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Management of a Novice Alchemist, Vol. 2

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By Mizuho Itsuki and fuumi. Released in Japan as “Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

It has to be said, either you are reading this series because you cannot get enough of Sarasa, or you dropped the series in disgust after this volume because of what Sarasa does in it. There’s not really a happy medium here, you’re not going to find anyone who mildly likes Sarasa but has some issues. The issues are the reason to read this. She is, on the surface, a brilliant young alchemist whose odd sense of modesty manages to somewhat hide the fact that she’s a huge powerhouse who (to the shock of everyone in the cast) is apprenticed to the most famous alchemist in the country. In the first volume, we saw her overpoweredness, and also her ruthlessness with money. Here we also see her merchant side. We still don’t get that anime flashback, but we know her parents are dead, and were merchants. This is why, towards the end, when she is accosted by bandits, she beats the shit out of them. And then, when they beg for their lives, she murders them all. And takes their stuff. This is your heroine, please get used to it.

After spending the first part of this book fixing up her shop after the damage from the hellflame grizzlies, she decides to add a few necessities to the house, such a a magic stove, a fridge/freezer, etc. To Sarasa, these are sensible items. To everyone else, they’re mind-boggling luxury, and the inn owner they know is absolutely willing to pay through the nose for a magic stove if it means she and her husband don’t have to constantly get new wood all the time. Sarasa is also after frostbite bat fangs, which she can essentially use to make portable fans for hats. This involves going to a very smelly cave and killing a lot of bats, some hilarious but dangerous consequences. Unfortunately, Sarasa looks like she stepped out of the pages of a Kirara manga. Which means a rival merchant is in town, and is treating her like a sucker. But it’s fine. Sarasa’s not the type to crush someone. Oh, wait, he’s actually a louse who’s blackmailing others. OK, yeah, destroy his ass.

Lest people think that this title is filled with nothing but Sarasa being ruthless, rest assured the bulk of it is still cute girls doing cute things. Lorea firmly sets herself up as not only Sarasa’s shop assistant but also her conscience, and we get a crash course in why shop assistants tend to stick with alchemists forever (along with a smidge of no homo, which I will blithely ignore for the moment, the one potential marriage partner we meet in this book spends his entire page count getting emasculated b y his childhood friend). Kate is cool, Iris is goofy, and the two of them are absolutely not from a suspicious background that they’re not talking about right now, nope. There’s also a lot of talk of how alchemy works, how business pricing works, and how the two combine. It’s pretty nerdy, actually, but very readable.

If a cute 15-year-old girl killing ten bandits because they tried to rob her and they may prey on others bothers you, this is not the series for you. On the other hand, I know it’s fiction, and frankly, I find Sarasa too delightfully weird (in a good way) to worry too much.

Guardian: Zhen Hun, Vol. 3

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By Priest and Marmaladica. Released in China on the JJWXC website. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Yuka, Shry, amixy. Adapted by Ealasaid Weaver.

After finishing this series, I do feel vaguely guilty. This is an epic tale of reincarnation romance, with gods, demons, battles for souls, and huge fantasy action set pieces, and they’re really quite well told. It’s also the story of two incredibly hot guys being in love and having massive amounts of sexual tension, and that’s also terrific. But when it comes right down to it, the thing I will always love most about Guardian is the police procedural aspect of it. Show me Zhao Yunlan doing detective work as he tries to figure out which of Shan Wei’s lies about his own past memories are true and which are lies in order to throw him off the track. Show me Lin Jing investigating what looks like a minor live-extending case that turns out to be the end of the world. Show me Gup Changcheng finally coming into his own as a cop by doing what he does best: help people without any thought of reward. Guardian is at its best when it’s Barney Miller.

