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Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 7

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By Hitoma Iruma and Non. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Molly Lee.

I have spent several volumes of this series fascinated by the thought process of Shimamura, and this is the volume that really drove home that perhaps I should have been paying more attention to Adachi, who is starting to worry me. Overexcitable angsty gay has worked for her so far, and has ranged from amusing (we see that in the first quarter or so of this volume) to seriously concerning (the rest of this volume). Indeed, Shimamura has benefited far more from getting a girlfriend, and makes stabs towards almost being normal in this book, in a detached introspective way. She’s saying and doing the right things. Adachi is not, and her lack of any other social group other than her crush/girlfriend is starting to tell in a bad way. Shimamura is allowed to have friends. It can’t just be the two of them in a bubble of their own. Given that I doubt the author is going to do a breakup arc anytime soon, I can only hope Adachi matures soon, as Christ, she’s annoying right now.

The main plot, such as it is, is the two girls trying to get used to their new relationship upgrade. Shimamura has to be a bit more proactive about everything, going along with making lunches for each other and things like that, while also still groping in her own mind towards how she feels about Adachi. I think she clearly loves her – she talks offhandedly about wanting to spend the rest of her life with Adachi – but it’s not connecting with anything other than her default “well, whatever” emotional setting. And there’s also old childhood friends to deal with… or rather, to avoid. As for Adachi, you’d think she’d be over the moon, and she is, but her anxiety and stress is simply making things worse most of the time. You know things are bad when she’s asking Nagafuji for date advice – if you thought we’d end up with boomerang throwing again, you’re right.

The main plot is bookended by several interludes showing alternate universes where Adachi and Shimamura meet or interact in different way. Sometimes this can be a mistake – the universe where Adachi stayed cool and aloof made me think “Oh my God, I wish we had this one instead” – but for the most part they show us that no matter what, the two girls will always somehow find their way to each other, which is sweet. There’s also the usual brief interaction with Yashiro, and I must admit I respect the author for not simply using her less and less as our heroines figure everything out but insisting she barge into the narrative anyway. She’s still not quite human, but she’s not quite 100% abnormal either. She’s almost a mentor to Shimamura and her sister, and has even taken to showing up in Shimamura’s dreams. It’s… weird, but not bad, sort of like eating a food with an unusual filling you didn’t expect in it.

The next volume promises a school trip, which should be fun. Till then, Adachi needs to chill more, Shimamura needs to chill less, and Nagafuji needs to find a different children’s toy.

My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 10

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By Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka. Released in Japan as “Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei Shite Shimatta…” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Marco Godano.

As this series goes from a quick two-volume story to a double digit franchise, it’s perhaps a very good time to take a look at exactly who Katarina Claes is now. I still tend to call the series Bakarina out of habit, and certainly when it comes to not picking up romantic clues there’s still no one who can touch her, but the earlier books showed off how difficult it was to imagine Katarina as an adult out in the world. That’s not really the case anymore, and it almost sneaks up on you. While she can’t read the room in regards to anyone’s love for her (and her offhand “love, maybe I’ll try that one day” really will delight the ‘Katarina is asexual/aromantic’ faction), her empathy and desire to help others is off the charts, and, when told to start learning black magic, she develops a power that is literally cleansing the evil out. With a magic wand.

Back at the Ministry after the events of the last book, Katarina has discovered that the books that she and Maria are trying to decipher also turn out to be very user-specific – Maria can’t teach anything that she learns from her book, and Katarina would no doubt be the same. But Maria is a light magic expert. So, much as she worries it will lead to her doom, Katarina is told to learn dark magic. Still, she also has time to go with Cyrus and Maria (and everyone else in the cast, because this is a Bakarina novel) to an orphanage, where she learns what she can and can’t do with little kids and tries to help a particularly stubborn orphan. Unfortunately, we also see the return of a villain who hasn’t been seen since Book Four – Sarah is back, and still trying to find troubled folks she can do dark magic experiments on. Can even she be helped by our all-loving heroine?

I’ve talked before about how I think this series is LGBT “by accident” – that is to say it’s because the premise has everyone fall for Katarina, not because of any desire by the author to have the girls end up with other girls. That said, particularly in the case of Maria Campbell, it’s becoming hard to try to drag things back to the normal romance novel mode. Cyrus has amazed us by being one of those rare main characters not in love with Katarina Claes, and she spends much of this book trying to get the awkward lug to get closer to Maria – and failing, because of course Maria is over the moon for Katarina herself. Even the bonding activities that they’re doing with his teaching her martial arts comes down to her desire to protect Katarina rather than needing to be the one who is protected. If Cyrus does end up being a love interest for Maria in future books, we’ve got a LONG way to go. Then again, the same could be said about Katarina and Jeord.

From what I hear, the next volume may do something about that. Till then, enjoy this series and its all-loving heroine, who may be impulsive but is also a very good person. And now she has a magic wand.

Manga the Week of 10/27/21

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SEAN: BOO!

ASH: Aaah!

MICHELLE: Ack!

ANNA: EEK!

MJ: … erk?

