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The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor: The Official History of the Continent of Platy

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

There’s no afterword in this book to confirm it, but I imagine writing this book must have been so cathartic for the author. They not only write this series but also I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, and both of those series rely on the basic fact that our heroine is one step away from everything falling apart, and that if she doesn’t save the day when a Bad End will ensue. This book, which is a short story volume but also serves as a prequel to the whole series, is that Bad End. The end of the book features a cast of characters page, and it’s a big cast. Almost everyone has a “Died Age xx” next to their name, with only three exceptions. This ends up being quite refreshing. You don’t need to worry about how they’ll get out of this one because you know everyone’s gonna die tragically. This is why Jill ended up back in time.

Speaking of Jill, she’s barely in this book, though she does feature more heavily near the end. The bulk of it is showing us one of the characters from the main series whose destiny Jill managed to change by punching things very hard, and then showing us that original destiny. We see how his relationship with Sphere was, how horrible the Goddess can be, and how most people simply assume he’s a pedophile. We see Risteard, desperately trying to make sure Hadis becomes a good ruler, end up being forced into a revolt and being unable to save his little sister from killing herself. We see what happens when Natalie goes through everything she went through in the main series but without Jill’s interference. (It goes much the same way, apart from her dying.) Minerd dies. The entire academy Jill taught at is slaughtered. Vissel’s misplaced love for his brother leads to Hadis finally snapping. And then we get the Kratos side of things. It doesn’t get any better.

For all that the book is filled with people dying full of regrets when they’re not possessed by evil, there are heartwarming moments in here where we see that, with the presence of a dragon consort, things can be different. Hadis’ family is capable of affection for each other when they’re not busy living in a Game of Thrones. The Cervel family are all battle lunatics but also love each other deeply. Rufus and Gerald are both seen as noble and good princes who want to find a way to break the whole “incest curse”, before the curse takes hold and they both turn to the dark side. Zeke and Camila remain exactly who they’ve always been no matter what the timeline. And then there’s Jill, who may be in love with Gerald here (somewhat to her detriment), but is otherwise exactly the same. She’s so great.

This is nearly 400 pages, so there’s a lot of Bad End here. Now that we’ve gotten it, though, much of the main storyline is recontextualized, and I hope we get back to the main series soon so we can stop a lot of this happening.

Miss Blossom’s Backward Beauty Standards: Give Me the Ugly Crown Prince!, Vol. 1

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By Sankaku Mikaduki and riritto. Released in Japan as “Bishuu Abekobe Isekai de Busaiku Outaishi to Kekkonshitai!” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Olivia Plowman.

(I spoil a plot point in this review at the end of the summary, but the plot point comes up fairly early in the book. But I will still warn folks.)

Generally speaking I usually try all the titles J-Novel Club sticks in their Heart imprint, but I will admit I was a bit wary about this one based on the plot description. That wariness only increased when I started to read the book, which at times reads like the author was given the backstory of the world on a dare. The afterword suggests that “a world where ugly is handsome and handsome is ugly” is a genre, which came as a surprise to me, and the fact that it only applies to men made me roll my eyes until they hurt. Despite all that, the writing is breezy and fun, the heroine is goofy yet also likeable, and the mashup of about five different types of light novel plot ends up helping a lot more than it hurts, as it turns out that our protagonist may be the only one here with memories from Japan, but she’s not the only one trying to figure out this new world.

Cocolette Blossom wakes after suffering from a terrible illness and almost dying, with memories of her past life in Japan. She finds that she’s an absolutely gorgeous child! And that she’s in some vaguely European fantasy world, just like Japanese light novels and games! Since she was an otaku with no real life romance before, her goal in this new world is to marry a hottie bishonen. Then comes the bad news. In this world, apparently, men who are considered handsome have orc-like faces with thick eyebrows, which those with bishonen looks are considered so ugly that women literally pass out in horror when they meet them. But that’s not going to stop her! She’s going to meet the Crown Prince, who is considered one of the ugliest in this world, and romance him and get her bishie! Just one problem – this is not the crown prince’s first go round through this timeline.

Yes, that’s right, while our heroine is doing a reincarnation fantasy, her romantic partner Raphael is trapped in a Villainess time-loop fantasy. As it turns out, both of these plot points coming together is what actually saves the day – we learn about the first timeline in flashbacks from Raphael’s viewpoint, and it is a bit ridiculous how everyone that he comes into contact with ends up either unhappy or dead. But with the addition of Cocolette, suddenly almost everything is well again! I say almost everything as this is a still a man who has been called ugly and horrible through TWO lives, and getting him to accept someone loves him is a hard road to hoe. As for the “handsome men are ugly” plotline, there is an actual plot-related reason for this, but I still can’t help but feel that it’s not really doing everything it could with “standards reversed”.

