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Spy Classroom: The High Plain of Sara

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By Takemachi and Tomari. Released in Japan as “Spy Kyoushitsu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Thrasher.

After the events of the last volume, which were dark but not as dark as the rest of the series, we’re back into pitch black with this volume, which does just about everything except kill one of the main cast off – and even that’s left up in the air at the end. It turns out, amazingly, that being a spy continues to be very hard! And that one of the few things harder than that is starting a revolution. Honestly, this particular book feels very relevant to our times right now in a way that I will try not to go into great detail about. Things aren’t helped by the fact that we’re down a good two-thirds of our regular cast. The team split up to do their big job at the end of the 9th volume, and it’s now over a year later, and they’re still split. Which is good news if you’re a fan of Sara, of course, as well as Erna and Annette, but fans of other girls will have to be patient.

The book consists of one main plotline interrupted by a subplot that happened before the start of it. The main plotline continues the adventures of Erna and Annette that we saw at the end of Volume 9, as they try to incite a revolution among the people, infiltrating an underground organization, investigating a very suspicious mine explosion, and trying their best to avoid getting noticed by Nike, who is the country’s top spy, and would absolutely destroy them. Oh yes, and Erna also has the added problem of Annette, who has basically resolved that she’s just going to get more and more evil as time goes on, and eventually will not be able to be held back. The subplot involved Sara, who objects to Klaus’ plan – not splitting everyone up, but pairing Erna and Annette, which she regards as a bad balance. Klaus takes the opportunity to show Sara how far ideals go in the spy world.

This is technically Sara’s book, despite the fact that the bulk of it is pretty much Erna’s show. I feel very bad for Erna, who after weaponizing her woobiefication finds that being a woobie is something that can happen whether she wants it to or not. By the end of this book she’s a wreck, but I’m sure she’ll get more opportunities for cool things later. Sara, probably not so much. Now, I am not so naive as to think that the author is going to kill off one of its more popular characters. I do, however, think Sara will probably sit the rest of this arc out. Which is fine, as this was a really killer performance by her. The theme of “you are a very competent spy but still about 5000 times less competent than everyone else” is a hard lesson to take in when you are trying to ensure everyone survives and lives happily every after, and it’s very Sara that she accepts the lesson and then decides to be an idealist to the end anyway. It’s no wonder that “big sis” Sybilla says about Sara, “She’s such a mom.”

By now you know what I’m going to say: next is a short story collection? Yup. Still, good start to this arc, which reminds you how difficult it can be to make folks understand who are the right people to hate.

Manga the Week of 3/18/26

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SEAN: Ask your doctor whether manga is right for you. Do not read manga while operating heavy machinery.

ASH: This is good advice. Don’t ask me how I know.

MICHELLE: Oh, dear.

SEAN: ABLAZE has Neo Faust, Tezuka’s third attempt at the Faust story, which ran in Asahi Shimbun and which he was working on when he died.

ASH: I’m glad that Tezuka has found a new home in English.

ANNA: Indeed!

SEAN: Airship has a print debut. Magic Maker: How to Create Magic in Another World (Magic Maker: Isekai Mahou no Tsukurikata) is an ongoing light novel in the genre of “I am reincarnated into a fantasy world and proceed to revolutionize it as a young child because I am so amazing”.

There’s also The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain 7 and I Got Married to the Girl I Hate Most in Class 2.

Digitally we see Though I Am an Inept Villainess 10, Too Many Losing Heroines! 7, and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 12.

Ghost Ship gives us The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You 17 and Parallel Paradise 25.

ASH: I still really, really, really, really, REALLY need to get around to reading Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love. I’m such a delinquent. And have no time. Which is only a construct, but still feels very real.

SEAN: Ize Press has Marriage of Convenience 3 and Solo Leveling 15 (Side Stories 2).

One debut for J-Novel Club. The Villainess Speaks Not (Akuyaku Reijou wa Shaberimasen) has a woman wake up in the body of the villainess again. This time, not only is she threatened by assassins and political rivals (she’s six, by the way), but a sickness has led her unable to speak, so she can’t use magic or even call for help. As it turns out, though, when you’re reincarnated and also know that you don’t have to speak to use magic, you can accomplish a lot.

ASH: That’s good, because that’s a lot to deal with.

SEAN: Also out next week in light novels: The Accursed Chef and His Pair of Furry Foodies 3 (the final volume), Black Summoner 22, Butareba -The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig- 8, Even Exiled, She’s Still the Beloved Saint! 2, Reforming an Icy Final Boss 2, The Tiny Witch from the Deep Woods 3, and The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life as a Noblewoman 4 (part 1).

On the manga end, we get The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom 7 and This Alluring Dark Elf Has the Heart of a Middle-Aged Man! 2.

Kodansha Manga debuts Omori, an Afternoon series that stars a) a young shut-in whose sister died, now starting to leave house again, and b) The same shut-in’s dream world self, who joins up with friends to try to find the missing member of their group. This is one of those “please ignore my bad description and just read it” titles.

ASH: Omocat has been on my radar for quite some time, so I’m definitely interested in this one, no matter how it’s described.

MICHELLE: Hm. I do like the ‘find the missing member’ angle.

ANNA: Sounds interesting!

SEAN: There’s also The Drops of God 3, The Ghost in the Shell: The Human Algorithm 8, Ninja Vs. Gokudo 12, Parasyte Paperback Collection 4, Re:Anima 4 (the final volume), Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement 14, and Witch Hat Atelier 14.

ASH: Oh! Always good to see a new volume of Witch Hat Atelier. Although I am now faced with a dilemma considering the gorgeous deluxe grimoire edition of the series will be debuting in May.

ANNA: Oh, man why do there have to be fancy deluxe editions too?????

SEAN: For digital we get Blue Lock 36, Elegant Yokai Apartment Life 32, I Have a Crush at Work 13, and Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 20.

One Peace Books has a 7th volume of Tales of the Tendo Family.

Seven Seas has one danmei, After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine 2.

Their manhwa debut is Our Sunny Days, a webtoon BL series about a man whose ex left their child with him and scampered, Now he’s moved to a village to start over. Can the village head be of help? Can the village head remind us this is BL? Both are likely.