SEAN: We start with Yen On, which has The Detective Is Already Dead 2, the 15th KonoSuba, and Solo Leveling 3.

ASH: I really ought to give Solo Leveling a try before I get too far behind.

Two new series from Yen Press. The first is the manga version of I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, whose light novel came out earlier this month.

The other is Never Open It: The Taboo Trilogy, a short story collection by famed creator Ken Niimura.

ASH: I am so excited for this one! I really enjoy Niimura’s work.

ANNA: This looks interesting.

SEAN: Also from Yen: Gabriel Dropout 10, Mint Chocolate 4, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected 16, and Wolf and Parchment 2.

Udon Entertainment has the 8th Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu.

Seven Seas doesn’t have much, but what it has are mostly debuts. Boy Meets Maria is an LGBT title from Printemps Shuppan’s Canna, and I hear it’s quite powerful, but also quite dark. It’s finished in one volume.

ASH: I’ll be giving it a read, for sure.

MICHELLE: Same here.

MJ: Oh, interesting!

SEAN: Necromance is a shonen title from Kodansha’s Magazine Pocket. A hero becomes an undead to save the world… but now he can’t even touch the girl he loves! Can he find a way to return himself to life?

ASH: I don’t know about the manga, but that title is great.

MJ: Agreed.

SEAN: Sarazanmai: The Official Manga Anthology is what it says – a collection by many artists based around the popular series.

ASH: I like seeing these types of anthologies released.

SEAN: The Walking Cat: A Cat’s-Eye View of the Zombie Apocalypse is a Futabasha title from Manga Action. Zombie apocalypse meets cat manga. It’s a 550-page omnibus with all 3 volumes in 1.

ASH: That’s quite the tome! Count me curious.

MICHELLE: Huh.

ANNA: Hmm.

SEAN: One Peace has The Rising of the Shield Hero 21.

Kodansha has a debut in print… well, a spinoff. The Seven Deadly Sins: Original Sins Short Story Collection is what it sounds like. It also includes the original “pilot” for the series.

Also in print: Grand Blue Dreaming 14, To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts 12, Whisper Me a Love Song 4, and With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun 5.

MICHELLE: I really liked the first volume of With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day Is Fun. I should read more of it.

SEAN: Digitally Kodansha debuts Even Given the Worthless “Appraiser” Class, I’m Actually the Strongest (Fuguushoku [Kanteishi] ga Jitsu wa Saikyou Datta – Naraku de Kitaeta Saikyou no [Shingan] de Musou Suru), which runs in Magazine Pocket. It is what it is.

Also out digitally: Back When You Called Us Devils 6, Chihiro-kun Only Has Eyes for Me 3, DAYS 26, Farewell My Dear Cramer 6, The Girl, the Shovel and the Evil Eye 2, Harem Marriage 10, Mr. Bride 3, and Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence 5.

Remember all those print titles from J-Novel Club I talked about last week? They got bumped. Insert them here.

ASH: I’ll be on the lookout.

SEAN: Their digital light novel debut is A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life (Deokure Tamer no Sonohigurashi). A gamer is excited to start a new VRMMORPG… but quickly finds the class he chose is not really suited to being awesome, but to slow life.

Also out digitally next week: Ascendance of a Bookworm 15, Campfire Cooking in Another World 5 (manga version), The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 11, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 14, Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party 7, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me! 4, Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel! 3, and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey 14.

Dark Horse gives us a 7th Mob Psycho 100.

Cross Infinite World has the 3rd volume of Reincarnated as the Last of My Kind.

Lastly, Airship has The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan in print.

And in early digital versions they have Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 2 and The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 4.

What manga are you trapped inside, face pressed against the pages, unable to escape?

An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride, Vol. 12

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

Usually when I’m reading books that I’m going to be reviewing I try to come up with a theme for the review so that it doesn’t end up just being me babbling on for 500 words. (Sometimes I can’t, as longtime readers who have read my babble know.) With this volume of Archdemon’s Dilemma, watching everyone suddenly obsessed with birthdays, it was going to be about how this series tries to balance out the cute romance aspect of it with the much darker plot and backstory part, and how that can be difficult because it’s pretty clear the main audience – or at least me – are far more interested in the former. Seeing magic battles and having traitors get rewarded as they deserve is all very well and good, but where are the blushing idiots? That *was* the plan for the review. Then Richard and Nephteros had to pull a “your shirt” moment, and everything went to hell.

The fun part of the book is the fact that Zagan has the idea of a birthday party for Nephy, and this just spirals on until everyone wants to know everyone’s else’s birthday. This is both hilarious and tragic because half the characters are either orphans, constructs, or hundreds of years old, so have no experience with birthdays or parties. So you get a lot of randomly chosen days, and a lot of worrying about presents. The three “main” couples (Zagan and Nephy, Chastille and Barbatos, and Shax and Kuroka) all get a cute scene or two. As the book goes on, though, the cuteness takes a back seat to the darkness. Nephteros is dying and does NOT want to have the usual fix when a homunculus is dying. Dexia is on the run and desperately trying to resurrect her sister. And we have two bad guys from the past suddenly show up in the present… and they seem to know who Zagan is? Finally, Nephteros too finds out what it’s like to love someone. In the worst way possible.