The bulk of the first half of this book, as I noted, involves Zhao Yunlan trying to figure out how much of himself is tied up in the world’s past. This involves, among other things, realizing that an ancient stone mortar of Shennong’s is possessing his father, which is a real subplot that I actually just typed out. As for Shen Wei, well, he’s doing pretty much what he did in the first two books, which is torturing himself with guilt and hatred, being incredibly powerful, incredibly tricky, and incredibly dickish, and trying to hold on to his lover for as long as he can while at the same time arranging their separation forever. It all comes to a head at a resort where a mysterious death had occurred, which turns out to have its entire staff and customers turned into both8ing more than bone ash. Bad things are afoot.

I mentioned on social media that in the first book the character of Guo Changcheng baffled me, but I rolled with it, and that by this third book, he had become my favorite. I think the author loves him too. We learn who he really is towards the end here, but as it’s totally irrelevant to him for the most part, I won’t get into it. He’s absolutely terrified when dealing with anything remotely supernatural, to the point where he needs an auto-firing anti-spirit taser because he keeps running into them. But when he sees the families of everyone who (unbeknownst to him) has been vaporized at the resort, he comes into hsi own, getting everyone to listen to him, getting all the little details he needs to save their relatives, and generally just being a really NICE cop. And it works out for him. No, he doesn’t get the cynical Chu Shuzhi, at least not explicitly, though the subtext it hot like burning. But he gets the spirits of those he went around what is essentially a radioactive zone to save literally making a net to save his life, in what is probably my favorite scene in the entire book. He rocks.

I may give the live action drama a try, though I’ve heard its “faithfulness” is laughable. But I definitely recommend this to not only danmei fans but to those who love cops on the edge and fluffy cops and goofy cops and lovelorn cops. In supernatural fantasy China, you’re allowed to like them.

Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord, Vol. 6

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By Satori Tanabata and Tea. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō Level 99: Watashi wa Ura Boss Desu ga Maō dewa Arimasen” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

This may be my favorite volume of Villainess Level 99 since the first one. Which makes sense, given that it ties back to the plot of the first quite a bit, but that’s not why I love it. I love it because the basic idea that kicks off this volume is completely, totally bananas in every way. I have no idea how the author came up with it. I do know exactly why Yumiella came up with it, it’s because she’s Yumiella, and everything is about being the strongest. But I mean, if I told you “Yumiella imagines her left side and right side fighting each other, and wonders who would win, and the idea causes her to think *so* hard that her left side *dies* and goes to purgatory, where she is literally shown as only her left half in the illustration”, you might think that this is either a dream sequence or a minor subplot. Nope. this is what kicks off the majority of the book.

While listening to Eleanora tell her about a legendary perfume maker, Yumiella, as I noted above, thinks about her separate halves fighting. Her left side wakes up the next “morning” in the “Kingdom of Twilight”, a place for souls of the dead who still have unfinished business. Meanwhile, Yumiella *also* wakes up back in her own bed, but her left side has no feeling whatsoever… in fact, as a particularly obnoxious Lemn points out, her left side is literally dead. Now Yumiella, Patrick and Eleanora have to research the Kingdom of Twilight and that means going back to the very origins of the kingdom… which is appropriate, as the left side of Yumiella discovers that among those with regrets in the Kingdom of Twilight are the Hero, aka the first king of Valschein, and the Demon Lord… who definitely remembers Yumiella.

This book, like the last, continues the trend of “Yumiella is slightly more sensible except when the author needs her to be over the top”, and unlike the last, it succeeds. Leaving aside the actual premise, the way that they resolve the Kingdom of Twilight thing is so funny I laughed for a good 30 seconds, and also definitely falls into the category of “Only Yumiella could do this”. As for Yumiella’s relationship with Patrick, well, they’re still not quite married, but this is the strongest I’ve felt about the two of them as a loving couple. Well, OK, a loving couple and Eleanora. The three of them have fallen into being a throuple without really realizing it, and while the attraction is more friendly/familial on Yumiella and Patrick’s part, I think they both realize that they can’t really be together without her there. Eleanora, by the way, also shows off her more mature side we saw in the 5th book. (Patrick has always been mature.)

We’re caught up with Japan, so that wedding may be a while off. Till then, I was pleased to see this book give me exactly the sort of Yumiella, Patrick and Eleanora that I want.