The second volume of this has a wedding on the cover, so I’m not sure if it will even make it to DRE Novels’s three-volume cut-off, but I’ll try it. Good writing and characters help get past an iffy central plot.

Bookshelf Briefs 11/29/25

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Bride of the Death God, Vol. 1 | By Hako Ichiiro | Square Enix Manga – This one took me by surprise. I knew nothing about it, and the start of the story made it seem like this was going to be the story of a too-kind-for-his-own-good death god and the sweet, fragile girl whose life he can’t bear to end. Which is true! Except for the sweet, fragile girl part. Trying not to spoil too much, but Aibi is fascinating, and the best reason to read this. And, as it turns out, the fact that this extends beyond a one-shot (it clearly was originally written as one) means we get to see the two of them interact with others, such as the guy who’s used to dealing with supernatural shit but has no real clue how to deal with whatever their (handwave) whatever is. If you read Teasing Master Takagi-san and wondered what if it had scythes, check this out. – Sean Gaffney

The Lying Bride and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate, Vol. 1 | By Kodama Naoko | Seven Seas – How much you enjoy this depends how much you enjoy the plot advancing by two people not talking to each other. Rei is gay but without a partner, and is somewhat sick of being buried in projects at work as everyone’s getting married or having kids. Then one day Saya, an old co-worker Rei liked who left to get married, asks if she can stay at her place. This could be solved if Saya could explain why things are going so badly with her husband, or if Rei could simply explain that she’s gay. But that’s not how this author does things, and it’s not why people read them. They read them for two tortured souls wanting to make out but not doing so for very good reasons. This ends next volume, and I’m sure things will work out. Eventually. – Sean Gaffney

Mechanical Marie, Vol. 1 | By Aki Akimoto | Yen Press – I actually read this before getting spoiled by the anime that is currently running. I didn’t really read up on the series, and assumed that it starred an actual robot girl. But no, our male lead, after years of being attacked by everyone he knows and being unable to trust, wants a robot to protect him, never mind that the technology is not there yet. So Marie, who is not a robot but is emotionless (well, mostly) and also a martial artist who is ludicrously strong, is brought in and told “pretend to be a robot, or else.” The premise is frankly ridiculous, but the heartwarming moments between the two leads as they grow to trust each other and as we learn Marie is not as stoic as she’d like to be makes it kind of sweet. I’d like to read another one of these. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 42 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – After all is said and done, and the villains are finally vanquished, and the city is somewhat restored, it’s time for our heroes to go back to school. Alas, the series is over, so sad news for those who wanted Izuku’s junior and senior year. He’s already got his hands full dealing with the author’s decision to make him quirkless again, as well as the decision to make him, eight years later, a teacher, a plot point that went over a lot better in Japan than it did here. And then there’s that extra chapter added just for the volume, presumably written after bodyguards were posted around Horikoshi, resolving the last remaining plot point in the series: who ends up together? It’s pretty clear, but then I do ship it. I’ll miss these lovable teen heroes. – Sean Gaffney

Tsumiki Ogami’s Not-So-Ordinary Life, Vol. 2 | By Miyu Morishita | Viz Media – This remains one of the sweeter manga I’ve read. If you like demi-human manga as well as cute slow-burn “I kinda like you” romance, it’s absolutely the title for you. We see Tsumiki struggle to make cookies (it’s the claws…), help the class’s resident medusa locate her glasses (which keep her turning everyone to stone), visit a sick Yutaka (and get far too close to him), and, in the back half of the volume, help coordinate the school’s culture/athletic festival. I will warn folks that there’s not much depth here—everyone is far too nice for that. But if you’re sad Komi Can’t Communicate is ending soon, and want a replacement, this one could easily fit the bill. Though the cliffhanger promises someone less nice? – Sean Gaffney

Who Killed the Hero?, Vol. 2

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By Daken and toi8. Released in Japan as “Dare ga Yuusha wo Koroshita ka” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kim Morrissy.

(I won’t be spoiling too much about this book, but by necessity this does spoil a big reveal for the FIRST book, so beware that.)