I think we can all agree that Bifrons is the Big Bad of this series, and he’s at his absolute worst here. You know a villain is bad when they start quoting Izaya Orihara, and that’s what we get here, with Bifrons “I love humanity” amounting to the same thing – he loves seeing them suffer and struggle. The Nephteros and Richard scenes were very good, but I will knock the book off two points for reminding me of that scene with Willow and Tara in Buffy that I pretend never happened. There’s also an attempted rape, which I could also have done without. I did enjoy seeing a new love triangle form, especially when one of the points in it admits that she’s a lesbian, but I’m pretty sure that she’s going to be the one left out of it in the end, so oh well.

As the book went on and got more serious, it was very well written but not really what I read this series for. I suspect the next volume, whenever it comes out, will be rather dark, but I hope it finds the time to remember its core plot: dorks in love.

The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy, Vol. 4

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By Yu Shimizu and Asagi Tosaka. Released in Japan as “Seiken Gakuin no Maken Tsukai” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Roman Lampert.

There’s a lot of things to love about found family situations, but one of my favorites is that everyone seems to know that everyone else has *a* secret, but doesn’t know what it is, and doesn’t really care. That’s shown off to good effect here, as everyone in our main cast seems to be hiding something. Leonis is a Demon Lord, of course, which only Riselia knows, but the others clearly know he’s not just a normal 10-year-old prodigy. Riselia, of course, has to hide that she’s now basically a vampire queen. Regina and Elfine both have their secrets, though in Elfine’s case it’s the fact that her secret is figured out in 2.5 seconds that makes it amusing. And then there’s Sakuya, the “Sakura Orchid” (read: Japan) resident who’s now living here in not-quite Europe. She’s a seemingly stoic swordfighter, and her secret may in fact be the most dangerous one of them all. Fortunately, our heroine who witnesses said secret is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

It’s school festival time at Excalibur Academy, and you know what that means: it’s time for a maid cafe. Unfortunately, the dorm that our heroines and Leonis live in has been getting creepier of late, what with all the ravens wanting to hang around their vampire mistress. There’s only one thing they can do: make it a combination cafe and haunted house! Oh, but one big problem: Leonis is a guy, and thus can’t participate… UNLESS… we dress him in an adorable maid outfit and disguise him! Fortunately, wacky hijinks are not everything that drives this volume. Elfine’s sister has uncovered the frozen body of another demon lord, and brought it back with her. This surely won’t be a terrible decision! Spoiler: it is, and now Excalibur Academy is once again surrounded by void creatures.

There’s fun to be had here provided you don’t think too hard. Everyone gets to do a cool thing or two. The ancient elf from the previous volume shows up again, and has discovered her true calling, with is to stare in amazement at the stupidity of everyone around her. Which is mostly Leonis’ terrorist minions, who prove to be top-tier dumb mooks. There is a cute plot where Shary, Leonis’ obsessive stalker… erm, dark minion, gets a ring from her beloved… which is just a summoning ring that will immediately call to her the strongest monster. He doesn’t get why she’s disappointed, but we do, especially when we see her seething at Riselia the entire volume. Still, in has a sweet ending. And there’s the ongoing worldbuilding, as we have… you’ll never guess this… evil laughing priests who are trying to restart long dead schemes. A lot of this book, which has everyone call out their attack names all the time, reminded me of Slayers, and you should take it about as seriously.

This remains the light novel equivalent of a late night hamburger meal from Wendy’s, but again, there’s nothing wrong with it. If you like cute girls and magic battles, pick it up.

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 4

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By Zappon and Yasumo. Released in Japan as “Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasaretanode, Henkyou de Slow Life Surukoto ni Shimashita” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

The author promises a lot more slow life to come, which is good, because this volume absolutely did not have it. That’s not unexpected, given the end of the previous volume, but yes, this book wraps up almost all the plots that we had flailing around. Indeed, it was supposed to be the final book in the series, but, well, you know how it is. Fortunately the author is also good at writing desperate battles in underground caves, which is what a good 75% of this is. The Hero’s Party is finally reunited, but it doesn’t feel so good, because at least half of them are enemies, be it due to arrogance, religious belief, or what have you. And the pressing question through all of this is a familiar one to many: do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? Or the one? Banished from the Hero’s Party is here to tell you the answer to that.

Covers don’t always spoil, but honestly they give away a lot here. If you’ve been reading the series, you’ll know why this particular cover is very strange. Still, in the end I think it was worth it. The idea of the Hero needing to sacrifice their own happiness just due to being born with a blessing is one that deserves to be pushed back on, and as Red notes, there are so many other people who could unite to take out the forces of evil. Ruti is quite content to move to the same sleepy town as her brother and live with her not-wife and spider-in-law. Red and Rit are both quite happy as well, both having come to terms with their past and accepting that they still occasionally might have to go save the world, provided the world saving is nearby. They also finally consummate their relationship, in a very sweet scene.