ASH: Excellent.

SEAN: Tonight, I Have a Date with a Serial Killer (Konya no Serial Killer to Machiawase) is a good! Afternoon series about a psychic woman who is brought in to try to stop the titular killer. Well, OK, I suspect it’s about the guy, a cop whose fiancée was a victim of the killer.

ASH: Seems like a good guess.

MICHELLE: Hm, again. Another potentially intriguing seinen offering.

SEAN: We also see A Certain Scientific Railgun 12, Chainsmoker Cat 2, Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk 14, Dysfunctional Family Theory 2 (the final volume), I’m in Love with the Older Girl Next Door 4 (the final volume), Kemono Jihen 20, Lazy Dungeon Master 12, My Cute Cousin Always Gets Her Way 2, A Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roof 2, and Succubus and Hitman 10.

Square Enix has the 15th volume of The Apothecary Diaries manga. (You know, the Square Enix one, as opposed to the one Viz just announced. That’s going to be a pain.)

ASH: I’m not going to complain about more of The Apothecary Diaries, but it’s going to be interesting to see how this goes.

SEAN: Steamship has a 4th and final volume of Seduced by the Demon King: A Sensual Rebirth.

Tokyopop debuts Stan By Me (Kowamote-kun to Oshikatsu), a BL oneshot from Chara Selection. Two fans of an idol group agree to meet in real life… but one has a scary yakuza-type face!

ANNA: Will they overcome this??????

SEAN: And there’s also a 3rd volume of Eternal Covenant.

Viz Media debuts Sakamoto Holidays, a one-shot comedy spinoff of the popular Jump manga.

Also from Viz: After God 9, Dogsred 5, Fool Night 8, Haikyu!! 3-in-1 8, Kaiju No. 8 15, Kingdom 5, Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. 12, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 25, Sakamoto Days 21, Trillion Game 10, and Undead Unluck 24.

Yen On just has Magical Explorer 11.

What are you getting next week, assuming that you can read manga without a prescription?

To the Monster I Love, Vol. 1

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By ryunosuke and Gesoking. Released in Japan as “Bakemono no Kimi ni Tsugu” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Laura Sitzer.

I was on the fence about picking this series up, as let’s face it, I read way too many light novels, and the first I heard about it was hearing complaints about the way the title is translated. (My Japanese is not good enough to go into what it should or shouldn’t be, but the title as chosen certainly can fit the book.) As it turns out, I enjoyed this a great deal. It may be a tad grimmer than I expected, with a high body count overall, but none of those deaths are in the main cast. Instead, the main cast are defined by basically being really sweet – almost ridiculously so at times. The series is about solving crimes, but at the end of the day it’s also about a man who is in love with four women, and they love him, and while the women may not be happy with each other, they’re very happy with what they have now. Also, unlike a lot of “contest winners”, this feels like the start of a series.

We open on an interrogation, as a frankly far too manic researcher has a young man tied to a chair, and wants to ask him questions about his actions of the last month. As it turns out, Norman, the tied-up young man, acts as a detective/detective’s assistant/minder/lover to four different girls, all of whom are designated Unlaw by this city – Unlaw meaning essentially they have magical powers. We hear about how he and Shizuku, a stoic musician, solve a gruesome society murder. About how he and Eltiel, a huge and loyal blonde woman, investigate a depressing string of murders in the slums. About how he and Lonsday, a brilliant but easily bored detective, look into a “phantom thief” stealing from a museum. And about how he and Clareth, a schoolgirl, are lured into a trap involving a train car full of corpses. Is Normal really just a protagonist in a light novel? Or is it something more sinister?

I had expected Normal to be the weak link, as frankly he’s mostly a blank space that the women project themselves on to. But as we find out, that’s on purpose, and I appreciated the fact that his love for the four girls wasn’t to keep them in line, or because that’s the best way to use them, but because he really does love them all as humans, not Unlaw. The girls are, let’s face it, all types set to appeal to a light novel reader in general and a Dengeki Bunko competition judge in particular. Eltiel in particular hits about 5 or 6 buttons alone with her backstory, powers, and appearance. (She’s also the nicest of the four, although that’s by design given the type of “monster” she is.) The final scene also has a really good battle between not-so-blank Norman and the villain, and shows that deep down, the man is a sweetie pie. Though admittedly a sweetie pie who will not hesitate to kill a lot of folks to protect his loved ones.

In the end, they’re all rewarded with a detective agency, which means that the girls may have to – shock, horror – interact more in Book Two. If you like supernatural mystery books, and don’t mind that it feels like a book written to be an anime rather than a light novel, this is quite well done.

Notorious No More: The Villainess Enjoys Feigning Incompetence, Vol. 3

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By Hanako Arashi and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Kitai no Akujo, Sandome no Jinsei de “Musai Munou” wo Tanoshimu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Mac B. Gill.

So this volume, at long last, gives us a good long look about what happened in the past, even if actual flashbacks to the death of Beljeanne, while there, don’t give the entire story either. One thing that has come up from those who know the real story is why, after Beljeanne’s death, the ones who benefited the most from it and ended up stronger than ever are the ones who hated her the most. Basically, Beljeanne’s plan did not differentiate between her allies and enemies. Towards the end of this book, while talking with one of the antagonists, Laviange makes it perfectly clear: Beljeanne grew up not knowing love, and so why did everyone expect that she would feel it towards other people? I called Laviange a sociopath and got some disagreement, though I think if I say “comedic sociopath” it would be accurate. Beljeanne, though, is the real deal.

Laviange is hanging out in some of the damaged lands that her class is trying to come up with ways to heal, with her sacred beast/puppy by her side. She is then interrupted by two new people: a priest who is trying to essentially get her on the side of the church at the behest of the pope, and a noble who she vaguely recognizes as Mirandalinda, Heinz’s ex-fiancee who desperately wants to get back together with him despite that now being pretty impossible. More importantly, though, Mirandalinda is also interested in looking at the pretty boys around her and imagining them in BL situations, so Laviange takes a shine to her right away, though Mirandalinda’s crippling shyness may not be helping. That said, it turns out that the reason the pope wants Laviange to come to the church is for a different reason. Something a bit more… evil.

