.

If the first few books of this series are about how Dahlia is not ready to enter a new relationship so soon after the wounds of her old one, this new volume is about how she soon may not have much choice. Dahlia has rocketed to stardom almost overnight, and it’s not really a surprise that people are assuming that either a) she’s not a magical toolmaker at all but just a pretty face fronting for someone else, or b) her backers are financing her because they want access to her body. Neither one is true, of course, but you can see why someone who knows nothing about Dahlia might think that. Unfortunately, Dahlia is the sort to internalize any worries is stress that she has, so it’s very difficult to get her to kick back against this and take charge. Fortunately, when this does happen, it’s pretty awesome to watch. As for Volf, well, you get the impression that he will realize his feelings before she does, but they’re both still incredibly stubborn.

Since Dahlia is going to be selling stuff to royalty pretty soon, and Volf has frankly been avoiding interacting with them, both need a crash course in manners and etiquette. After this… and several scenes showing them eating and drinking, with a pile of descriptive pages discussing same, she’s ready to sell the new portable camp stove. She’s also figured out a way to make self-cooling fabric, which essentially runs wind through your clothing… a great boon to a town like this one where all the clothes are heavy and stuffy. Things are looking up, and she and Volf both plan to do deeds that might net them a barony. Unfortunately, before she can sell to the Order of Beast Hunters, she needs to get the approval of the treasury, which is casting a disparaging eye upon her.

We’ve seen this before in prior books, but it’s really hammered home here: Dahlia and Volf act like they’ve been married for some time, and when you combine that with their constant refrain of “we’re just good friends”, it sends the mother of all mixed signals. That’s fine for Volf, who mostly has to deal with sudden bouts of jealousy when she’s interacting with other men, but Dahlia can still be painfully naive when it comes to how she has presented herself, and it leads to bad assumptions. Fortunately, once she starts nerding out about magical inventions, no one can really doubt she is the genius she says she is. She’s also getting better at asking for help, and we meet another guild whose leader might become a regular in the future… provided he does not drug Ivano again. Honestly, Dahlia’s barony is likely going to happen sooner rather than later… and I get the feeling it may screw up any relationship between her and Volf rather than help it.

This was a very strong volume in the series, one of the better fantasies for female readers J-Novel Club is putting out. Its magic system is similar to others (slimes, etc.) without feeling like an RPG, and the leads are terrific. More, please.

By Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahliya wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Nikolas Stirling.

I mentioned this in my review of the second volume, but it bears repeating: These two are a wonderful couple who absolutely should not get together at this point. Even the rest of the cast agrees with me. No one dares bring it up with Dahlia, who is still being treated with kid gloves, frankly (then again, it has only been a month since she was dumped by her fiance the day before her wedding), but everyone is planning for her business to be SO successful that she gets made a baroness, which would solve most of the issues with her marrying Volf. Not that she really has clued in to her own feelings yet. Volf has clued in to his own feelings, but his solution to the problem of class differences is terrible, as is fortunately pointed out to him by his older brother. Really, for the moment, they’re best as they are seen here: inventing new things, creating hilariously bad and terrifying magical swords, and eating and drinking a lot. A whole lot.

Much of this volume is spent with Dahlia trying to find a way to make the portable stove even smaller, so that it can be easily carried by knights when they go on their missions. We get into the nitty gritty of materials needed, cost, and how much to change – this book does not skimp on the business insights. That said, Dahlia is still showing off some painful naivete in this book. She’s trying to deal with the gossip about her and Volf, but it’s not something that you can just smile and hope it goes away. More concerning is the fact that she has so little self-worth that she gives away valuable creations at the drop of a hat, not realizing that she needs to convey a better idea of what she is as a proprietor rather than as a friend. As for Volf, well, his biggest concern is a monster that creates an illusion of a loved one – something Volf has never really had to deal with until now.

We already pretty much knew that Dahlia was having trouble dealing with the death of her father, and here we see that she’s also still having trouble dealing with her previous life in Japan, where she had a still living mother when she overworked herself to death. Honestly, she may have a similar fate here unless events conspire to get her and Volf together, as we see her lose track of the entire day working on another invention. She also says she plans to never get married, which is fine right now given that she and Volf are already acting like – and are mistaken for – a married couple. You can absolutely see where the rumors come from. The scene where they buy the matching glasses and amphora in order to have even better alcohol is really great, and shows that when they do manage to get past their own personal demons, they will be an amazing power couple.

But that’s for future Dahlia volumes. For now there is outside barbecue, a strong cider, and Dahlia’s vague feeling that she wants Volf to be by her side forever. Huh. Wonder what that’s about?

By Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahliya wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Nikolas Stirling.

