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The Devil Princess, Vol. 2

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By Harunohi Biyori and Geso Umiu. Released in Japan as “Akuma Koujo” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Julie Goniwich. Adapted by Emlyn Dornemann.

I got startled 3/4 of the way through this book, but this time it was more because I forgot the premise than for any “what a twist” reasons. I was so distracted by our little evil princess’ “reincarnated as a villainess” style storyline that I forgot about the first part of Volume 1. And so when we got her four lazy, eccentric and just plain awful retainers, I was expecting it to be either the standard “she whips them into shape with the power of intense training”, or, later on, “she whips them into shape by putting the fear of god into them”. Then the actual plot kicks in, and each of the four retainers gets a lovely little “this is why I am a terrible person deep down” flashback, and I realized that this was not the direction this series was going. And then I was surprised, and reminded of the first part of Volume 1, which explains everything. Gotta pay attention to things.

Over the course of the book Princess Yulucia goes from four to six years old, and it’s an eventful time. She has her debut at a ball where everyone is absolutely overwhelmed by her (or terrified of her), but her sisters still manage to act just like wicked stepsisters always do in these sorts of books. She gains the aforementioned attendants, who are, respectively, bad and obsequious, bad and lazy, bad and angry, and bad and ditzy. She heals people with crippling diseases (yay), and cures the early male pattern baldness of various loser nobles (less yay). Unfortunately, another very striking young noble is inviting girls to her own nighttime tea party… and some of them are not coming back. Time for Yulucia to investigate… and do something about her sucky servants.

The last quarter of this book is not quite as striking as the first volume, but Yulucia makes it very clear that she does not suffers fools gladly, and if they don’t improve, well, their souls will be destroyed. That’s how it rolls with demons. Fortunately, she’s able to save their bodies, and it turns out she has some very capable folks to inhabit those bodies. We also see some innocent lesser nobles get invited to Miss Mylene’s tea party, and we never see them again, so clearly this is not a case of “and then we found them in the attic and returned them to their parents” but “and then we found their corpse with the others”. As with the author’s other series, this is not for the faint of heart, and gets pretty horrific… but it can also be very funny at times. Sometimes at the same time. As for Yulucia, her stepsisters may be a bigger issue going forward, as the older one seems to be the one person who sees her true self.

I hear that future volumes go even further off the rails, so I’m not sure where this will end up. For the moment, though, I’m happy to be following along.

The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor: Operation Records

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By Sasara Nagase and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Yarinaoshi Reijō wa Ryūtei Heika o Kōryaku-chū” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

Yes, that’s right, it’s short story collection time. Indeed, this is the first of two short story collections, as the one next month is sort of a “what if we were on the original timeline” collection of Bad End stories. This one, though, consists of stories that take place in the first four books. The content is varied, as you might expect, but in general it’s happy to play around with the core conceit of this series: Jill is 11 years old, she is engaged to the Dragon Emperor, and the reader is never, ever going to be able to handwave that away the way folks do with some age-gap romances in anime and manga. Because Jill and Hadis can’t handwave it away either – they are touched by destiny, very much in love with each other, incredibly jealous when someone else takes interest in them, and incredibly insecure about themselves. This is cute, this is romantic, this is cool, but again – she’s 11. (Well, 17 if you count her former life, but only she does that.)

About half these stories are short, 1-3 page bits that I won’t recap here. The longer ones: 1) We see just before the series begins, from the perspective of Hadis and Rave, as well as the immediate aftermath of Jill’s actions. 2) A teenage girl helps out at the local bakery, and finds one day that the new baker is a very handsome man… in fact, it’s the Dragon Emperor. We then get the “Mr. Baker” part of the story from the bakery POV. 3) Jill, watching Hadis dance with other noble girls and feeling like she doesn’t measure up, is given a makeover by Hadis’ sisters. It works a little TOO well. 4) Hadis keeps getting accosted by girls in Cervel “tripping” and needing to be helped by him, while Jill worries, again, one might succeed. 5) Jill’s younger twin brothers discover what’s happened to her, and are rather upset at it. 6) Vissel struggles to deal with a possible impending war, as well as his own arranged marriage, with a fiancée he’s barely met. 7) Hadis and Jill go to the graves of the former Dragon Consorts, and discuss the past and the future.

For the most part, this is pretty lighthearted. The comedic highlight is definitely Vissel’s fiancée Gloria, who seems pretty ticked off at him, and so decides to go and become a tuna fisherman. Trust me, it works in context. And while it does get a bit old, there are times when Jill and Hadis each trying to make the other one fall even more in love with them is quite funny – the aftermath of the Jill Makeover Plan does not go well for anyone involved, and Jill is left to realize that if she’s going to do this again she needs to stop being a size that Hadis can easily carry around. There is some serious stuff going on here, though. Jill’s decision impacts her family greatly, and while eventually some of them warm to Hadis, she’s never going to be able to be as close to them ever again. And there’s also the reminder of the tragic past of every dragon consort, and that Jill could one day join them. Though, given this author, probably not.

Fans of the series should be very happy with this. That said, I think next month’s book may be even more interesting.