It’s always tricky when you write a perfectly self-contained novel that gets so popular you have to write a sequel to it, and it’s even trickier when you are an author who is known to a certain degree for clever plot twists. By now anyone who picks up the second volume of this book will be sitting back and saying “well, go on, impress me”. When I heard about the plot for this book, I wondered if it was a prequel to the previous book, showing one of the many failed parties that the Prophet tried to gather together who failed to defeat the demon lord. And that’s kinda sorta true. But for the most part this book wants to explore what the idea of a hero and heroism is, and whether it’s something that some people have and some people don’t or if it all depends on circumstances. Because the hero’s party we see here have a reputation that is, shall we say, less than ideal.

The bulk of this book takes place right before the events of the first in the series. The Prophet is searching for someone who can be a hero, unite the Sword Saint, the Holy Maiden, and the Great Sage (who, you may recall from Book One, have shall we say DIFFICULT personalities), defeat the demon lord and save humanity. This is hard, and she’s tried to do this a large number of times, including the noble knight Carmine, whose corpse we see as this book starts. But we also see another party, which also looks DIFFICULT. They’re led by a man named Leonard, who is, not to put too fine a point on it, an asshole. He only believes in the power of money, he demands ten times the requested fee to be paid before he does a job, and if a cute li’l orphan tries to join the retreat at the last minute? Well, cute li’l orphan will cost extra, of course. He’s the OPPOSITE of a hero… or is he?

Since we have read the first book, and therefore know its plot twists, we’re allowed to take a much closer look here at the character of the Prophet, aka the Queen. We see her morbid fascination with Leonard’s party, which is literally the opposite of the actual Hero’s party from the first book (Leonard is a weirdo, and he has three relatively normal companions). As it turns out, though, they’re much more closely linked than she expects. Seeing her desperation and despair as the search goes on, especially since the nature of the time loops mean there’s no one who she can talk to about it, is touching and makes me go along with the somewhat unrealistic final page. As for Leonard himself, we guessed it was an act from the start, but he’s also the best character in the book, having both a lot of cynical common sense but also an idealistic goal that he knows will probably end in his death. Even assholes can still be heroes.

There’s a third volume to this, and I’ve no idea how it will be intermingling with the first two. But the author has my respect enough that I’ll definitely check it out.

Victoria of Many Faces, Vol. 3

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By Syuu and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Tefuda ga Ōme no Victoria” by MF Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andria McKnight.

With the first two books, they felt self-contained, and yet the series continued on. This third book very pointedly leaves several plot threads open for the future, and so naturally there hasn’t been a new book in almost two years – we’re caught up. (The webnovel is ongoing, but by now we know how little that means). It’s a shame, as this is still a fun little series, even if its core is getting rather serious. The series started with Chloe, aka Victoria, aka Anna, trying to escape from a forced life of espionage, to the point where she literally fled the country and then the continent to get away. By the end of this third volume, both she and her husband are strong-armed into working for the government again – with the prince essentially saying that it’s OK because he won’t use their powers for evil. What’s more, their incredibly talented adopted daughter Nonna, who can’t seem to stop learning how to be a top spy, is probably also going to become a top spy. getting out is hard.

While things have settled down for Victoria, Jeffrey and Nonna, things are very much not settled down in the kingdom they live in. The discovery of the gold mine has led the country whose doorstep it’s on to start making rumbling noises about war. What’s more, Prince Carlos’ wife Delphine has had two attempts on her life recently. And Delphine’s body double was accidentally outed on a recent spy mission and her face is disfigured enough that she won’t be able to do the job in time. So Victoria is asked to step in, be Delphine’s body double, and find out who’s trying to kill her. Meanwhile, Jeffrey and Clark (you remember Clark, the childhood friend in love with Nonna?) are going to the border to negotiate peace. All of this leaves Nonna a free to be an agent of chaos, which is pretty much the best reason to read the book.

Victoria is still the star, and does a lot of great stuff here, but Nonna is the main reason this book remains fun rather than harrowing. Victoria’s plot is relatively serious, and ends up rebounding on her at the end when she proves to be too good at bonding with Princess Delphine. Nonna, meanwhile, is not allowed to go to the palace because her mother is undercover, so ends up curing her grandmother of her mental and physical frailties by virtue of accidental physical therapy, learning how to fight even better and also pick locks, and of course end up involved in the palace stuff anyway when a riot breaks out during a festival and she basically parkours her way into the thick of things. The most annoying part of the book is that Clark proposes to her, and she accepts (though specifies it needs to wait till she’s older, thank God)… but we don’t see this scene, we just see Nonna telling her parents about it. Given there are multiple narrators in this book, what gives?

Now, I do think we will get a 4th book soon, mostly as there’s an anime coming. For now, though, please enjoy the plight of a woman who just wants to settle down and raise sheep but her daughter has turned into a ninja.