The Former Assassin Who Got Reincarnated As a Noble Girl, Vol. 1

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By Satsuki Otonashi and MiRea. Released in Japan as “Moto Ansatsusha, Tenseishite Kizoku no Reijou ni Narimashita” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

This one is definitely a slow starter. It’s taking a while to make its point, and in order to make it effectively we need to get deep into the mind of its heroine, whose reincarnation has not changed her mindset all that much, and who tends to regard almost everyone in this new world as a terrible person. Unfortunately, she’s not wrong. The main reason this is such a slog to begin with is that the only other characters in the book who are not Selena are either people she’s saved who are now devoted to her, her absent father, and terrible, terrible nobles. If this is meant to be a critique of villainess books, good job, as it felt like it was mashing together quite a few of them, with terrible adopted “heroines”, frivolous princes, arrogant ojous, etc. Even the love interest, the first prince, is in the “everything bores me except you, you’re fascinating” camp. Fortunately, things do eventually pick up once Selena is faced with something where she has to protect.

Our protagonist is 9956, a nameless assassin who dies trying to kill a prince, and ends up reincarnated as the daughter of a duke, Selena Violette. Unfortunately, she was reborn with her old memories, so she acts, as a child, like… well, like a former assassin (she tries to kill a dog with a cake knife). As a result, while her husband is away (something that happens a lot), her mother adopts a commoner girl into the family, Rosemary, who is far nicer ans sweeter and nothing like Selena at all. Unfortunately, Rosemary proves to be a holy terror, being a spoiled brat who uses tears to get her way, and if that doesn’t work she’ll order servants to attack Selena. Selena is fairly blase about this, and in fact keeps trying to hammer home to the adopted daughter that she actually needs to behave like a noble and actually study. This does no good at all. Then the nation’s two princes get involved…

So yes, the first 2/3 of this is a drag, as everyone is SO unpleasant, and also because the narrative is filtered through Selena, who has to force herself not to kill people. This is what fascinates Evan, the first prince, who had her investigated as he found it impossible to imagine someone with her background behaving the way she does. He’s clearly smitten, but also realizes that she, at the moment, is not capable of feeling much of anything, much less love. Unfortunately, before he can slowly show her what love is, one of the terrible nobles who Selena has been destroying over the past hundred pages decides to incite a monster rampage at their hunting party, forcing Selena to fight for her life… and also, much to her surprise, fight to protect the other nobles. Yes, even the nasty ones. I will admit, I wish this had been a single volume. There’s a point near the end where you can hear the author stop and add the number 1 to the cover in their head, and it makes the end a bit less dramatic than I’d like. But oh well.

So yeah, this was eventually a very good read. Just be prepared for some of the world nobles in the world before you get there.

The Abandoned Heiress Gets Rich with Alchemy and Scores an Enemy General!, Vol. 3

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By Miyako Tsukahara and Satsuki Sheena. Released in Japan as “Suterare Reijō wa Renkinjutsu-shi ni Narimashita. Kaseida Okane de moto Tekikoku no Shō o Kōnyū Shimasu” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

Sometimes when you get into a habit because you’re trying to project a certain image, it can feel very different when your image becomes the real you. Chloe, through the first two books, has buffed herself up to the point that it was aggravating, describing herself as the world’s strongest alchemist and a beautiful maiden. Well, now she’s managed to go toe to toe with a demon who pretty much wipes the floor with everyone else around, and she also gets to be dressed to the nines at a victory banquet to the point where Julius gets visibly jealous at the looks she’s getting. She really is a fantastic alchemist and beautiful maiden now. Thus… it’s starting to be a little embarrassing to use the phrase. It used to restore her self-confidence, but now it’s like she’s recalling her chuuni phase. This is, of course, adorable. Sorry, Julius.