I talked before about Laviange’s current life and her past life, but of course there was another life in between those, the one she lived in Japan, where she married, had kinds and grandkids, and died at a ripe old age. It’s very important, because while what little we’ve heard of her Japanese life suggests that she was eccentric, it also shows her capable of love and caring, something Laviange accepts as she thinks back upon that life… but something that she’s struggling with now that she’s back in her original world. This book is, in many ways, a broad comedy about a young woman who has no desire to deal with serious matters seriously – honestly, the book is really freaking weird in ways I can’t begin to describe – but at its core it’s about those who remember the broken woman she used to be and trying to get her to grow and change and learn to open her heart. And if I’m being honest, they’re still struggling.

Now that we have a major subplot, if not dealt with, at least expounded on, what’s next for Laviange? Whatever it is, she will likely be very silly at it.

The Tale of a Little Alchemist Blessed by the Spirits, Vol. 2

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By yocco and Junsui. Released in Japan as “Outo no Hazure no Renkinjutsushi: Hazure Shokugyou datta node, Nonbiri Omise Keieishimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Andria McKnight. Adapted by Lex Reno.

One of the issues that a lot of isekai/reincarnation books have is the desire to make the main character not only overpowered, but also the only one who’s overpowered. They can do ludicrous stunts that make the normal people around them shudder. They’ve got the finest sword, the best magic, the most potent… you know. And everyone around them exists to be amazed. That’s why I was particularly pleased with this second volume of Little Alchemist. Sure, Daisy is still incredible, doing things that astound everyone. But she’s paired here with a dwarf girl who also is blessed by a spirit and can also do ludicrous things, and then meets and elf girl who is incomprehensibly overpowered. Their bodyguards are the two top adventurers in the country. Daisy’s brother and sister may turn out to be magic users beyond comprehension. It’s nice to see, and makes Daisy feel less like an author’s pet. Overpowered traits for all!

Things are going great for Daisy, who at ten years old finally has her own shop, a combination alchemist’s shop/bakery. And both halves of that take up equal amounts of her time. Sure, she’s continually seeking to improve her alchemy, deploy healing spells by essentially hurling potions at the person in need, and saving the kingdom (again) from the horrors of lead and mercury-based cosmetics, but she’s also here to make cheese! And invent hamburgers! And fried chicken! Oh yes, and also going on a quest for ingredients with her new friend Lynn, a dwarf with a very big hammer. That leads them to challenge a tower that no one has ever made it to the top of – they all died. Can Daisy manage to get past the part where he kills you?

The book knows exactly what its readers want, frankly. The vibe is the most important part of an atelier book, and that means that we’re not going to see Daisy struggling or having anxiety about her work. Things work out in this book,. and that’s fine. She doesn’t QUITE make it to the top of that tower, but she does solve the part where he kills you, and no one gets killed (except him). She not only saves one of the three world trees that keep the nation from falling to ruin, but she also then heals it so that it’s better than ever before. Elves threaten her, only to bow when they figure out who she is. This book is here for a relaxed vibe, and you can have the bubblegum, it’s not needed. Even when she’s trapped in a cave that’s designed to murder people, she gets out – though she does exhaust her mana. I guess that could be a crisis? Ish?

And I didn’t even mention my favorite part, which is that adventurers are delighted with her high-quality potion, not because of the strength, but because having to drink 5-6 normal potions makes you have to pee. So yeah, regarding plot and characterization? There are probably better series. Regarding atelier vibes? This is just right.

Looks Like a Job for a Maid! The Tales of a Dismissed Supermaid, Vol. 2

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By Yasuaki Mikami and Kinta. Released in Japan as “Maid nara Touzen desu. Nureginu wo Kiserareta Bannou Maid-san wa Tabi ni Deru Koto ni Shimashita” by Earth Star Novel. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Sylvia Gallagher.

I do appreciate that, in a story that features a ridiculously overpowered maid, her friend the incredibly powerful mage, her friend the genius inventor, and her friend the incredibly strong wolf girl, that this is a series that still manages to have its feet firmly on the ground. Sure, it would be a lot of fun to see every single problem defeated through the power of being a really good maid, but that’s not the story the author is trying to tell. We especially see that in the longest part of the book, where our party arrives at a beach resort town that has a significant slum part, and while it would be easy for Nina to magically clean it better and hand out free meals, that won’t solve the underlying problem, which is capitalism. Besides, Nina is also dealing with larger issues. As we see in the second story in this book, she’s got a bit of PTSD.

This is an ongoing narrative, but the book can also be divided fairly easily into four parts. 1) Nina goes to thank the merchants responsible for helping her with the preservative issue at the end of Book 1, only to find they’re going under because of corporate espionage and also their manager is a love-besotted dimwit; 2) Their search for Tien’s parents leads then to a mercenary company that supposedly has lapalunes in their huge mansion… but won’t let them be seen; 3) The beach resort plot I mentioned above; and 4) Nina is accosted by both a noble who wants to make her his “third wife”, and his chief maid, who recognizes Nina has been trained by a “drunken psychopath” (Nina does not deny this), and demands that they have a maid battle! Meanwhile, Nina is finding it harder and harder to hide from whose who want to find her.

There are two really strong parts of this novel. (The weak part is the first story, which needs to rely on everyone being either incredibly dumb or incredibly forgiving or both.) The first is at the end of the second story, where Nina is set up in exactly the same way that she was at the start of the series, and accused of theft. This causes her to come close to a complete nervous breakdown, and I think if Tien hadn’t yoinked her away from there ASAP she would have. Nina tends to think of herself as a maid and has little sense of self, and they need to do something about that or this is going to come up again. The other is at the end of the maid competition, where the other maid claims victory by doing things the fastest, but Nina genuinely wins because she knows being a maid is not about laundry or cooking or errands, it’s about people and how to make their life better. You are a maid, not a robot or a slave.

The book ends with the party being summoned to the Empress, and I suspect there’s only so long that they can avoid having to deal with the main problem of this series: Nina is too valuable to be allowed to happily live her life adventuring with friends. She needs to be chained down somewhere and forced to be brilliant for the state. I look forward to seeing how the author gets out of this bind.