The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life As a Noblewoman: The Price of Glory, Part 1

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By Kamihara and Shiro46. Released in Japan as “Tensei Reijo to Sūki na Jinsei o” by Hayakawa Shobo. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Hengtee Lim.

For the most part, Trials and Tribulations is content to wallow in the genre of “political intrigue”, as Karen finds herself getting involved in everything under the sun despite her best efforts. There’s also a bit of romance, though only a bit, as Karen has to literally be told about her growing feelings and she’s still pretty much in denial about them. That said, occasionally this series has dipped into straight up horror. Until now that’s also been part of the political intrigue, as we get politically-motivated massacres and regicide. The start of this third volume, though, is horror for horror’s sake, as Karen ends up trapped in a house with a bunch of rooms with corpses in them, and then is pretty much told without words “please become the next corpse”. The whole thing is unsettling both to her and to us, and things are not helped when Six, after rescuing her, admits that she was bait so that they could find out what was in that trap. This makes her unhappy.

After being freed from the murder house, Karen understandably comes down with a fever, which is what nobles do when they have too much stress. The fever is not helped when her brother Arno arrives to check on her… with Wilhelmina, who the family is now supporting. Of course, Karen is supporting Reinald, and as such things are a bit difficult between her end of the family and the main one now. Especially as Karen’s mysterious parentage is now the subject of rumor, and even though it’s not proven everyone seems to think her real father is a big-shot military man in the Empire… who is neutral in the throne war, so Karen is an even more useful pawn. Things then get even more troubling when the Emperor himself invites her to a ball… which means she will be forced to dance, and yes, dancing badly can mean you need to leave nobility entirely. She’s beyond bad. Finally, there’s a big fight with her best friend Ern, about which more below.

For the most part, the isekai in this book is used to show that Karen does not think like other nobles born in this world think (the funniest part of the book is when Karen, desperate to try to pay Reinald back for everything he’s done, offers to skin a deer and serve it for dinner to him, which causes his jaw to drop). But she’s not the only reincarnated character, and one could argue that Ern has had an even greater impact on this world. Karen is just dealing with politics and everyone wanting her to join their faction because she’s nice to them. Ern had a far worse life in our world, and a far worse death, and she is desperate to make something for herself in this new world,. despite a) the fact that she thinks she’s not doing anything but copying our world’s stuff so feels like a fake, and b) the fact that she’s starting an arms race by introducing modern weaponry to a society that’s not ready for it. The climax of this book (OK, the halfway point, but it’s a very good break) is her and Karen having a big fight about this, and I’ll be honest, the title of this arc does not make me optimistic she’ll get a happy ending here.

Karen will probably be OK, though she will no doubt suffer. But that’s why we read this. As always, this is addictive reading and highly recommended.

Manga the Week of 10/8/25

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SEAN: It’s now fully October, which means you should expect pictures of skeletons in place of manga.

ASH: There was a streak of skeleton manga there for a bit.

SEAN: Airship starts us off, with print volumes of Adachi and Shimamura 12, Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 12, and A Tale of the Secret Saint ZERO 3.

And digitally they have Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 21.

Dark Horse Comics have a 15th volume of Mob Psycho 100.

Ghost Ship gives us the third volume of Betrayed by the Hero, I Formed a MILF Party With His Mom!.

Two digital light novel debuts for J-Novel Club. Guild Handyman? More like Mastermind! Using My Hidden Skills in the Shadows (Guild no Zatsuyou-gakari ga Shin no Kuromaku deshita: Kakureta Sainou de Anyaku Musou) stars a mild-mannered paper pusher who is secretly out to destroy all the bullshit rules that make this world terrible to live in.

ASH: You know, I can get behind that.

ANNA: I could too!

SEAN: Old Knight, New Post: From Retiree to Her Majesty’s Blade (Inkyogurashi no Ossan, Joouheika no Ken to Naru: Intai Kishi wa Musume no Tame ni Oukoku Hittou Kishi ni Kaerizaku) is what happens if you take From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman and My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer and mash them together.

Other light novels out next week: Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon 11, BLADE & BASTARD 5, Cooking with Wild Game 30, Dagashi-ya Yahagi 4, Dimension Wave 5, From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman 8, From Villainess to Healer 5, An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups 11, Let This Grieving Soul Retire 8, The Poison King 6, and The Tanaka Family Reincarnates 4.

And for manga they have Reborn to Master the Blade 6 and Safe & Sound in the Arms of an Elite Knight 5.

Kodansha’s debut is a one-shot, Before You Go Extinct (Kimi no Zetsumetsu suru Mae ni), a Comic Days title about two souls who learn, as various animals, how to go on in the face of utter annihilation.

ASH: I just recently learned about this one and am rather curious about it.

SEAN: Also in print: Blue Lock Season 1 Part 2 Manga Box Set, The Dashing Zaddy and His Icy Protégé 3, The Fable Omnibus 10, The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity 9, Issak Omnibus 3, Mobile Suit Gundam: THE ORIGIN Deluxe 2, Versus 4, WIND BREAKER 15, and Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun 16.

ASH: Yet another reminder to myself that I need to give Issak a try.

MICHELLE: Yet another reminder how far behind on Iruma-kun I am!