We pick up right where we left off, with our heroes losing badly. That continues for a bit, though they eventually turn things around thanks to the arrival of a few surprise allies. Unfortunately, some of the villains get away, and there’s no doubt we’ll see them again. After that, though, Chloe recovers from mana depletion, then it’s shopping trips, dress fittings, drunken binges, and endless discussions of her flat chest, a staple of Japanese light novels that we simply cannot get away from. Julius is also more comfortable with her, if with no one else. Now she just has to return home, get a shop assistant who was one of her former rivals, and set about building a Hot Springs Town. While *still* being the world’s greatest alchemist and world’s most oblivious attractive young woman.

The biggest flaw with this book, which you may have figured out from my attempt at a summary, is that it suffers from Webnovel Syndrome. This is a condition that happens when webnovels, which are written in chunks a couple of times a week with little thought as to a natural volume break, are then picked up by a publisher and put out as books which require a book to end after a certain point. Let’s face it, the first quarter of this book should have been at the end of the previous book – it’s all front-loaded here. That said, if the publisher HAD done that, this book would have had zero plot at all, so I suppose it’s a relief that we get some cool fights out of it. The rest of the book very much depends on how much you enjoy Chloe and Julius’ getting closer and closer to a confession but not there yet relationship. Julius thinks his actions (and kisses) make it clear without saying it. Chloe keeps being reminded that she bought Julius and he still wears a slave collar, so confessions might not be reliable.

I assume that the next book is not just going to be building a hot spring, but who knows? Till it happens, this wasn’t as good as the previous two books, but is still good.

Manga the Week of 8/21/24

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SEAN: Next week is Anime NYC and also Yen Press week. Yikes!

ASH: Here we go!

SEAN: Several debuts for Yen On. Hell Is Dark with No Flowers (Jigoku Kura Yami Hana mo Naki), a horror title about a boy who can see monsters getting room and board in exchange for sending those possessed by yokai… to Hell!

ASH: Well, now, that sounds exactly like something I would read.

ANNA: That does sound charming.

SEAN: My First Love’s Kiss (Watashi no Hatsukoi Aite ga Kiss Shiteta) is a yuri light novel series from the creator of Adachi and Shimamura. Our heroine is annoyed when her classmate and her mother are now living with them. It doesn’t help that the classmate is so pretty. But where does she go at night?

ASH: Glad to see more yuri novels being licensed.

SEAN: Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Short Story Collection is what it sounds. This collection takes place after Vol. 3 of the main series, and also is the introduction of a character we were supposed to already know from the 5th arc. The dangers of licensing short story collections.

Sword Art Online Alternative Clover’s Regret is the second in the Alternative series, now that we’ve caught up with Gun Gale Online. This series follows the adventures of the Sleeping Knights in a Japanese-themed game.

Also from Yen On: Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian 5, Blade & Bastard 2 (a JN-C print release), The Ephemeral Scenes of Setsuna’s Journey 4, Hell Mode 5 (a JN-C print release), The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time 7, High School DxD 14, I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top 8, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? 19, King’s Proposal 5, Magical Girl Raising Project 18 (the final volume), The Misfit of Demon King Academy 4-1 (a J-NC print release), My Happy Marriage 7, My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! 5 (a JN-C print release), Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus (the 13th in the series), Riviere and the Land of Prayer 2, Sabikui Bisco 8, Sentenced to Be a Hero 3, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 19, and Your Forma 6.

ASH: So many books.

SEAN: As for Yen Press, they also have debuts. The Hachioji Specialty: Tengu’s Love (Hachiouji Meibutsu Tengu no Koi) is a shoujo title from Asuka. A young man returns to his home village… where he has to marry a tengu demon he met as a child! He doesn’t want this, but she won’t let that stop her.

ASH: Interesting, that plot is more commonly encountered the other way around.

ANNA: Hmmmm.

SEAN: In Another World, My Sister Stole My Name (Isekai de Ane ni Namae wo Ubawaremashita) is a shoujo title from Flos Comic. A girl has been communicating with a boy from another world via a magic hand mirror… then her older sister and the mirror disappear. Now her sister has stolen her life in another world?