The Twelve Kingdoms, Book Four: Sea God in the East, Vast Sea in the West

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By Fuyumi Ono and Akihiro Yamada. Released in Japan as “Juni Kokuki: Higashi no Wadatsumi, Nishi no Sōkai” by X Bunko White Heart. Released in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. Translated by Kim Morrissy. Adapted by Monica Sullivan.

Everyone loves a good scoundrel who’s secretly smart and caring. They’re a very popular fictional trope. The scoundrel – almost always male, as in this book, though I have seen excellent scoundrel heroines as well – is the sort that always looks like they’re a good for nothing. They drink a lot, they don’t dress or stand properly, they’re always hanging out in the bad parts of town rather than, y’know, ruling the country. It’s always fun to read about how everyone gradually realizes that it was all part of a clever plan, and that in reality everything they’ve been doing had a very good reason. Note that I said it was fun to READ about. As it turns out, when the previous king was renowned for being awful, your kingdom is on the verge of collapsing, and you’re only just starting to recover. having a king who never goes to meetings and is hanging out in brothels can, in fact, be bad.

We’ve met the king of En and his kirin before, helping Youko establish herself and her own kingdom, and later on Taiki needing to choose a new ruler, but it’s clear in those that he’s well-established. Here we go back a bit and see what things were like when he was just getting started. The previous king was a tyrant who nearly destroyed the kingdom, and the land was arid and inhospitable. Twenty years later, the land is starting to recover and the domains that make up the kingdom are beginning to find their feet. But it’s a struggle, and things are not helped by the new king, Shouryuu, who seems to want to fire his most loyal subjects and replace them with people who dislike him. The king, as I noted above, avoids meetings and likes to hang out in brothels. As such, it’s not a surprise when the chancellor of the most prosperous domain decides to have the king step down and let him take over.

As always with this book, the writing is stellar and I barely know where to begin. Shouryuu *is* thinking about the kingdom, and wants to try to get by with the least amount of lives lost. Particularly as his kirin is so sensitive to blood and death. That said, it is interesting that this book pushes back against the idea of kings ruling in the way they do, especially given that this is a world with real gods who have kings chosen by what amounts to people with magical ruler sense. In a normal fantasy universe, there might be a much better argument against Shouryuu’s rule, but here the world is literally set up to show he’s the one they need – which turns out to be true, the guy starting the rebellion is a complete loser who you get to hate. Imagine Tenya from My Hero Academia, only evil. I will also warn you that there *is* bloodshed here, and it’s not the bad guys who die. Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the kid who talks to youma, who turns out to be a far more interesting villain than the other guy, and I hope we see him again.

I hope I don’t need to tell people how good this is and that you should be reading it. Next time, it’s the first of a two-parter where we finally catch up with Youko and see how smoothly things have gone for her. (My guess: not very.)

If the Heroine Wants My Fiancé, I’ll Marry a Yandere Villain Instead!, Vol. 2

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By Kobako Takara and Jun Natsuba. Released in Japan as “Heroine ni Konyakusha wo Torareru Mitai node, Akuyaki Reisoku (Yandere Character) wo Neraimasu” by B’s-Log Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Emma Schumacker.

One of the problems that a lot of fiction has, be it in English or Japanese, is the trouble with sequels. In North America it feels like you can’t sell a fantasy series these days without it being a trilogy of some sort. Japanese books are frequently contest winners, which means they’re self-contained in one volume, but if they do well then more volumes are always around the corner. And sometimes a series just doesn’t need to be ongoing. This is the trouble I’m running into with the second volume of Yandere Villain. It felt very self-contained when I finished the first book, even though we hadn’t hit a wedding. And now we have a second book, which introduces the inevitable plot complications, and it feels very half-baked. I feel as if the author didn’t really have a plan, so decided to write what they like instead. Which is good news if you like fluff and bratty teens.

Having gotten engaged and solved their immediate issues, Cynthia and Siraiya are ready for a nice, relaxing vacation at her family’s hot springs hotel. All to themselves, where Cynthia dreams of growing closer as a couple… though she’ll find over the course of this book that, due to no sex ed at all, Siraiya is not remotely ready for anything physical. Unfortunately for both of them, the crown prince shows up at the hotel as well… and he’s got cat ears and a tail. This turns out to be due to a book he opened, but Cynthia knows it’s really the subject of a special event in the game world. Unfortunately, this isn’t a game world, and there’s an actual power struggle between Adelberd and his younger brother. Cat ears and a tail are probably not going to win points. Can Cynthia find a way to break the curse? And wait, now the second prince is here as well!

I will admit, the author has a way of writing a bratty teen who’s forced into power struggles he doesn’t want and wants to be more mature than he really is. Rutherford feels very true to life. He also ground on my every nerve, especially when he developed his puppy love crush on Cynthia. We also finally get to meet Adelberd’s fiancée Estellise, and they too have a “oh no, but if we hold hands that would be far too much!” issue. Clearly the otome game they’re from is very G-rated. On the bright side, I did like the resolution of the plot, which allowed Cynthia to save the day in a completely ridiculous way. And the fact that the Japanese word ‘yandere’, unknown here, has been taken by everyone but Cynthia to have a completely positive and not creepy at all meaning is an amusing running gag.

There’s two more volumes apparently, but I think I’m stopping here. The final volume has a wedding cover, so I assume things go well. Which is… not what actual yandere fans want, I think? But oh well.

Goodbye, Horrible Fiancé, Hello, Fun Magic School Life!, Vol. 1

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By Mashimesa Emoto and Nitou Akane. Released in Japan as “Konyakusha wo Sutetara, Tanoshii Mahou Gakkou no Seikatsu ga Matteimashita” by GC Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

Now that we have a glut in the market when it comes to broken engagement light novels, it can be hard to really sell one to readers as a reviewer. I enjoyed this book, it has a likeable lead, some fun scenes, good support. It does not really, however, have that one thing that makes it stand out of the pack from other books with this exact premise. There’s no quirk, no eccentricity that made the publisher go “wow!”. The publisher put this out as the author has a proven track record (Expedition Cooking with the Enoch Knights, also released by CIW) and this was a title the author really wanted to see published (they bluntly state this in the afterword). So you don’t have to buy it. But again, if you do buy it, it’s a lot of fun… once you get past the first twenty pages or so. Because trust me, the horrible fiancé thing is not a lie.