SEAN: For digital we see The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses 18, Nina the Starry Bride 16, and Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 11.

One Peace Books have Nukozuke! 5.

Three debuts for Seven Seas. I’m the Heroic Knight of an Intergalactic Empire! (Atashi wa Seikan Kokka no Eiyuu Kishi) is the manga version of the light novel Seven Seas already puts out. It runs in Comic Gardo.

The Lying Bride and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate (Usotsuki Hanayome to Dousei Kekkon-ron) is a Comic Yuri Hime title and the latest from Kodama Naoko. A young woman who once loved a co-worker who got married now finds life difficult when her co-worker asks if she can move in after a fight with her husband!

ASH: Uh, oh!

ANNA: What’s going to happen?????

SEAN: Our Dining Table: Seconds, Please! (Bokura no Shokutaku: Okawari) is a sequel to the BL title also licensed by Seven Seas. It runs in Rutile.

ASH: I really enjoyed the original, so I should probably read this one, too.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this! Our Dining Table was charming.

SEAN: Also coming out: 365 Days to the Wedding 9, BL Game Rebirth: My New Life as the Hero’s Younger Brother 2, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 11, Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk 13, The Great Snake’s Bride 6, I Quit My Apprenticeship as a Royal Court Wizard to Become a Magic Item Craftswoman 4, The Missing “O” 3, Otonari Complex 5 (the final volume), Stay By My Side After the Rain 4, This Is Screwed Up, but I Was Reincarnated as a GIRL in Another World! 17, and Tokyo Revengers: A Letter from Keisuke Baji 5.

A bunch of stuff from Square Enix. We see The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten 4, the 14th Apothecary Diaries manga, The God-Slaying Demon King 3, and Love in the Palm of His Hand 2.

Steamship gives us The Trapped Former Villainess Wants to Escape from the Sadistic Prince 3.

Tokyopop have a 5th volume of Boys Gilding the Lily Shall Die!?.

Viz Media debut Kamudo, the new series from the creators of all those Zelda manga titles. It’s a shonen title from Sunday Web Every. In a society of half human, half beast people, will a fully human child be the start of something special? Oh wait, he has a dragon hand. But MOSTLY human.

ASH: I’m actually really excited about this one! I’ve been wanting to read some the team’s original work for ages.

SEAN: There’s also Moan: Junji Ito Story Collection. You know what this is. The stories all ran in Monthly Halloween.

ASH: So much Junji Ito!

ANNA: Tis the season!

SEAN: Viz also has Astro Royale 2, Boruto: Two-Blue Vortex 3, The Bugle Call: Song of War 3, Chainsaw Man 19, Dandadan 15, Marriage Toxin 9, Not Your Idol 3, Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite 5, Pink Candy Kiss 3, Tamon’s B-Side 9, and Vampire Knight Memories 10.

ANNA: I did like the first couple volumes of Otaku Vampire!

MICHELLE: Been a long time since a Not Your Idol volume!

SEAN: Lastly, Yen Press has the third and final volume of After We Gazed at the Starry Sky.

No skeletons, but we did see Junji Ito. What are you buying?

D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared, Vol. 4

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By KONO Tsuranori and ttl. Released in Japan as “D Genesis: Dungeon ga Dekite 3-nen” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ian Sacks.

Because I didn’t get into this series until 9 volumes down the road, and I still have to keep up with everything else coming out, I’ve been reading volumes piecemeal, about 25 pages a day or so. This works well to get me caught up, but can make reviews tricky, as I try to recall what I was reading three weeks earlier. Fortunately, the bulk of the interesting things happening in this book are in the back half, so I should hopefully be OK. It also helps that the biggest nerd series J-Novel Club is putting out still includes things to appeal specifically to me. Miyoshi doing her press conference dressed as Yomiko Readman from Read or Die – no, really, she even namechecks her – just gave me a big smile. She and Keigo may not be able to escape being famous for much longer, but at least their attempts to avoid it are hilarious. They may want to lay off the huge discoveries, though.

Keigo and Miyoshi continue to try to set things up so they can do what they want without several nations attempting to kill them – again. They’re forming a company to be their business front, they’re starting a course in how to increase your stats for dungeon exploration (including a drill sergeant who finds herself in way over her head when she has to increase her agility via rhythm games), and they’re trying to see if they can grow crops in the dungeon (so far, limited success). The press conference itself goes very well, though the religious cult that was mentioned in the 2nd volume seems to recognize D-Powers as a threat to their livelihood. They also make another trip to the “haunted mansion” part of the dungeon, but end up being joined by their actress and model friends, leading to a very dangerous escape – one that gets filmed.

The mansion reveals a big secret, and I suspect that secret will continue to be relevant. We probably could have guessed that this is not a series where “and then suddenly, dungeons appeared one day” would be allowed to stand, and sure enough, the scientists who all “died” that day may have been trying to create something – and may not actually be dead. This leads to the other wonderful nerd reference in here, which is that part of the dungeon language appears to be written in pIqAd, which is to say Klingon. (The fact that they figure this out because Saito happened to be a “minor trekkie” and picked up a big of the language is perhaps one coincidence too many for me, but it’s not as if I expect anything else in this series to be realistic.) This actually makes things MORE difficult – it’s a lot easier to give out “dungeon translation” orbs than to say that the secret dungeon info is written in Star Trek. You’d lose credibility.