That said, there’s one big character that needs to be discussed, and I apologize for giving them short shrift in earlier books. Given the name, you would normally assume that Mister Crawly Wawly is a cute “mascot” sort, there to give Tisse some depth and also occasionally cheer her up. But the book has never really thought that. The author is not seeing Mister Crawly Wawly as a subtle running gag, they are seen as a friend and party member. As such, when all is almost lost in the battle against Ares and Shisandan, and all our heroes get a chance to shine and also a chance to almost die, Mister Crawly Wawly is involved in the entire fight, and indeed all would have been lost if they had not stepped up to lend a web. I’m not even being ironic here, it’s a genuine fist pump moment. There may be another “best spider” in town, folks.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Ares. Bye, Ares. In any case, this was a great final volume, and like a lot of great final volumes that have many volumes coming after it, we’ll see if it can reinvent itself. Till then, please believe in Mister Crawly Wawly (and watch the anime, airing as we speak.)

Holmes of Kyoto, Vol. 6

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By Mai Mochizuki and Shizu Yamauchi. Released in Japan by Futabasha. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Minna Lin.

After five books that are essentially interlocked short story collections, this volume is the first to have one story for the entire book. It has a lot that it’s trying to do at once. Holmes and Aoi are now a couple (her 18th birthday comes at the very end of this book, though these two are not going to be getting more intimate anytime soon), and are negotiating contact and embarrassment. Someone is stealing a bunch of minor pieces of art, the only connection between them seemingly being a link with Buddhism. And Komatsu, the detective we saw in a previous volume, tries to go to Holmes for his detective skill rather than his antiquing skills, as his daughter has gone missing. All of this ends up interconnecting with kids using cannabis and a meditation and study seminar ending up being the gateway to a dangerous cult. And… this is starting to sound a bit ridiculous, isn’t it? And yes, it is. I’d argue this is the first volume in the series that simply didn’t work for me.

The parts of the book that do work are the parts we’ve seen in previous novels. There’s a lot of fun nerditry going on here about both various types of antiques and also Buddhism in general, and Holmes explaining it is a lot of fun. His pedanticism is even weaponized towards the end, as he tries to cause a distraction by rambling on to a guard about his need to whistle loudly before he sleeps being related to a misapprehension as a young boy, and keeps spewing garbage for so long it’s really impressive. I was also amused at everyone seeing Holmes’ attention to detail as being scary and villainous, and Aoi – not denying this, but saying she’s used to it. They have a fun relationship, and I am pleased that it’s developing at a slow pace. That said, due to the nature of the book Aoi is far more of a passive narrator than usual.

Unfortunately, that leaves the main plot as the part I didn’t like. Not to get political at all, but “cannabis is bad and leads to taking stronger drugs and also getting drawn into creepy cults” is not going to win me over even when it’s well written, which this isn’t. The relationship between the detective, his ex-wife and his (kidnapped) daughter is meant to be sympathetic and realistic, but it feels like it was piling complication on top of complication in order to make the stakes higher. As for the cult itself, having some of the staff be genuinely part of the meditation seminar, some of them part of the cult, and all of it being secretly controlled by a politician, except wait, WAS IT REALLY? There are at least two twists too many towards the end, and honestly I got lost. I also suspect the author was trying to contrast the heated, emotional relationships of the other high school girl in this book with Homes and Aoi’s mild, restrained “we’re waiting on intimacy” pairing, and… it’s OK, I get it, so you don’t have to shove it in my face.

I am hoping that this is just an unfortunate blip in the series, though the blurb for the next volume does not fill me with confidence. In the meantime, perhaps we can get back to antiques?

My Love Mix-Up! Vol 1

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My Love Mix-Up Volume 1 by Wataru Hinekure and Aruko

I was curious about My Love Mix-Up since I’m always up for a new shoujo series and Aruko illustrated the astoundingly good My Love Story!!. While this new series doesn’t have the innate hilarity of My Love Story!!, it is a light, warm-hearted unconventional love triangle with protagonists who are all kind to each other.

Aoki has a long-term crush on Hashimoto, the girl who sits next to him in class. On a fateful day he borrows her eraser and sees the name of another boy, Ida, with a heart symbol next to it. When Aoki drops the eraser and Ida picks it up, Ida assumes that Aoki has a crush on him. Aoki plays along with this assumption because he doesn’t want to reveal Hashimoto’s secret. Ida’s reaction to all of this is thoughtful consideration. Ida’s never dated anyone before, so he doesn’t immediately reject Aoki, even though Aoki is encouraging him to! As Aoki gets to know Ida better he starts realizing what a cool guy Ida is. While there is less opportunity for Aruko to engage in the more broad caricature work of My Love Story!!, there are a few great scenes where Aoki looks like a haunted zombie due to the depths of his teenage embarrassment about the confounding situation that he finds himself in.

There’s a similar sort of love triangle in Blue Flag, and My Love-Mix! up looks like it is going to cover the same territory but without the emotional depth. I don’t think that every series needs to have that degree of pathos, sometimes a relatively angst free love triangle is the perfect diversion. There’s a cliffhanger at the end that promises plenty of more romantic mix-ups ahead.