ASH: Uh-oh!

SEAN: The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies (Katsute Mahou Shoujo to Aku wa Tekitai Shite Ita) is an omnibus containing the entire series before the author’s unfortunate death. She also wrote Inu x Buku SS, and this is getting an anime. It ran in Gangan Joker, and is another one of those “good guy and bad guy fall in love” series.

Rejected by the Hero’s Party, a Princess Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside (Shin no Nakama ni Narenakatta Ohime-sama wa, Henkyou de Slow Life Suru Koto ni Shimashita) is a spinoff of Banished from the Hero’s Party, showing what Rit was up to between the first time she met Red/Gideon and the second. It runs in Shonen Ace Plus.

ASH: I highly recommend the quiet countryside life when dealing with rejection. Or anytime, really.

SEAN: Strategic Lovers is a shonen title from (oh dear) Dragon Age. The son of a wealthy businessman and his mistress, our hero didn’t think he was in the line of succession… but he is! Now he’s been kidnapped by young women, all of whom are after his body! This is basically softcore porn, for that sort of audience.

ASH: It does have that vibe, doesn’t it.

SEAN: Also from Yen Press: Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World! 8 (the final volume), Bungo Stray Dogs 24, Cheeky Brat 11, Friday at the Atelier 2, I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too 5, I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top 6, The Illustrated Guide to Monster Girls 4 (the final volume), My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected @ comic 22 (the final volume), She Likes Gays, but Not Me 2, The Summer Hikaru Died 4, The Tiger Won’t Eat the Dragon Yet 2, and Witch Life in a Micro Room 3.

ASH: The Summer Hikaru Died is definitely the one that interests me the most out of that batch.

SEAN: Onward. Debuting from Viz this week is I Wanna Do Bad Things with You (Kimi to Warui Koto ga Shitai), a romcom from Shonen Sunday. A girl offers to help a jealous younger brother derail his perfect older brother’s student council campaign. But is he just a “villain”?

Also from Viz: Hirasuyumi 2, Jujutsu Kaisen 23, Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. 3, Mission: Yozakura Family 12, The Way of the Househusband 12, and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 15.

ASH: Oops, I’ve got some The Way of the Househusband catching up to do.

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: Steamship has a 3rd volume of Revenge: Mrs. Wrong.

From Square Enix we get Mr. Villain’s Day Off 5 and Ragna Crimson 13.

Seven Seas has two debuts. Hate Me, but Let Me Stay (Kiraide Isasete) is a BL title from Be x Boy Omegaverse. Yes, that’s now an entire magazine. I… look, it’s A/B/O. You know what the premise will be, I don’t need to summarize it.

And Too Many Losing Heroines! (Make Heroine ga Oosugiru!) is the manga version of the light novel we’ve talked about, and runs in Ura Sunday.

Also from Seven Seas: 365 Days to the Wedding 4, Black Night Parade 4, Cat on the Hero’s Lap 3, Don’t Call it Mystery 9-10, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 19, My Girlfriend’s Child 5, Orb: On the Movements of the Earth 5-6, A White Rose in Bloom 3, and You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! 4.

MICHELLE: I’ll never not cheer for Yumi Tamura!

ASH: Ditto!

ANNA: Yes, although I’m so far behind!

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 5th and final volume of It Takes Two Tomorrow, Too.

KUMA gives us Even if There’s No Rainbow Tomorrow (Ashita Niji ga Denakute mo), a one-shot title from On Blue. An online romance between a drag queen and a sleepy salaryman.

MICHELLE: This looks really interesting!

ASH: I am likewise intrigued.

SEAN: The print debut from Kodansha Manga is Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up (Kusunoki-san wa Koukou Debut ni Shippai shite Iru), a josei title from Comic Pool. A new high school boy is determined to be rid of his horrible middle school life and remake himself. Unfortunately, one classmate from his middle school knows the real him… and she’s trying to do the same thing! For those who enjoy seeing introverts attempt to change.

ASH: Hooray for josei!

ANNA: Indeed!