Next time I expect we’ll get the “dungeon training courses” going full blast, which will be nice. This remains ridiculous fun.

Heroine? Saint? No, I’m an All-Works Maid (And Proud of It)!, Vol. 4

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

This is still primarily a comedy, and it enjoys seeing its main characters be goofy. But with each volume, The Game is making itself known more and more. Now, this world may not actually literally be a game, but certainly something is trying to make sure that events happen the way that they did in the game, and if it has to create a new heroine from scratch – and make her evil – then so be it. Meanwhile, it’s becoming apparent that it’s not just Melody, Christopher, and Anna-Marie. Everyone on that plane that disappeared is in this world, and the more Melody works her huge magic, the more they suddenly realize it. Schue, the “smiling villain” I mentioned who showed up out of the blue last time, turns out to have a far nobler background… that he’s desperately trying to escape. And that also means that the incoming Prince from a foreign land is now a Princess, and she’s straight outta Takarazuka. This game is off the rails!

Melody, Luciana, etc. are done with saving Luciana’s holding and are ready to return to their mansion and to school… which is good, as they both completely forgot that the Summer Ball is coming up. Lect will be taking “Cecelia”, and Maxwell has invited an increasingly panicky and embarrassed Luciana. Lect, meanwhile, is very confused, as after returning to the Count he finds that… they found his missing daughter. Who has the hair, and the eyes. And is named “Celedia”. Not suspicious at all! What’s more, to the annoyance of Christopher and Anna-Marie, the game has thrown them another curve, as the handsome lothario prince who’s there to cause a war has been replaced with a handsome lothario princess… in male clothing… presumably there to do the same. Oh yes, and what about the monster attacks on the heroine? Still going on, unfortunately.

My favorite subplot of this series is that Melody has accidentally resurrected the soul of her dead mother and put it into a robot maid that she created. The doll seems to be 100% aware of this, but isn’t saying anything, but Melody does not consciously realize it. Consciously being the word, as one scene that is very heartwarming shows that she may be leaning that way anyway. I’m also amused at Anna-Marie, who the book can’t seem to decide if she’s just a massive game otaku who loves to look at the CG of the heroine or an actual lesbian… honestly, I think she’s not sure herself. She gets a full quarter of the book side story where she (in disguise) and Melody go on an extended date, but for the most part she’s unable to penetrate Melody’s maid facade enough to check to see if she’s really the heroine. And then there’s Luciana, who keeps attracting important nobles by virtue of hitting everything she dislikes with her giant harisen as if she’s Kaname reborn from Full Metal Panic!. Nobles like a feisty heroine that beats things up.

This remains a fun series that generally runs in the “villainess” genre at a fast clip, though the Villainess plot has been broken by Melody so much that the bad guys have to invent a new girl to start doing game things. For fans.

The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom, Vol. 4

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

It’s now Volume 4 and we’re getting the wedding cover art, which is very good for a shoujo light novel series, where the 2nd or 3rd volume not only has the standard wedding art but is also the final volume. This is not the final volume, but they’re running out of ways to put off getting our heroine married, so it’s time to bite the bullet and… what’s that, Lassie? The dreaded incurable disease? That killed off Elizabeth and Philia’s birth father? That’s right, we can’t possibly get married yet, not when there are still impossible things to do. Fortunately, she has Mia for help, who is equally powerful. And they have their friends Erza and Mammon, who do a little bit of their “I will cut off your head again” comedy routine but for the most part function as a very convenient taxi service, as this book takes place over multiple countries.

It’s almost time for Philia and Osvalt’s wedding. unfortunately, her birth father is dead, and her adopted father is in prison. She was going to have Mia walk her down the aisle, but apparently conservative tradition would balk at that, so they need to go ask Hildegard to stop being a terrifying drill instructor and be her mother again… even if mother and daughter are still being very awkward about rekindling that relationship. Philia also takes the time to ask for more anecdotes about her late father, and finds that he spent years trying to find a cure for devil’s seed, a disease which ended up taking his life and the life of Osvalt’s brother’s fiancee. But wait! Her father had a brother, who currently lives in not-Egypt and is an apothecary! Philia can go visit him to get more details! Gosh, I sure hope he isn’t dying of this as well…

It is fun watching the author try to retool a few characterizations on the fly. Having Philia’s natural lack of emotions be due to her trauma from childhood is all very well and good, but when you’ve saved the day, the parents are in jail and she’s getting a happily ever after, you need to move past that… unless it’s her defining trait. As it turns out, her mother is also very reticent and stoic, so it works well to leave Philia this way, and her reaction even when presented with near-death by explosion is basically “well, darn”. As for Mia, she has absolutely gotten over any guilt or trauma she had before. She’s almost become comic relief, with her sister complex coming out even further when she’s drunk, and her using her own engagement as a threat to get her fiance to agree to let her join her sister in near-certain death. Fortunately, it’s these two, so there’s no death by horrible explosions, just a cure. Cinderella did not go back to the stepsisters to suffer more after marrying the prince, after all.