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 3

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By Reia and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Koushaku Reijou no Tashinami” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Andria Cheng.

You can try to take the otome game aspect of your book out of the book, but it still might be coming back regardless. As I said back with the first volume, this feels very much like a book that wanted to just be political intrigue, but Villainess stories were blowing up, so this is an easy way to tie it into that fad. But the author has done a good job of tying it in regardless. Iris may have escaped the fate she had in the game, and also escaped being excommunicated in the last volume, but that doesn’t mean that danger is over – not only is the Queen still trying to get rid of her, but even the tiniest issues in her governership turn out to snowball into near-disasters. What’s more, it’s not just her dukedom – we’re getting closer and closer to a throne war, and one that might actually spill out into a real war. Iris is going to have to finally let go of her peaceful Japanese past memories and admit she might have to send people to die for her.

Iris is still in the capital dealing with the fallout from her failed excommunication, which in some ways is good – it allows her to meet Dean’s sister, who is gorgeous and very similar to Iris and totally not the princess in disguise, nope – but in other ways is not so good, as her mood has been dropping the longer they’re there. Back in her own home she feels better, but having been away for so long the work has gotten appallingly backed up. Fortunately, Dean just happens to be free for a bit, so is able to help her with it. Then there’s the problem of Yuri’s castoffs – now that she’s engaged to Edward, the others who were hovering around her are needing to find something else to do with their lives. It’s not going well. Indeed, Yuri may not in fact be the cute young otome game heroine she appears to me…

There is, of course, quite a bit of romance going on here. It is a romance series. Of course, we’re not ready to do anything with it just yet. It is also interesting to contrast Albert’s motivations for doing what he does with Yuri’s. Both are very driven people trying to get past the death of their mother, but one is trying to save the kingdom and the other to destroy it. Yeah, sorry, it’s not that much of a spoiler – Yuri is indeed our real villainess. That said, we start to get at least some movement towards her not being a cartoon. I also really liked the story with Iris’ aides as well – Tanya and Dida may not be a couple just yet, but you get the feeling it’s gonna happen right after Iris and Dean happens. I don’t blame them for ignoring love right now, though – there’s simply no time to relax and de-stress here.

The volumes have been getting better as they go along, which is definitely a good thing. Read it for the politics, but don’t give up on the Villainess plot too much – there’s still a bit of work to do there as well.

The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious, Vol. 7

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By Light Tuchihi and Saori Toyota. Released in Japan as “Kono Yuusha Ga Ore TUEEE Kuse Ni Shinchou Sugiru” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Matt Rutsohn.

And so, after a series that should have ended with the second volume keeps going, and manages to do a three-book arc that mostly justified its continuation, we get the conclusion of this two-book arc where it all falls apart. I’m not sure if I blame the author as much as the publisher. You may have an anime coming out, and a cameo in Isekai Quartet, but that doesn’t mean that a series should continue when it’s run out of things to do with the premise. When that sort of thing happens, you only have two choices: 1) completely break the premise and create a new one with our character, which this series absolutely doesn’t do, or b) snap everything back to the way it was and throw out all your character development. Cautious Hero doesn’t do this either, but it feels like it does. The author tried to write an arc where Seiya is even more verbally and emotionally abusive towards Ristarte, and justifies it towards the end. The trouble is, she’s too well written now for it to be funny anymore.

We pick up right where we left off last time. Seiya takes a somewhat broken Rosalie with him and heads back to the Underworld to train, train, train. He takes her as he thinks she’ll be a good distraction ad meat shield. Naturally, Rista is appalled, and she and Seiya spend most of the book disagreeing about the way he’s going about things. There are “amusing” training motifs. The beings Seiya learns skills with want to see Rista humiliated so they can indulge their fetishes, and as a result she is both molested and also given a tasty potato… that causes her to belch and fart uncontrollably. Ha. More seriously, Rista has noticed that Mash is seemingly possessed by Elulu’s dead spirit, which is telling him to destroy everything… which contrasts with the dead spirit of Elulu *Rista* is seeing, which is begging her to stop Seiya carrying out his plan. Will anyone bother to believe Rista?

There’s one big problem with this comedy right now – and no, it’s not that it’s no longer funny, though that *is* a problem. It’s that the jokes depended on Ristarte being as one-dimensional and annoying as Seiya is. Over the course of the last few books, we’ve seen her discover who her past self was, rekindle a romance that is then immediately lost, rediscover her child and have to watch as they die again, and learn to trust Seiya and not react like a cliched tsukkomi character whenever he does literally anything. She’s a real person now. Seiya isn’t, at least not 90% of the time. And that means when the books are humiliating Rista, it’s not funny, it’s just abusive. The ending shows us Seiya, briefly, expressing remorse at what he did and apologizing to Rista – but it’s a sign of where the two of them are that THIS is what gets the most over the top reaction face of the book from her.