Last time I said readers should not be surprised if this romance series turned into romance in the next book. It turns out that it may take a bit longer than that. Both of our protagonists are suffering from the death of a beloved parent who was their whole world. Moreover, due to different circumstances, both of them are avoiding love at the moment. As a result, while to the eyes of the reader it might look like they’re basically dating at this point, it really is merely a series of dinners, with the occasional experimental magical sword crafting as a side dish. That said, by the end of the book I think Volf is starting to realize how he actually feels about this captivating young woman/drinking partner. As for Dahlia… well, it’s going to be a bit. Heck, we can’t even credit her break up as being responsible for her avoiding love, as it’s made clear in a side story here that Tobias was also not even on her radar. She’s just dense to love. As are they all.

Fortunately for the reader, Tobias and his new bride are entirely absent from this book, which instead focuses on one major flaw that Dahlia has: she does not realize that her new inventions are stunningly revolutionary, rather than just off-the-cuff things that she can casually give out over drinks and dinner. This includes toe socks and insoles, something she suggests when hearing about Volf and his fellow knights having to battle in a swamp and constantly having issues with wet boots. As it turns out, Athlete’s Foot is a huge problem among the men in this world, and Dahlia’s creation – as well as advice she gives them based on experience from her past life – it enough to set up meetings with royalty. And let’s not even get into the magic bracelet she gives Volf that essentially allows him to leap tall buildings in a single bound. She really does not know her own strength as a craftswoman. Fortunately, everyone else does.

I joked on Twitter that the series was called “Dahliacoholic”, and it’s certainly true that pages and pages of this already very long book are devoted to her and Volf sitting around and having dinner and drinks and more drinks. Fortunately, she pretty much only does this around Volf, and he’s as bad as she is but also a gentleman. He also has a woman who he has an agreement with that they pretend to be lovers – for Volf it’s because he wants to avoid the adulation he tends to get walking around town, and for Altea because she appears to have been interested in his mother more than any man in her life. They both make good cover for each other. Which is good, as otherwise rumors about Volf and Dahlia would be rampant. She doesn’t quite have the social standing to be involved with a noble at the moment… but that may change if she keeps inventing at this speed.

I do think these books could stand to be shorter – like their main couple, they enjoy lingering over dinner and drinks and are in no rush to go home. That said, the mood of this book is excellent, and it manages to be a “slow life” that is actually slow, unlike a lot of those sorts of books.

y Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahliya wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Nikolas Stirling.

Just as there are people who can read an isekai and somehow be surprised that our generic-looking male protagonist ends up with overpowered abilities and women falling all over him, there are presumably people who can be surprised that a romance novel has romance in it. To an extent, I get it. This book is supposedly about a woman, jilted by her fiancee on the day before their wedding, starting anew and devoting herself to her job. You can hear readers all over the world saying “Yeah! Kick ass in your profession, Dahlia! You don’t NEED romance!”. They are bound to be a tad annoyed that the majority of the rest of the book involves her meeting and going on not-dates with a knight whose tragic flaw is that he is simply TOO HANDSOME. That said… come on. This is a romance novel. It even has an extended makeover section where we get to see how gorgeous our mousey heroine really is once she gets the right clothes and makeup. If you accept that, it’s great.

Dahlia is, by the way, a reincarnated Japanese woman who died at work from a heart attack, but her former life only really comes up in her job, as she’s more easily able to visualize magical tools due to her experience with hair dryers and Coleman stoves. She grows up in fantasy world with her dad, who also makes magical tools, and is engaged to his apprentice. Things go great (well, aside from her dad’s death) till the day before the marriage, when her fiance says he’s in love with another woman, so can they not get married? Oh, and he wants to keep the house they bought. She’s stunned, but not as devastated as she expected to be, and she gradually realizes she was never in love with him. She decides to throw all her energy into her business, helped along by most of the rest of the town, who are on her side. Then she meets Volf, the aforementioned knight with golden eyes who can’t walk through the town without starting a fight over him, and who can’t keep friends. Fortunately, both he and Dahlia are on the same wavelength, and both decide to forego romance and stay as drinking buddies. And boy, can they drink. But how long will this last?

Dahlia’s ex, Tobias, is almost cartoonishly awful, not actually evil but such a dimbulb who is lost in the thrall of puppy love that he loses any ability to think – as his older brother hammers into him near the end of the book. Your jaw drops at the callous shit he says to Dahlia, who has also been deliberately making herself dowdy so that other men won’t look at her. Needless to say, he barely recognizes the beautiful redhead she becomes. As for Dahlia herself, she’s great, and her work ethic really is a major part of the book, don’t worry. In fact, it might be a little TOO strong – she tells a story about an accident with black slime where she had to go get healed, and Volf realizes in horror she had melted her hands down to the bone without realizing it. I think we know why she may have overworked herself to death in Japan…

So yes, good book, but don’t be surprised when Dahlia and Volf decide they do love each other after all in the next volume or so. It is still genre fiction.