Next time, the honeymoon! This remains a fun series about two sisters who can functionally do anything.

Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools, Vol. 10

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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.

Love Between Fairy & Devil: Cang Lan Jue, Vol. 2

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By Jiu Lu Fei Xiang. Released in China on the JJWXC website. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Yu. Adapted by Ivy Fox.

As it turns out, the second volume of this series is the last one, and it’s also far more serious in tone. That’s not to say there aren’t funny moments, though. I haven’t seen the live-action drama based on this series, but from what little internet searching I did, it appears that it was “prettied up” a bit, with the books being seen as a dark fantasy with less humor and Dongfang Qingcang being purely evil rather than the brooding boyfriend preferred by live-action dramas. I have news for them, not only was there still a great deal of humor in this book (the side story about what happens to the legendary sword is particularly funny), but Dongfang Qingcang, while doing a lot of horrible things, is generally evil because he has no idea how to be anything else. The war between wanting to resurrect the Lady of the Scarlet Wastes and wanting to stay walking around with Xiao Lanhua is what drives this book, along with Xiao Lanhua’s crisis of faith. The character development is the plot.

We pick up where we left off, as Xiao Lanhua now has a body made from regeneration earth. Dongfang Qingcang also gives her a bone orchid to keep her safe. Unfortunately for him, the bone orchid also allows Xiao Lanhua to have dreams where the Lady of the Scarlet Wastes informs her that all Dongfang Qingcang wants is to use that body to resurrect the Lady, and that once that happens, Xiao Lanhua will be left to die. And this is not inaccurate, he really is planning this! It’s just, y’know, he’s wondering why he keeps wanting to have Xiao Lanhua always by his side. He’s much more comfortable when he’s allowed to beat the crap out of people and torture them by leaving their bodies crucified for weeks. Sadly, Xiao Lanhua loses her trust in him due to all this murmuring in her dreams, and is convinced to run away. Which is bad for everyone.

As I said, this is not really a book to read for plot. There’s a lot of supernatural battles. Cultivation is not specifically mentioned much, but you can feel its presence – this is a Chinese fantasy, after all. For those who want to read a love story between a very bad boy and a girl who really should not be falling for a very bad boy, though, this is like catnip. I can’t deny that Dongfang Qingcang tends towards being a terrible person, but as the book goes on he works his way towards being a terrible person but a good boyfriend. As for Xiao Lanhua, frankly, she breaks about halfway through this book, and most of the second half is devoted to getting her back to the point where she can snark at the side of Dongfang Qingcang while they tour the mortal world. By the end, they’re cute. Sort of.

This ended up being a lot of fun to read. Recommended for those who love shoujo manga with “I can fix him” love interests.

Zero Damage Sword Saint: I Enrolled in a Magic School and Wound Up in a Contract with the Demon Queen, Vol. 1

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

Yeah, this was another “take a flyer” title, and this one did not go quite as well as the Gyaru Vampire Hunter book. That said, I’ve learned with light novels that start off with everything I hate to give them till the end of the volume and inevitably the quality will slide back towards ‘generic light novel that exists’. So it is with this title, which began with someone getting a bad magic gatcha pull and so his life is ruined, everyone now jeers and mocks him, and his childhood friend and girlfriend dumps him. Now, in the present day, all he has to look forward to is that his supposed loser magic is so incredibly powerful that he can visit the sealed demon queen every week and have sex with her. Fortunately, things pick up, and I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, when a young girl is isekai’d into this world.

So yes, Eugene was the son of a famous swordsman, he was tops at sword mastery in school, engaged to the princess, whole world in his hands. Then he got white magic, which can only be used for healing and barriers. And not with swords, which this world’s mechanics require some sort of attack magic to go with it. Flash forward a year, and he’s in the general course at the magic academy, where everyone regards him as a failure pile in a sadness bowl, except any character whose name we have to remember. They all like him. Unfortunately, he hates himself, so that doesn’t help. Then one day a disaster appears at the 5th level of their giant tower dungeon – a cute girl is there, and has set the entire floor on fire. It turns out she’s from Japan, she’s now an Ifrit, and Eugene, because he has barrier magic out the wazoo, has to be her guardian.

You’ll notice I didn’t bring up the demon queen in that summary, mostly as she barely appears, beyond the start and the final battle. She’s there to take his virginity and be a deus ex machina. The other big downside to this book is Eugene himself, a sad sack who we’re supposed to feel bad for but we can’t break in as he’s too busy feeling bad for himself. Or at least that’s what the writing is trying to convey, because he tends to lack any real emotional heft at all. At one point he’s drawn by the illustrator to look exactly like Daichi in the fake magical idol anime Hoshiiro Girldrop. Please don’t have the same personality as a parody the Pop Team Epic guy thought up. The bright spot in the book is Sumire, who is likeable, empathetic, and does all the right things. I hope for her sake this world has polyamory, though, as she has “losing heroine” written all over her thanks to our demon queen. Mind you, she does better than the Student Council President *or* Eugene’s ex.

This apparently takes place in the same world as Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers, but I haven’t read that, so have no idea. For fans of light novels where the hero is betrayed by his high school classmates, but instead of seeking revenge he just goes to community college instead.