It’s pretty clear that the author did not go further with Seiya here as they plan to do more with it in the next arc. Two problems with that. First, I’m about ready to drop the books here, they’re no longer fun. Second… there are no new volumes. The author started writing the Full Dive series (which also has a recent anime) and has not come back to this one in the last two year. So yeah. If you’ve read the previous six, you may as well read this. But boy, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Manga the Week of 10/20/21

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SEAN: As we inch ever closer to Halloween, beware of the manga yokai, which look like Shonen Jump volumes but lure children to their doom.

ASH: I absolutely believe this tale to be true.

MJ: Okay, I lol’d.

SEAN: Airship has two print light novel debuts. We get print versions of The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe and The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real!.

ASH: Looking forward to giving The Haunted Bookstore a try now that it’ll be in print!

SEAN: Also in print (and same-day digital): Monster Girl Doctor 8.

Early digital volumes include Adachi and Shimamura 7, Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Lily’s Miracle (a side-story), and Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 3.

Ghost Ship has World’s End Fantasia 5.

J-Novel Club has a bunch of print titles. We see the debut of Her Majesty’s Swarm, as well as the first Ascendance of a Bookworm Fanbook. We also get By the Grace of the Gods 6, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 6, In Another World with My Smartphone 18, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Omnibus 3, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 2.

ASH: I’m still delighted to see things like fanbooks being released these days.

SEAN: Digitally we see Guide to the Perfect Otaku Girlfriend: Roomies and Romance 3 and My Next Life As a Villainess 10.

Kodansha has a new print omnibus of Attack on Titan, containing the first three volumes, back when the story was at its best and the art was at its worst. We also get Attack on Titan 34, the final volume, which is the opposite.

ASH: Oh, how the times have changed!

SEAN: Other omnibuses in print: Love in Focus Complete Collection (the entire series), The Seven Deadly Sins 1-3, And That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! 3-4. There’s also Eden’s Zero 13 and The Heroic Legend of Arslan 15, which are not omnibuses.

And we get a print release for Vampire Dormitory, whose ebook came out two years ago.

Digital debuts? We get Doing His Best to Confess (Natsuaki-kun wa Kyou mo Kokuhaku shitai), a Betsufure title which has a seemingly cool and aloof guy turn out to just be shy and awkward. Can he confess to the girl he likes?

MICHELLE: This looks pretty cute. I tend to like stories about seemingly cool and aloof guys who are just awkward (see Lovesick Ellie).

ANNA: That does sound cute.

ASH: Agreed!

SEAN: The other debut is Tesla Note, which is a shonen series that runs in Weekly Shonen Magazine. It’s filled with action and conspiracies, is from the author of Tiger & Bunny, and its anime has bombed so bad possibly no one will care enough to get the source.

Also out digitally: Blue Lock 8, The Decagon House Murders 3, Defying Kurosaki-kun 17, A Girl & Her Guard Dog 6, Nina the Starry Bride 5, We’re New at This 9, and You’re My Cutie 2.

MICHELLE: At some point I will actually read Blue Lock.

SEAN: One Peace Books has Hinamatsuri 13.

Seven Seas has three debuts. Creepy Cat is a full-color graphic novel based on the popular webcomic which balances between cute and scary.

ASH: Always curious about a new cat comic!

SEAN: Kiruru Kill Me is a new Shonen Jump Plus series from the creator of Pretty Face and Mx0. A young man is rich and successful, but has no one to love. Then he falls head over heels… for an assassin. There’s only one thing to do: order a hit on himself.

ASH: I’ll admit to being curious about this one, too.

Monster Guild: The Dark Lord’s (No-Good) Comeback! (Yuusha ni Haiboku Shita Maou-sama wa Kaerizaku Tame ni Mamonogirudo o Tsukuru Koto ni Shimashita) runs in Shinchosha’s Comic Bunch Web, about a dark lord defeated by an OP Hero, who manages to survive and now forms… you guessed it… a ragtag band of misfits.

Also from Seven Seas: Even Though We’re Adults 3, GIGANT 6, Kingdom of Z 4, and Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time 6.

MICHELLE: At some point I will actually read Even Though We’re Adults!

ASH: I’ve been picking them up as they’ve been released, but have not actually read any of the volumes, yet.

SEAN: Tokyopop has the 2nd volume of Her Royal Highness Seems to be Angry.

Viz debuts Burn the Witch, from the creator of Bleach. Indeed, it’s set in the same world as Bleach, albeit a little further into the future, and in London. Two agents trying to get easy assignments they can turn into cash instead end up in fantasy misadventures.

Also from Viz: Asadora! 4, No Guns Life 11, No. 5 2, and The Creative Gene, a collection of essays by the creator of Metal Gear Solid.

ASH: Happy to see the next volume of No. 5 coming out!

SEAN: Yen On has two light novels: A Sister’s All You Need 11 and Solo Leveling 3.

Yen Press’s sole title is a digital-only debut: If You Could See Love (Moshi, Koi ga Mieta Nara). This yuri series runs in Shonen Ace Plus. Have you ever seen those complicated love charts fans make with arrows pointing forward and back? Our heroine can see them… including two pointed at her. But… this is an all girls’ school!

ASH: The premise sounds like it could be promising.

SEAN: Are you haunted by manga? Or by the spirit of Sasha Braus demanding a potato?