Misha von Ritual is a viscount’s daughter in a snowy minor territory in the North. She’s engaged and ready to do her all for the territory. Then her fiancé shows up and says that he’s gotten her cousin pregnant. And is marrying her. But he still wants Misha as his second wife. To keep earning money for the child her cousin is now carrying. Who will take over the territory. Oh, and he says he has no plans to sleep with her. Needless to say, she punches the shit out of him, and after consulting with her parents, the errant fiancé and his pregnant girl are hurled out of the kingdom. The parents, who were very lax about this, offer Misha anything she wants, and she asks if she can go to the magic school in the center of the country. It will be hard to get in, but if she does she’ll be happy. Because she has (gasp!) past life memories from Japan, and remembers a certain series of novels about a magic school…

It’s never explicitly stated, so I’m gonna assume she means Diane Duane’s books rather than that other author. One thing I did like is that the application process has multiple tests, takes an entire year, and it’s very easy to fail. In fact, Misha would not have gotten in (her uncle dropped out, an automatic black mark for full scholarships like she needs) if she hadn’t impressed a teacher with her herb talents and ability to essentially work for her tuition. I also appreciated the character of Alice. I will always love a girl who appears at first to be a haughty, arrogant girl but who it turns out is just really awkward and has resting bitch face. As for her obvious love interest, I worried as he seemed to be a teacher, but the end of the book shows that isn’t the case, so I will allow them to be cute together. Also, she has a slime familiar. Everything’s better with slimes. (Don’t worry, he’s a super powerful slime spirit, and can basically do anything required of him.)

There’s at least one more volume of this, and I’ll read it. If you like magic academies and heroines who are quietly awesome without the narrative beating us over the head with it, this is a winner.

Manga the Week of 3/11/26

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SEAN: Please help us, manga. You’re our only hope.

ASH: It does seem like that sometimes.

ANNA: Some form of hope is needed!

SEAN: Yen On has another huge clump of books. Casebook of Kurumi Tokisaki, Magic Detective (Majutsu Tantei Tokisaki Kurumi no Jikenbo) is a spinoff of Date a Live, showing one of its most popular characters solving crimes.

Legend of the Far East’s Savior (Kyokutou Kyuuseishu Densetsu) is a sci-fi mecha anime except that it’s actually a light novel. Demons were summoned during World War II, and they now rule the world. A hundred years later, a boy with memories of a different Japan fights back using giant robots.

ASH: Mecha novels can actually be pretty good, in my experience.

ANNA: I’m a little curious!

SEAN: Lycoris Recoil: Recovery Days is another short story collection based on the hit anime.

To the Monster I Love (Bakemono no Kimi ni Tsugu) stars a man who is charged with stopping four supernatural women who are running amuck outside a city that bans anything magical. Betcha they fall for him.

ASH: They just might! (I’ll admit to being a little wary of the premise that the women’s supernatural abilities are gained from unstable emotions, but that could legitimately be interesting if handled well.)

ANNA: I thought he was charged with shopping for supernatural women and I was imagining an entirely different manga.

SEAN: Also out from Yen On: 86–EIGHTY-SIX Alter.2, Bungo Stray Dogs 9, How to Eat Life 2, Liar Liar 7, My Happy Marriage 9, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Ex 6, Spy Classroom 10, Sword of the Stallion 2, and To Sir, Without Love: I’m Divorcing You 2.

Yen Press has just one title. Demi-Human Sharehouse (Ajin Sharehouse) is a horny fantasy series about a shy office worker who wants to be able to make friends, so moves into a boarding house… which turns out to be filled with supernatural women! Will he make friends? Or “make” friends?

ASH: Only one? And I feel like there was at least one other manga about this already?

SEAN: Viz Media debuts Akira Failing in Love (Momose Akira no Hatsukoi Hatanchuu), a Shonen Sunday series about two childhood friends who had crushes on each other, and now that she’s moved back to their country hometown she’s ready to confess! If only they weren’t both in a comedy manga that revolves around misunderstandings. But what are the odds of that?

MICHELLE: Shonen Sunday romance is usually pretty appealing, though!

ASH: As a country kid, I can appreciate the setting.

SEAN: Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Manga – Book of Scarabia is the latest arc in that ongoing series.

It also has the 37th and final volume of Komi Can’t Communicate, which I mention here as they also put out a hardcover self-help book, Komi Can’t Communicate: Making Friends and Not Scaring People. It’s written by a health and human services writer who uses the world of Komi to give advice on dealing with social anxiety.

ASH: The self-help book looks delightful, by the way.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Akane-banashi 15, Fly Me to the Moon 31, Minecraft: The Manga 5, One Piece 111, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 29, and Tsumiki Ogami’s Not-So-Ordinary Life 5.

ASH: I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read of Akane-banashi and Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle; I should read more.

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts Deep 3, which is in their “Noir Caesar” imprint, an imprint I was unaware of. It’s a Big Comic title about a young basketball player who freezes up when he gets close to the basket. The solution… shoot from far away!

MICHELLE: Welp. I have instantly pre-ordered this.

ASH: Sports manga!

SEAN: On-the-Job Training (Shinonome-kun to wa Dekinai Kankei), a josei title from Comic Qurie. A woman who avoids love after a bad experience is tasked by her company to assist their top salesman after he gets off-his-ass drunk at a party. Then she finds this popular guy may also have love issues…

ASH: Josei manga!

ANNA: Yay!!!!!

SEAN: Tokyopop also has a 2nd volume of We’re Not Cut Out to Be Lovers.

SuBLime has Engage 4 and Trickster’s Tale: Hu Yan Zhuan 2.

Steamship debuts The Tea Ceremony Master’s Rich and Steamy Service: Spoiled by His Skillful Hands (Sadou-ka Danshi no Noukou Ecchi na Otemae: Gokujou na Yubizukai de Dekiaisarechau), a one-shot that ran in Love Parfait. A man saves a woman from some harassment, and they get along well. Very well, they go to a hotel and she has a magical first time. Then she sees him again… and he’s a tea ceremony master? An amazing surprise for people who don’t read titles.