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 11

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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.

Those who have read my reviews of this series know who my favorite character is, and I am delighted to see that this final volume gives her some wonderful things to do. After ten volumes where she has been a giant chaos gremlin, Lilia is now a mother, and has to face a situation where she will be deciding her own daughter’s fate for her. And there is a brief moment – it only lasts a page – where Lilia shows fear and regret over it. Now, Lilia being Lilia, she vows that she will raise her daughter to be the sort who can laugh at this sort of responsibility. She even manages to have praise for her husband and his actions in this book. that said, at the end of the day it’s the relationship between her and Aileen that’s more important. To both her and the narrative – this has always been a story that empowers women, and it does so right to the end, where the final fight literally takes all the men and puts them in a viewing room to watch the women fight.

Seven months after the events of the tenth volume, Aileen and Claude are headed off to a conference to decide the new ruler of Hausel, who needs to be able to predict the future, and also be a woman. She’s not concerned, as she is pretty sure that there aren’t any more otome game plots that can possibly kill her, off, right? Unfortunately, the antagonists of the tenth book are back, and Diana and Cattleya are determined to make Cattleya the new ruler by force, blackmail, and various other blunt object tactics… which of course include Cattleya marrying Claude and raising his new daughter, leaving Aileen to abdicate. This should be easy because, once she realizes what’s going on, Aileen goes back to the persona she put on for Book 10, which is an Empress with a button for a brain.

Honestly, it’s amusing how easy this is for Aileen and company to take care of. The antagonists are not only in the “this is a game” mindset that even Lilia has finally abandoned, but they also think that if things go badly they can destroy the world and get a reset, not understanding this is reality and it doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t help that they’re literally the only people not to immediately see through Aileen’s facade of stupidity, as all the other princesses and queen consorts are savvy enough to see what she’s doing. The ending shows all the women in the book working together to save everyone in the country, take out Diana and Cattleya, and also save Diana and Cattleya, because this is a book that has both its heroines and villainesses live happily ever after. Well, eventually. After some prison time, perhaps.

By the end of the book, we flash forward to the future, where Aileen and Lilia’s daughters are thick as thieves, and headed off on new adventures now that it’s time to go rule a country. Will we get more of the series set in the future? Probably not, this was a pretty excellent finale. One of my favorite villainess series. I’ll miss it.

Manga the Week of 10/1/25

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SEAN: Is it September? Or October? Who can say?

ASH: There’s what I believe to be true and what I know to be true. Unfortunately, they’re not always in agreement.

SEAN: Yen Press has a 12th volume of Final Fantasy: Lost Stranger and the 2nd volume of Kindergarten Wars.

Viz Media gives us The Art of Rumiko Takahashi: Colors 1978–2024, a 400-page hardcover artbook devoted to her entire career, from UY and MI through R1/2 and IY, and other series not so easily abbreviated!

ASH: Oh, dang! I didn’t know this was coming out until now. That should be a fantastic volume.

ANNA: Oh cool!!!!

SEAN: Titan Manga debut Gran Familia, a Weekly Shonen Champion series that combines vampires and gangsters.

ASH: I feel like I’ve seen that combination before, but can’t quite place where.

ANNA: Potentially a good combo!

SEAN: Steamship has a third volume of I’ll Never Be Your Crown Princess! – Betrothed.

Somehow we’ve hit a week with no debuts for Seven Seas. We do see The Dangerous Convenience Store 6 (the final volume), Dinosaur Sanctuary 7, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi (manhua version) 11, HIKARI-MAN 5-6, Himegasaki Sakurako Is a Hot Mess 2, I’ll Forget You Starting Today, Senpai! 2 (the final volume), Karate Survivor in Another World 8, The Kingdoms of Ruin 11, Night of the Living Cat 6, Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General 12, Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 8, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 10, Succubus and Hitman 9, The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 7, and Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games 8.

And danmei gives us Case File Compendium: Bing An Ben 6.

Retailers say KUMA is releasing Director Akasaka’s Princely Training Course (Akasaka Buchou no Prince Boy Ikusei Keikaku), a one-shot from Qpa. A successful handsome guy can’t find a good partner, so decides to build one from among his workforce. They’d better be ready…

ASH: Uh, oh.

SEAN: Kodama debut (what IS it with Raijin titles returning from the dead lately?) Baki the Grappler (Grappler Baki), coming out from the beginning, the 1991 Weekly Shonen Champion series, in 2-volume omnibuses. He will be the strongest fighter. That’s the plot. Fighting and fighting. It’s pretty great if you love that, mind you.

MICHELLE: Hm. I normally like sports manga but I don’t know if I like fighting and fighting. :)

ASH: Oh, did Raijin have this one, too? Yet another reason I should probably pick this one up. Martial arts manga is an interest of mine and the artwork in Baki is also striking. (See what I did there?)

ANNA: Glad to see more classic titles coming out!

SEAN: No debuts for Kodansha either, but we see The Ayakashi Hunter’s Tainted Bride 4, A Condition Called Love 15, EDENS ZERO 33 (the final volume), GAEA-TIMA the Gigantis 3, Honeko Akabane’s Bodyguards 5, Snow & Ink 4, The Spellbook Library 3, and Tsugumi Project 7.