She’s the Cutest… But We’re Just Friends!, Vol. 2

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By Akamitsu Awamura and mmu. Released in Japan as “Ore no Onna Tomodachi ga Saikou ni Kawaii” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by airco.

There’s a narrowing of focus in this second volume. In the first book, we got to see a whole lot of Kai and Jun’s peers, classmates, and rivals and see how their “relationship” impacted all of them. For the most part, there’s very little of that in the second volume. Indeed, Reina, my favorite character from the last book, has a much smaller role here, though she certainly makes use of it, seeing what the rest of the cast don’t. But for the most part this volume deals only with three characters: Kai, Jun, and Kotobuki, the girl who confessed to him in the cliffhanger of the last book. I was honestly worried about the addition of Kotobuki after that last book, fearing this would become a “one girl per book” sort of harem series. Fortunately, my worries were unfounded – I’d argue this book is better than the last one, getting into the nitty gritty of friends vs. girlfriends and coming out on the friends side.

Kotobuki has indeed confessed to Kai, and suggests dating in order to get to know each other, an idea that floors him because he’s read too much manga and believes you only date AFTER falling in love The date actually goes pretty well, and they’re a cute couple. Then they coincidentally run into Jun on their date… and she can’t get over how CUTE Kotobuki is! No jealousy on her end at all. The trouble is the other end… Kotobuki had heard that Kai had a friend who came over to play games, but assumed it was, well, a female otaku stereotype. Not a stacked blonde goddess. Feeling a bit desperate and threatened, she decides to up her seduction game… which proves to be EXACTLY the wrong move. Can she and Kai recover from the backlash? And can you have a girlfriend and also have a close female friend who’s even more tactile than your girlfriend?

The most interesting thing about this book is that the drama is almost entirely one-sided. Jun is simply not remotely getting jealous, loves Kotobuki to death, and her reaction to Kai accidentally walking in on her topless is nonexistent. If the series is eventually going to get Kai and Jun together, it’s got a long way to go on Jun’s side. That said, she fills an important role here, as she allows Kai and Kotobuki to recover from their dating mishap and find steadier ground. Kai, like Jun, does not feel mature enough to be in a relationship, something that Kotobuki also realizes about herself during the course of the book. Indeed, the book may be an ad for “just friends”, as the best scenes in it are the ones with no tension or romantic angst, just the three of them hanging out and having fun. (It’s also a giant ad for anime and manga properties, and not just GA Bunko series. The lack of censorship is jaw-dropping.)

Unfortunately, after two quick volumes in February and June of 2020, there has been no more of this series in Japan. I hope we eventually get some closure. In the meantime, this is a good one if you like romcoms with a bit less drama than usual.

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 1

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By Sarasa Nagase and Mai Murasaki. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijo Nanode Rasubosu o Katte Mimashita” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

Generally speaking, the best types of isekai stories (and villainess stories) are the ones that actually try to do something with the format beyond “I have memories from Japan”. In particular, villainess stories that examine what exactly it means to be that sort of character I’ve found to be a cut above, and this book definitely falls into that category. For all that we hear about girls constantly playing otome games with villainesses who sneer and plot at the heroine, the game never gets into how they grew up to be that sort of person. Why would it? The villainess is an obstacle to be overcome. But villainess light novels do have that opportunity. What’s more, as with male-driven isekai novels that show the hero amassing a loving harem and having amazing OP powers, the villainess books are also fantasy-driven… but the fantasy tends to be “have men actually respect me” and “start my own successful business”. It knows its core audience.

The start of this book may seem a bit familiar to readers of this genre. Aileen suddenly realizes she has memories of her past life from Japan, where she played an otome game called Regalia of Saints, Demons and Maidens. Unfortunately, this comes back to her while she’s being publicly dumped and shamed by her fiancee. And now she recalls that the next steps are getting disowned and dying in the slums. PASS! Trying to figure out a way out of this mess, and with her sadistic father being of very little help, she decides to confront her fiancee’s older brother, the titular final boss and also the demon lord. It takes a while to win him over, and she often has to rely on pure moxie, but she does it. Unfortunately, bad things keep happening. The business she started has been taken from her. Everyone insists she’s trying to kill Lilia, the heroine. And most annoyingly, her otome game memories are faint, and only come up after the bad end has begun. can she manage to survive?

Aileen definitely falls on the ‘smart and savvy’ end of the villainess scale, though as with ALL entries in this genre she tends to be somewhat oblivious about men falling for her and their being jealous of other men. There’s very little downtime in this book, as she realizes that if she doesn’t fix everything FAST, she’s going to die. I really enjoyed the scenes with her father, which help to explain a lot of her personality. He’s twisted and enjoys seeing her suffer – mostly to see the look on her face. Actually, that’s a running theme in this book – the demon lord also says he wants to see her cry, probably because she’s normally so together and adept at everything. She also has a lot of allies who stick around even after her public shaming… though for once this does NOT include the heroine, who… well, let’s just say she’s no Maria Campbell.