ASH: Completely unexpected.

SEAN: They also have Fire in His Fingertips: A Flirty Fireman Ravishes Me with His Smoldering Gaze 11.

Square Enix manga debuts A Howl of the Heart (Sennenki Sue ni Hoeru Koi), a BL series from Gangan BLiss. (It must be really gay if Gangan can’t even put it in GFantasy.) Two soldiers are also lovers, but one day one of them is killed. The other vows to murder the enemy general responsible… but two years later, finds the enemy general looks like his old lover!

MICHELLE: Is he the Dread Pirate Roberts?

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: And they have The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 29.

Seven Seas’ danmei is just one title, The Wife Comes First: Qi Wei Shang 2.

All Seven Seas’ debuts are in its other imprints this week. But we see Asumi-chan is Interested in Lesbian Brothels! 6, The Big Apple 5, D-Frag! 19, Dungeon Friends Forever 6, I Quit My Apprenticeship as a Royal Court Wizard to Become a Magic Item Craftswoman 5, I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons 4, and I’m in Love with the Villainess 10.

One Peace Books has a 10th volume of My Death Flags Show No Sign of Ending.

Kodansha Manga debuts Marrying the Dark Knight (For Her Money) (Gakeppuchi Reijou wa Kurokishi-sama wo Horesasetai!), a Comic Yuri Hime title about a woman whose sister needs medical care, so she agrees to marry the mysterious Dark Knight. Then she finds out why the dark knight is so mysterious. Hint: This is a Yuri Hime title.

ASH: Oh-ho!

ANNA: Things like this happen!

SEAN: Also in print: Initial D Omnibus 9, Kaijin Fugeki: Kindled Spirits 2, The Magnificent Bastard 2, Tank Chair 7, and Welcome to the Ballroom 12 (the first new volume since 2022).

MICHELLE: Oh! That’s the second dance-centric title in as many weeks to have a new volume after a long break!

ASH: Very nice!

SEAN: And digitally we get The Café Terrace and its Goddesses 20, Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 12 and Yozakura Quartet 34 (the final volume).

One print debut for J-Novel Club. Ascendance of a Bookworm: Hannelore’s Fifth Year at the Royal Academy (Honzuki no Gekokujou: Hannelore no Kizokuin Gonensei) is a continuation of the main series after the final volume, but Rozemyne is now a supporting player and the main character is Hannelore!… oh god, poor Hannelore. She is not ready to be a main character.

ASH: I did not realize there was another series!

SEAN: Also in print: An Archdemon’s Dilemma 19, the 5th light novel volume of The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows, the 3rd manga volume of The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows, the 4th manga volume of Campfire Cooking in Another World With My Absurd Skill, Gushing over Magical Girls 9, Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World Omnibus 4, Making Magic: The Sweet Life of a Witch Who Knows an Infinite MP Loophole 4, and My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World 4.

No digital debuts for JNC. On the light novel end, we see The Diary of a Middle-Aged Sage’s Carefree Life in Another World 9, Notorious No More 3, The Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival 6, Pens Down, Swords Up 4, Repeated Vice 2, and The Water Magician Arc 1 6

On the manga end, we get Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 4 6, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill 11, My Tiny Senpai 4, and The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World 8.

Ghost Ship debuts Girls Zombie Party, a Web Comic Gamma Plus title about a zombie apocalypse, except only the boys become zombies! Can the girls find the strength to survive? The fact that this is a Ghost Ship title makes me think I know the answer, but maybe things will go well.

ASH: Hmmm.

SEAN: Also from Ghost Ship: The Elf Sisters Can’t Wait for the Night 4 and Imaizumi Brings All the Gals to His House 5.

Drawn and Quarterly has a 3rd omnibus volume of The Legend of Kamui.

ASH: Yes! I am still so incredibly excited this series is being released.

SEAN: Dark Horse Manga has Blood Blockade Battlefront Omnibus 3.

Airship’s print debut is I Wish I Could Meet You Again on the Hill Where That Flower Blooms (Ano Hana ga Saku Oka de Kimi to Mata Deaetara), a one-shot light novel in the genre of “tragic yet heartwarming book about teenagers and time travel that gets made into a movie”. A genre Airship has so many of.

Also in print: Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 10, The Misdeeds of an Extremely Arrogant Villain Aristocrat 2, and Reincarnated as a Sword 18.

Airship has a digital-only debut: Reborn as an Assassin’s Apprentice (Assassin no Tamago ni Tensei Shita), which advertises itself as the darkest of fantasies without a shred of morality. For you 13-year-olds who are getting beaten up and hung in the locker every day, then, I guess.

ASH: For every book, its reader.

ANNA: Sometimes I wonder!

SEAN: In early digital, there is The Devil Princess 3 and Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 9.

Any manga in there to make you happier?

Strawberry Princess: The Time Loop Defying Villainess

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By Hanami Nishine and Renta. Released in Japan as “Shiitagerareta Maihime wa Seijo no Loop ni Ichigo de Aragau” on the Shousetsuka ni Narou website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Zihan Gao.

Now that we have so many of them, to the point where protagonists are actually familiar with the genre, I think it’s appropriate to say that some people are getting a little too into the “trapped in an otome game” mindset. Admittedly, in this particular case it appears to be a coping mechanism to try to ignore the main character’s wretched life to date, but still, a lot of things happen here because Amelia, the titular princess, is stuck in “there’s nothing I can do to stop this route from happening, so I’ll try something else”. Now, as it turns out, it is quite difficult to stop the route, but generally speaking, I’d like people to try. That said, I will forgive Amelia for this, as she is also a bit of an airhead, even before she gets her memories from Japan back, and therefore knows what can save her. Strawberries.

When we first see Amelia, she’s being pushed to the ground and having her late mother’s necklace stolen from her by her stepsister. She currently lives in bare poverty in the Fifth’s Consort’s home, which barely gets any food or supplies, forcing her to learn how to farm and climb walls, giving her a tanned look. (The artist presumably saw “silver hair” and proceeded to ignore this entirely.) She has one major thing she can do: she can summon strawberries and strawberry-themed things. (This is not as bizarre as it might sound, given her late mother summoned watermelons.) She’s very familiar with this scene, however, as this is the 5th time it’s happened. Her tormenter is looping routes, trying to complete every target male, and the last one on the list is Amelia’s own fiance. Time to fight back! Wait, no, she has little confidence and hasn’t seen her fiance in four years. Time to sell strawberries!