J-Novel Club has one light novel debut, the latest title from the author of Reincarnated As a Sword and A Late Start Tamer’s Laid Back Life. The Accursed Chef and His Pair of Furry Foodies (Noroware Ryourinin wa Meikyuu de Mofumimi Shoujo-tachi wo Sodatemasu) has a lot of popular tropes. Guy who dies saving a child gets reincarnated with cool powers – in this case, he can cook monsters. Sadly, his new life is awful. On the bright side, he seems to like beast people like most other isekai’d folks do.

ASH: I’ll admit, I was not expecting “eating monsters” to become its own subgenre.

SEAN: Other light novels: Demon Lord, Retry! 10, Pens Down, Swords Up 3, and To Another World… with Land Mines! 11.

And for manga: Death’s Daughter and the Ebony Blade 6, The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power 5, and Record of Wortenia War 11.

Hanashi Media has Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy 8.5.

Ghost Ship gives us Ero Ninja Scrolls 9.

Dark Horse Comics has an omnibus of all 3 volumes of Gantz G, the spinoff from Gantz.

ASH: I don’t think I got that far reading Gantz.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has a new one-shot, Ayakashi Moving Service (Kochira, Ayakashi Ijuu Tenshoku Service desu: Fukuoka Tenjin 400-nen Okitsune Shachou to Watashi no Koi), which is another Makino Maebaru title. A woman who just wants to be normal is searching for a job… but the job she finds is anything but!

ASH: This could be fun.

ANNA: I’m intrigued.

SEAN: Also from CIW: The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor: Operation Records (a short story volume) and Expedition Cooking with the Enoch Royal Knights 7 (the final volume).

Airship has print for Reborn as a Space Mercenary 13.

Airship has an early digital debut. The Misdeeds of an Extremely Arrogant Villain Aristocrat (Kiwamete Gouman Taru Akuyaku Kizoku no Shogyou) is a male version of the villainess plot, as our hero tries to change his fate by being the most handsome, charismatic and strongest person around. I suspect fate will try to off him anyway, it’s that kind of series.

Also for early digital: The Devil Princess 2 and The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 13.

And finally, ABLAZE has the 5th volume of Gannibal.

What a tiny week! Anything appealing?

I Shall Survive Using Potions!, Vol. 11

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By FUNA and Sukima. Released in Japan as “Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu!” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hiroya Watanabe.

My long-running thesis about the FUNA books is that Kaoru, the protagonist of this series, is the “advanced” version, the one you read after you’ve already dipped your toe into the water with Mile and Mitsuha. Naturally, this means that she is much more difficult to get into and accept. She’s a pain in the ass, to be frank, too smug for her own good, and let’s not forget the occasional atrocities. She’s also unthinking about important things, though that’s something she shares with her fellow FUNA compatriots. But this book reminds me that we are not, of course, supposed to be rooting for her, really. Oh, sure, we’ll root for Kaoru when she’s going after people who are pure evil. For the most part, though, she’s going after shysters, scammers, and lowlifes, and taking them for all they’ve got. It’s kind of … petty? As such, when we see her screw up, which she does a lot in this particular volume, it’s just fun. Seeing Kaoru suffer is fun. There, I said it.

Kaoru is continuing to try to spread the word of Edith, but has suddenly found herself surrounded by those who know her older self. Francette’s descendant Falsetto has been sent there to protect Kaoru. The Eyes of the Goddess are being sent to protect Kaoru. Birds and dogs directed by Mariel are being sent to protect Kaoru. And the King and his Chancellor are panicking whenever anyone comes near Kaoru who they have not already thoroughly vetted. Still, they go ahead with the plan, which also involves Reiko making a name for herself as a hunter by capturing a rare, highly prized ingredient, and Kyoko opening another store in the capital, which gets a grand opening by showing off how to butcher and auction off a wyvern. With all this going on, it’s perhaps no great surprise that Kaoru occasionally forgets to pay attention to “daughter dying” rumors.

I will admit it was morbidly funny seeing the subplot with the Earl’s daughter. I was pretty sure the author was not mean enough to have her actually die, but it’s signposted relatively early in the book that an Earl has a very sick daughter and is paying a lot to get cures that might help her, and Kaoru does not make the logical leap and think “maybe I should, y’know, go there as Edith”. And to top it off, when she does figure it out, we get an almost Looney-Tunes run where she storms the mansion, administers the cure, and takes off… forgetting to disguise ANYONE in her party. But the capper is seeing her rationalize this and think “it’s OK, this will be fine” and then be called out on it by everyone. Even Kyoko, who is the biggest ditz in a party of three ditzes. As for the rest of the book? Same old same old. They’re at least concerned that the orphans have work PTSD, but haven’t worked out a solution yet.

This series is not for anyone but FUNA obsessives, but if you are, it’s still fun.

Mercedes and the Waning Moon: The Dungeoneering Feats of a Discarded Vampire Aristocrat, Vol. 3

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By Fire head and KeG. Released in Japan as “Kaketa Tsuki no Mercedes: Kyūketsuki no Kizoku ni Tensei Shita kedo Suteraresō nanode Dungeon wo Seiha suru” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Maddy Willette.