SEAN: Also in print: Bakemonogatari 22 (the final volume), I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 13, Ogami-san Can’t Keep It In 6, and Welcome Back, Alice 7 (the final volume).

And digitally we get Issak 9, Medalist 10, and WIND BREAKER 16.

No new volumes for J-Novel Club, as they had so many last time. But we do see The Crown of Rutile Quartz 2, Duchess in the Attic manga volume 3, The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects manga volume 5, The Invincible Little Lady manga volume 4, Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 13, Sweet Reincarnation 10, Taking My Reincarnation One Step at a Time: No One Told Me There Would Be Monsters! 6, and VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral after Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream 7.

Ghost Ship debuts an omnibus of a previously released title with Do You Like Big Girls? 1-2. There’s also the 7th and final volume of JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World. And in mature Seven Seas stuff, we get The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun 6.

Apologies to Drawn & Quarterly, who I missed in last week’s list. They’ve got another Yoshihara Tsuge title, Oba Electroplating Factory (Nejishiki), a collection of short stories from Garo.

ASH: I just picked up my copy!

SEAN: Airship, in print, has Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 7 and I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 7.

And digitally we see a one-shot debut, An Autumn in Amber, a Zero-Second Journey (Kohaku no Aki, 0-byō no Tabi), another book by Mei Hachimoku, Seven Seas’ resident “bittersweet sci-fi teen romance” author. Not sure if this is bittersweet, but there’s sci-fi and teens. A boy who hates being touched and a snarky delinquent girl find time has stopped for everyone but them.

And there’s also Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 19.

I’m so tired. So very, very tired after writing all that.

ASH: You’ve more than earned you rest. Thank you for your service.

Let’s Get to Villainessin’: Stratagems of a Former Commoner, Vol. 1

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By Hiironoame and Misumi. Released in Japan as “Sa, Akuyaku Reijou no Oshigoto wo Hajimemashou: Moto Shomin no Watashi ga Idomu Zunousen” by PASH! Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Dawson Chen.

I’m not sure if we’ve reached the point in 2024 where more villainess titles are licensed than isekai titles. Possibly it just feels that way to me as I read a majority of the villainess titles, while most isekai titles are ignored by me unless there’s a good reason. But this is definitely a book that is intimately familiar with the genre – the author has written several, unlicensed villainess series already, as well as the licensed Seriously Seeking Sister! book. The protagonist says she’s a fan of light novels, and has read villainess books in the past. She’s also backed by serious money here, so you’d think that things would go swimmingly. But as ever, it’s easier to avoid your doom than cause your doom as a villainess, and I appreciate that Mio is trying really hard to be a terrible person but just comes across as a big ol’ tsundere. It turns out being a bad person isn’t easy with a conscience.

Mio is a teenage girl who is working an extra job in order to pay for her sister’s hospital care, as she is dying of a mystery disease. Then, after stopping a purse snatcher, she is introduced to the owner of the purse, who has a deal for her. Shizuki, the rich girl Mio meets, says this is the world of an otome game! (It’s similar to Modern Villainess, in that it’s in a modern Japan but one that still has zaibatsu families.) Shizuki wants Mio to play the villainess role, bullying the heroine, making sure the heroine gets with the correct capture target, and fall to ruin. This will, for reasons not revealed in this book, save the country’s economy. In return, Shizuki will help get Mio’s sister advance treatment that might save her life. Mio thus goes all in on villainessin’.

So, I know this is a “translated into English” problem more than a problem with the original work. And I think the author did it deliberately in some ways to show off the “otome game” cliches of this world. But this book has important characters named Ruki, Riku, Ruri and Rikka. (I suspect the translator added the extra ‘k’ so that I would not lose my mind.) Oh yes, and Mio’s sister is Shizuku and her new sister by adoption is Shizuki. Fortunately, once I got past the names, this was a very good read. It’s a “we have to match the game’s plot but we keep changing it” sort of book, but this time everyone’s being serious, with nary a dumbass in the cast aside from the token “those two girls” who serve as the minibosses of Book One. A lot is being kept from Mio by Shizuki, and I for one am very concerned with her true motivations. But seeing Mio desperately try to be bad and accidentally helping the heroine out… look, I love a good Maria Campbell plot, OK? It helps that the heroine isn’t evil this time, possibly as this isn’t our original villainess either.