This series is 8 volumes long so far in Japan, which is worrying as this also suffers from another issue common to villainess novels: it feels complete in one book. That said, we do know that most of the events here take place on the first “route” of the game. Will she have to deal with other bad boys? Honestly, she can probably take them. In the meantime, enjoy a strong entry in the Villainess sweepstakes – it’s even getting an anime soon.

No Game No Life: Practical War Game

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By Yuu Kamiya. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Richard Tobin.

It has been a rough couple years for No Game No Life. The author has had health issues, which has led to a long hiatus in Japan (though the 11th volume is due out there next month). As with Re: Zero and Index, Yen licensed this side story volume out of order, so a lot of it is setting up a 10th volume that we read a year and a half ago. And of course the entire series has been banned, in print and digital form, by Amazon… except for this new volume, which they are quite happy to sell because no one can guess how they actually decide anything. That said, it is good to finally see this book which goes back to the events of the 6th volume and shows us things from the POV of Think, the elven legend. Unfortunately, this flashback is only a little more than a third of this book, which is otherwise padded out with short stories that originally came with the DVD releases in Japan. Yep, it’s a short story volume.

Practical War Game itself starts off with Sora and Shiro playing Feel and Chlammy in a game of chess, which Feel is trying to deliberately lose once she hears what the prize is (molesting Chlammy). Jibril then tells the siblings about Feel’s ancestor, and about her acolyte Nina, who takes over after Think supposedly “disappears”. After this, we get a story showing off a desperate Steph, running low on sleep and sanity, challenging the siblings to game after game, even it means more humiliation. Par for the course, in other words. We then get a story about Feel and Chlammy’s past, and how and why they set up what happens at the start of the series. Finally, we get a two-parter focused on Jibril, just why she’s so special, and her determination to do the impossible simply because everyone else says it can’t be done.

As always with this series, I love Steph, even when it’s making her the fanservice queen or having her be the chump for the sake of humor. She almost manages to speak out a win here, and is basically told “try this again when you’ve slept and are calm”. The story with Feel and Chlammy was also fun, showing them as a lot more of a loving couple than the main books do, as well as exactly how they got that way. The bulk of the book are the stories with Think and Jibril, which are flawed but good. I can do without the author’s “is this LGBT representation or shameless trolling fanservice!”, mostly because by now we know it’s both. The sections of Jibril’s story dealing with the dragon are fantastic, but Azril is simply FAR too annoying to make it 100% enjoyable, and the canon explanation as to why really doesn’t work for me.

Still, overall it’s a better volume than some of the recent books have been, and should make fans of the series happy. Oh yes, and there’s a new translator. I think the books read a bit smoother than before, though Kamiya’s writing is always hard to parse.

Strike the Blood, Vol. 19

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By Gakuto Mikumo and Manyako. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Bourque.

Readers of the Strike the Blood light novels have always had a somewhat annoying problem, which is that we can never quite catch up to what’s been animated. For a while it looked like the novels would pass the anime, but then all these OAVs came out. It’s been especially noticeable with the last two books, both of which are expansions of original OAV storylines that came out years ago. You’d think, now that we’re only four volumes from the end, that we’d bee home free, but no: this volume and the next two came out in animated form last year. And, let’s face it, probably the only person still reading Strike the Blood who has NOT seen the anime is me. Most fans are likely simply reading the books to see what bits were cut out. I’m going to guess that the answer is not much, because as always this reads like a novelization more than a novel, and is almost entirely action.

Returning from the off-island events of the last book, Kojou and company find that the entire island is isolated – and appears to have been tu5rned into a survival game. This is being done by the Order of the End, a mysterious and powerful organization who can nearly murder a shaman princess, kidnap the Witch of the Void, and otherwise be the latest unstoppable opponent for Kojou to stop. They’re also led by The Blood, the very awkwardly named man (who also says his real name is Kenon here, though Kojou still annoyingly calls him The Blood) who is now pretending to be the Fourth Primogenitor. The obvious thing to do is to have Kojou go public, but he’s still trying to cling on to normal life till he can graduate. So he’ll do what he does best: muddle along, fight and find that it doesn’t work, rant and rave a lot, and win anyway. Though not yet, as this is more than one part long.

First of all, props to the author: Having Asagi save Yukina from certain death by turning the ocean into Strawberry Jell-O, then having to flee across it before it snaps back to reality, is one of the best things in the books to date, including her relief at it not being pudding, which would have been lethal. Other than that, there’s not really much to talk about here. It’s clearly only the start of the story (there’s no “this is OUR fight!” to be seen) and, well, it’s a lot of fights. Yume, the succubus from earlier books, is back protecting her school, and does cool things. The First Primogenitor, who we saw in the cliffhanger for the last book, is also around, along with his minion/girlfriend, and he’s fairly begign – so far. And the goofy humor is mostly kept to a minimum here – Kojou panicked when Kanon’s father sees them both in bathrobes in a love hotel; Sayaka getting summarily dumped out of La Folia’s airplane at 10,000 feet. It’s a decent action book.

But there’s no depth to it, which is why I always find these reviews hard. It has its highs and lows, but in the end Strike the Blood will always be what it is on the surface.