Amelia is a very familiar type, being naive, a bit daft, and unaware of her own charms, though that last one is explained by the abuse she’s suffered. Her one remaining servant is her butler/father figure, who stays on partly as he had a crush on her mother but mostly as it’s the right thing to do. As for the absent fiance, I liked him a lot as well. Once he figures out what’s actually happening, he’s quick to take steps. He also cries a lot, which is rare even among shoujo romantic male leads, and it’s not made fun of. The solution to all this comes as a slight surprise, but the clues are there if you look for them, so I accepted it. Most of all, this book, despite its dark backstory, has a light, silly core, doing things like tripping up the main villainess by having her slip on strawberry jam, etc. The heroine has a motif, and by god, she’s going to use it.

This is done in one, which makes sense – hard to see this plot getting stretched more. The author also writes The Dragon’s Soulmate is a Mushroom Princess!, but that doesn’t have strawberries, so can’t be as good.

Haibara’s Teenage New Game+, Vol. 9

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By Kazuki Amamiya and Gin. Released in Japan as “Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Esther Sun.

Natsuki’s do-over has been going pretty well. He’s got friends, he’s slimmed down and folks think he is handsome, he is able to hold conversations and help others – sometimes to a ridiculous shonen degree – and he has a girlfriend, and their relationship is sugary sweet (what little of it we see in this volume). So it makes sense that it’s time to move on to the next generation of socially inept malcontents, and that means Saya, the first-year who knew him in middle-school and is trying to achieve the same thing he did. Unfortunately, she’s blunt to the point of being mean, and doesn’t care about other people. Or anything other than music, really. And given that she’s in a band with Mei, whose self-confidence is low at the best of times, that’s not great. Is this band that he’s trying to help Serika take to Budokan doomed before it begins? Meanwhile, back in Natsuki’s original timeline, the author takes every reader who was socially inept in high school and murders them.

Let’s leave original Natsuki for later and talk about the main star of this series. He’s more visibly struggling this time around, which I regard as a positive – by now, everyone who is close to him knows that he’s not naturally extroverted and is working hard to change himself. He has been practicing like crazy for the band, but it’s notable that by the end of the book he’s still told he’s not very good – he can’t simply magically gain years of musical experience. It’s also a good thing Hikari is his girlfriend, because he still has a bad case of harem protagonist disease, not really understanding why all those girls want to be in light music till he has it explained for him. As for Saya, she’s also very relatable. One of the hardest things to do as a person is to listen and respond, and that means paying attention to others – knowing their names, hobbies, etc. She’s got to put in the work! At least her love song was so blatant that even Natsuki picked up on it. Oh yes, and Mei’s girlfriend had some of the funnier moments in the book.

So, interspersed with the main chapters we have the original Natsuki Haibara, in the first timeline, trying his best to have a high school debut. It’s genuinely painful to read. Much like Saya throughout this book, he just doesn’t get it, and the person who is trying their best to fit in and be active but cannot understand any social cues is a very hard person to be around when you are neurotypical. Why don’t they just get it? This leads to the epilogue, set in an original timeline where Natsuki did not go back in time to have a do-over. We see a 28-year-old Natsuki, who, without the benefit of time-travel and his past life memories, has had to do what the rest of us eventually did and learn how to be social and function in society by grinding it out day by day. He’s rewarded with a new co-worker… honestly, this final scene felt REALLY fast and tacked on. I understand that the author wanted to throw original Natsuki a bone, and probably does not intent to revisit this timeline. But sheesh, that feels like one of those fake game routes where everything looks fine and happy and then you realize there’s something wrong. It was too pat.

Still, that’s other timeline’s complaint. This timeline is going well, and things look great. Provided there’s not a new volume coming out soon in Japan with an oddly ominous cover, I think Natsuki should be just fine.

My Girlfriend Cheated on Me, and Now My Flirty Underclassman Won’t Leave Me Alone!, Vol. 1

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By Yu Omiya and Ale. Released in Japan as “Kanojo ni Uwakisareteita Ore ga, Koakuma na Kouhai ni Natsukareteimasu” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Benjamin Daughety. Adapted by RFD.

I try not to carp too much about a book that fulfills all its goals and doesn’t really do much wrong, even if I personally was not entertained. I picked this up because it promised to be about college kids rather than the usual “second year of high school” start we tend to get in romcoms. Indeed, everyone in this is in college. There are drinking parties. The main character is not a virgin. (Well, according to him, but given the plot of this book, I’m not sure I trust his word.) The flirty underclassman is very cute. And very flirty. Our hero not only has a flirty underclassman, but also a BFF, who is also hitting on him constantly, not that he is aware of this. And there’s even the ex-girlfriend, who shows up in a couple of scenes. The main character makes questionable decisions, but rises slightly above “everyone falls for him as he treats women normally”. But only very slightly. As for my opinion? Meh.

Yuuta is preparing for his one-year-anniversary with his girlfriend Reina, but when he goes to her home he sees her holding hands with another man. Naturally, he breaks up with her. (I will pause in case you need to see a doctor for being unable to unroll your eyes.) Now, it’s Christmas, and he’s started smoking and is generally miserable, with only his incredibly hot best friend Ayaka to keep him company. Then he accidentally runs into a girl handing out flyers dressed as Santa, and helps pick them up after they fall. She’s Mayu, and she gloms onto Yuuta immediately, going out for a meal with him, then offering to clean his house, and by the end of the volume she’s almost moved in. Meanwhile, Ayaka keeps inviting Yuuta out to mixers and parties, which he reluctantly goes along with because they’re besties. Oh, and Reina? Says she wasn’t cheating on him.