Assuming that we’re not introduced to Kiki, Kiko and Kiku next volume, I’m definitely looking forward to it, if only to get some answers, and see if Mio really will fall in love with the guy she’s trying not to fall in love with.

Sasaki and Peeps: Fake Family Formed! ~The Youngest Daughter Dreams of a Warm Family in This Hodgepodge Household~

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By Buncololi and Kantoku. Released in Japan as “Sasaki to Pi-chan” by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

I do feel that this series might have a conclusion in mind, but it really is meandering towards that conclusion, to the point where I was actually a little bored somewhere in the middle of this volume. Which is surprising given it’s an isekai-lite book, and I usually tend to prefer those. For the most part, the bulk of this book is spent integrating Type Twelve into the main cast, which has Futarishizuka and Sasaki making decisions that make sense in a “we’re trying to save the world” sort of way, but narratively in a book makes them sort of terrible. It doesn’t help that the idea that all of this is secret is really being blown apart, with Neighbor Girl’s classmates all discussing whether aliens are real or not after spotting the huge obvious flying saucer. Each book tends to set up the next book, and I suppose that’s true here. And to be fair, the end of the volume definitely was excellent. But I’d like to know the author has a final volume envisioned.

Type Twelve wants to learn more about humanity from Hoshizaki, and has decided the best way to do this is to pretend to be a family. Hoshizaki is the mother, Sasaki is the father, Kurosu and Abaddon are her older siblings, Elsa (returned from isekai land) is the next door neighbor who’s always dropping in, Sasaki is the family pet, and Futarishizuka is the crotchety grandmother, a role she takes to with gusto, to be honest. They go shopping, they buy a house – well, OK, Type Twelve steals a house – and they go to the amusement park, which Futarishizuka, with the reluctant help of Sasaki, tries to depress the robot so that she’ll give up and return home. Everything changes, though, when Kurosu says there’s a new death game coming to a mysterious island, and she wants their help in going after the big prizes that come with said game. Alas, when they get there they find that things will not go that well…

As noted, the death game is the best part (the worst part may be when Kurosu, running away from interaction with her classmates, comes across her teacher screwing her bullied classmate, and she just sort of stomps away in a fit of pique that she’s not able to get that with Sasaki). They arrive assuming that everything will be much the same as the previous games, but not only is everyone on the angel AND demon teams now trying to kill her and Abaddon specifically, but there are also a lot more random elements. A psychic is killing people because he can, the magical girl rips a hole in reality to go kill psychics, and Type Twelve has to literally blow herself up 9she gets better) to save the main cast. And, oh yes, the entire death game has been co-opted by rich assholes. Because of course.

I greatly enjoy this series when it’s being ridiculous, but when it’s down to earth it can sometimes lose me. The next volume… has everyone going to Kurosu’s school. Oh well, we shall see.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Manga the Week of 8/14/24

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

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

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

ASH: Only time will tell, I’m sure.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ANNA: yeah.

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

ASH: That list really does keep going.

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

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

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

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

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

One Peace Books has Usotoki Rhetoric 8.

MICHELLE: I need to get back on this series.

ASH: I’ve been enjoying it!

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

MICHELLE: Over already?! Waah.

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

ASH: This looks like it could be fun.

ANNA: Sounds amusing!

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

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

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

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

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

ASH: Hmmm.

ANNA: I dunno.

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

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

ANNA: Same!

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

ASH: Oh, my!

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

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

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

ASH: Huzzah!

ANNA: Yay!!!!

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

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

ASH: Woo!

Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster, Vol. 7

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

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

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

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

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

The Evil Queen’s Beautiful Principles, Vol. 2

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

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

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

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

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