This series has a tendency to do things that I find very interesting but also do things that annoy me a great deal, and this third volume does not break that tradition. Last time I said that I wished Mercedes had more friends, as without them she might get a bit too up in her own head and/or sociopathic. Clearly the author heard me and thought “I cannot give you a friend, but would you accept a predatory lesbian who lives in one of those “country ruled by women who treat men like scum worlds?”. The answer to that question is no, I don’t really want to accept that, though I suppose it could have been worse. But then we also get a lot more detail as to what this world really is, as well as what Mercedes’ goal needs to be, and while that reads very much as “exposition ho!”, it’s also a lot more interesting than seeing Mercedes murder a bunch of prisoners because she doesn’t really care about them.

It’s time for an exam at school, but the exam itself barely starts before Felix and Sieglinde are kidnapped by mysterious men in white uniforms and taken to the kingdom next door. That said, it’s not REALLY Sieglinde, as they had thought that something like this would happen. After finding out who was the traitor in their midst that helped it to happen (no surprise there), Mercedes heads over to the Beatrix Empire, named after its Empress. There, men are treated like dirt, while women are rich and arrogant. Even the men sent out to capture Sieglinde end up being degraded when they return. Fortunately, Felix is able to avoid being horribly executed by… erm, dressing up as a woman, but stronger steps are needed. Like overthrowing the Empress.

Leaving aside the bits I did not like (misandry country and its residents, including the obligatory woman who enjoys having rape fantasies), there are some interesting bits of writing here. Frederick being the traitor is such a non-surprise that I don’t even care I’m revealing it here, but I did like his ironic hell, a case of “let’s pretend that you’ve gone back in time to make things better, only you fail every time and all it shows is that you are bad and pathetic”. It was chilling but also very apt, given what a horrible person he was. Speaking of chilling things that are not really given much gravitas, the fact that Mercedes keeps the Empress Beatrix locked in her dungeon while a clone rules the throne… and that Beatrix is surrounded mostly by monsters who don’t like her much… is given very little examination. Particularly by Beatrix herself, who not only suggested it but doesn’t seem to mind? Admittedly, she fell for Mercedes once defeated, so this could be due to that, but it’s still kind of disturbing.

So, a mixed bag again. Fortunately, after a three-year-gap, a 4th volume of this just came out in Japan, so I get to have mixed feeling about it once more in a few months. For fans of stoic sociopathic loli vampires, and I wish I could say there aren’t many of those, but…

This Gyaru’s Got a Thing for… Vampire Hunters?!, Vol. 1

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By Wasan Kurata and Kewi Hayashi. Released in Japan as “Vampire Hunter ni Yasashii Gal” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gwendolyn Warner.

I didn’t have any lights-out picks from JNC’s Anime Expo license announcements, so I decided to try a few titles that didn’t grab me but might be interesting, of which this is the first. I was curious as to whether it was a yuri title, and I think the best answer I can give is that it’s definitely a yuri title by 2005-2006 definitions of yuri. That said, the yuri or potential for yuri is not why I liked this first volume so much. We’ve had a lot of light novels featuring gyaru/gals lately, but almost all of them tend to be primarily from the POV of the male narrator, as the gyaru is a love interest (and sometimes, as is the case with An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups, not quite a gyaru at all). This book, though, has the bulk of its first person narration come from Ruka, the titular gyaru, and she is fantastic, not only being a wonderful positive representation of the gyaru lifestyle, but even managing to tie that into the vampire plot. Because there are vampires. Or… there were.

Ruka is a high school gyaru who mostly lives on her own as her mom’s a nurse who’s usually on call. She’s having a wonderful high school life with her besties, Meiri and Hinaru. Meanwhile, Ginka is a vampire hunter who has spent much of her youth following in her grandmother’s footsteps and slaying every last vampire in the world. Now she’s succeeded, and the world is free from vampires. What’s a girl to do? Return to high school, of course, and naturally it’s Ruka’s school. Ginka, unfortunately, is blunt and socially inept, so things get off to a bad start, but Ruka is not only socially savvy but also a kind person, so she helps Ginka out. Then the two of them discover that maybe vampires are not quite as extinct as Ginka thought…

As the cover art might indicate, guys are the target audience for this book, but the bulk of it is dedicated to the growing friendship between Ruka and Ginka, and the guys who try to confess end up being jerks, losers, or both. Ruka manages to become Ginka’s best friend by virtue of being nice, outgoing, and caring about her. She’s also surprisingly OK with her occupation, possibly as Ginka saves her life more than once. As you’d expect, the plot takes a turn for the darker towards the back of the book, but I appreciated the fact that Ruka showing up in the middle of a battle was not just to get captured but that she used everything Ginka had given her to fight back as a gyaru against the supernatural, leaving Ginka to fight back as a vampire hunter. They make a terrific team. Also, I laughed when Ginka briefly did not recognize Ruka without her makeup.

So yeah, this was a terrific read for me, and I cannot wait to read the second (final?) volume. For fans of great female friendships.