If you thought “is this cheating going to all be one big misunderstanding because our college-aged young man has the emotional maturity of a nine-year-old?”, congratulations, you have read enough books in this genre. The girls in this are mostly fun, and Mayu, albeit a bit invasive, is genuinely likeable. Yuuta is frustrating. He’s mature except when the narrative needs him not to be. He knows how to compliment a woman, he knows when to ask what’s wrong and when to shut up, and he’s “safe” in a way that some other guys in this volume aren’t. But boy, you’d better be ready for “gosh, why are all these women in my life can’t imagine” obliviousness. As for the “she was holding hands with another man so I broke up with her”, we’re never actually shown the break-up or the aftermath, we just hear about it after the fact, so it could have been maturely done… but doesn’t sound like it.

If you like harem romcoms, this isn’t a bad one. I assume if you like harem romcoms, you’re used to the oblivious lead male. I do warn you, if you’re rooting for his best friend or his ex, please remember who’s on the cover of the first volume and in the title. I think I’m good with stopping here, though.

The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain, Vol. 7

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By Bakufu Narayama and Ebisushi. Released in Japan as “Danzaisareta Akuyaku Reijō wa, Gyakkō-shite Kanpekina Akujo o Mezasu” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Alyssa Niioka. Adapted by Vida Cruz-Borja.

Please note that spoilers are far more unavoidable than usual this volume. If you want to remain unspoiled, please try to read the review after the book. I’ll stick the cover art here to hopefully mask it.

So, let’s talk about the Unreliable Narrator. Starting off by spoiling a 100-year-old book for you, the most famous example is probably Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. It upset a lot of people when it came out, and folks who were especially invested in trying to figure out the mystery, rather than reading it as a cracking good yarn, especially felt betrayed. They said it was cheating, not playing fair. The author said that all the clues were there if one kept an open mind. And the narration did actually play fair. There were omissions, and subterfuges in it. But you didn’t see a whole chunk of book being given first-person narration by someone who then turned out to literally be lying solely to the reader. That’s why this volume makes me mad.

The book alternates, at least for the first half. Claudia’s part of the book has her learning that the Church has chosen a new Saint, and that she is one of the two who have been chosen to help the Saint during her canonization, which will involve not touching men, not eating meat, etc. She’s also dealing with a refugee problem, which is tricky because, as both her brother and her maid/best friend point out, she gets too emotionally invented in everything. She also gets very mad at herself for not seeing things that are only obvious in hindsight and not being perfect. Typical Claudia, in other words. The other half of the book follows a sister in a girls-only monastery who gradually opens her heart to the injustice of the world, saves a young boy from being whipped to death, and uses her new Saint position to help war-torn refugees. Then the author says “whoops, I had the switch on her back set to good by accident” and everything turns terrible.

I’m not sure if I was supposed to be fooled by the Sister (nun)/Sister (sibling) thing, but it was made pretty obvious from the start that this was supposed to be Fermina. And I thought I was going to see… well, exactly what I saw, but I thought we’d go about it a different way. The first half has lots of Fermina’s POV, as we see her viewpoint gradually change as she’s exposed to good people and also the injustice of this world. And then she’s picked up by the Church, who we’ve already seen are going to be evil so Claudia can suffer. I was pretty sure we were either going to see sweet lies poured into her head, or literal brainwashing, but that had been signposted, so I was fine with it, and the Claudia stuff was excellent. Then the Saint POV disappears from the narrative for about 100 pages, and I went “uh oh”. Then we get the final Fermina POV chapter, where she reveals that in fact this was all a setup from the start, which she knew, and she’s secretly been as evil as ever. This is not a case of “if you read the unreliable narrator right you can guess it”, this is a case of “LOL, you fell for it!”. SO ANNOYING. Especially as I was OK with Fermina learning a hard lesson and getting better only to fall again, and am very unhappy she’s as one-dimensional as ever.

This has a nasty cliffhanger, which you can likely guess, and I’ll keep reading. But boy, this left a bad taste in my mouth.

An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me!, Vol. 12

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By Yuishi and Kagachisaku. Released in Japan as “Inkya no Boku ni Batsu Game de Kokuhaku Shitekita Hazu no Gal ga, Dō Mitemo Boku ni Beta Bore Des” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Satoko Kakihara.

Given that the bulk of this series is our two main leads flirting hard with each other, deliberately or no, it makes sense that this is also what’s going on with the author. Oh, sure, the start of the series was different. We had the push and pull of “when will they discover they both know and admit their feelings”. But ever since they got together as a real couple, the books have been the author as Lucy, holding a football, saying, “I bet this is the one where they finally give in” and the reader as Charlie Brown running up to kick it, even as we know intellectually that no sex is going to happen until the final volume of the series, and probably not even then. This doesn’t run on porn, it runs on horniness, and the true tease knows that you need to keep the audience on edge as long as possible to make the release all the sweeter. If it happens at all.

Christmas has passed, which means both Yoshin and Nanami are going off to visit their respective grandparents, and will be apart for about a week. Though come on, this is the modern era, they just video chat every night. We meet Yoshin’s grandparents, who are astonished how much he’s changed, as well as his tall, cute older cousin, who you’d expect would be a subplot involving a jealous Nanami till you remember what series you’re reading. (Nanami does get jealous later, no worries.) After that it’s time for a shrine visit, where they run into Nanami’s two besties and their problematic significant other, as well as the problematic class president. Finally, the two of them convince their parents to let them go on a hot springs date in Hokkaido for two days and one nights – with one condition. You can guess what that condition is.

The reason, of course, that this remains so horny and yet so wholesome is that Nanami is absolutely the one pushing harder to go further, while Yoshin is steeling himself to not even do anything beyond kissing and hugging till they’re married. This gives her all the power, which is why it’s relaxing. We see that at the shrine, as he wishes that the gods help him nail down his libido so he doesn’t do anything he’ll regret, while Nanami’s, I suspect, were probably the opposite. At the hot spring hotel, they get closer than they’ve ever been – thanks partly to an in-room open air hot spring, and in part thanks to some horny college girls hitting on Yoshin without realizing he’s under 18 and also taken. They’ve now seen each other naked – by accident, and the interstitial art has to give Nanami the largest hand towel known to man to make it OK – but that’s as far as it gets. This series knows it’s in it as long as the publisher demands.

Next time, Valentine’s Day! Which will be a bit, as it only came out in Japan a month ago. Till then, enjoy these sweet kids not banging.