Manga the Week of 12/3/25

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SEAN: It’s the last month of 2025, but there’s still plenty to go.

ASH: How did this even happen???

SEAN: Yen On has two one-shot debuts. Bone Ash is a novel from the creator of Psycho-Pass and Mardock Scramble. A manager of a building site that’s going up investigates rumors of fires at the site, and ends up in a horror novel, basically.

ASH: Okay, that seems like one I should probably read.

SEAN: Lila and the Winds of War is a novel from a different famous Japanese sci-fi author, and it’s about an orphaned girl living with an immortal being who tries to protect her homeland.

ASH: This one, too! (Uh-oh, seems to have found my number…)

SEAN: Yen On also has I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too 7 and Secrets of the Silent Witch 7.

No debuts for Yen Press, but we see The 13th Footprint 2, The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life II 3, Cheeky Brat 15, The Color of the End: Mission in the Apocalypse 3, I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top 7, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 27, Spice and Wolf Collector’s Edition 2, To Save the World, Can You Wake Up the Morning After with a Demi-Human? 8, and Yowamushi Pedal 28.

MICHELLE: Man, I haven’t read Yowamushi Pedal in ages.

ASH: It’s been a while since I have, too, but I still thoroughly enjoy it when I do.

ANNA: My kids were really into it at one time!

SEAN: Viz Manga debuts Kaiju No. 8: Relax, the obligatory gag manga spinoff that really popular Jump titles always seem to get.

Also from Viz: Astro Royale 3, The Bugle Call: Song of War 4, Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Senki 3, Let’s Do It Already! 7, Marriage Toxin 10, My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions 7, Nana 25th Anniversary Edition 2, Queen’s Quality 24, Spy x Family 15, A Star Brighter Than the Sun 4, Wolf Girl and Black Prince 16 (the final volume), and Yona of the Dawn 45.

MICHELLE: Oh, a new Byakko Senki! And other good shoujo, too.

ASH: Indeed! Some really great releases.

ANNA: Yay for more Byakko Senki!

SEAN: Tokyopop has the 2nd volume of Boyfriend, Sometimes Girlfriend.

Titan Manga debuts Stray (Haguremono), a one-shot seinen manga from Manga Goraku. A man who served time for a crime he was innocent of gets out of prison and meets Hana, a daughter he didn’t know about. Together, they uncover a conspiracy. This is getting rave reviews.

ASH: I wasn’t previously aware of this one, but I am intrigued!

ANNA: Huh, interesting.

SEAN: Steamship has a 10th volume of Fire in His Fingertips: A Flirty Fireman Ravishes Me with His Smoldering Gaze.

Square Enix Manga gives us Holoearth Chronicles Side:E Yamato Phantasia 2 and A Man and His Cat 14.

Seven Seas has a couple of debuts. I Won’t Let Mistress Suck My Blood (Goshujin-sama ni wa Suwasemasen!) is a yuri series from Manga Life STORIA Dash. A woman looking for work finds a job as a maid in a spooky mansion. But is her mistress all that she seems?

ANNA: I don’t know, this all sounds perfectly normal to me.

SEAN: Far From Romance (Romance ni wa Hodo Tooi) is a BL one-shot from Dear +. A quiet IT guy in a small remote town finds his world upended when an extroverted Brit arrives – and seems to know him?

ASH: Those could both have some potential.

SEAN: In danmei, Seven Seas has Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu 6 and Lout of Count’s Family 6.

In non-Airship novels, we see The Twelve Kingdoms 3.

ASH: Yes!!!

ANNA: Woo!!!

SEAN: For manga, we see How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift? 19, I Got Married to the Girl I Hate Most in Class 4, I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 7, It Takes More Than a Pretty Face to Fall in Love 4, Last Game 11 (the final volume), Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout 8, and Rozen Maiden Collector’s Edition 4.

No debuts for Kodansha Manga, but they have Grand Blue Dreaming 23, The Heroic Legend of Arslan 21, Hitorijime My Hero 16, Initial D Omnibus 8, Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up 5, Roar: A Star in the Abyss 3, A Sign of Affection 12, and Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun 17.

MICHELLE: Some good stuff.

SEAN: And in digital volumes we get SHAMAN KING: THE SUPER STAR 10 and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 19.

Kodama, determined to drown everyone in this title, have the 5th and 6th Baki the Grappler omnibus.

ASH: I hope it works out for Kodama!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has one print volume, a manga. We get My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! ―AO― 9.

No debuts for J-Novel Club. For digital light novels, we see The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows 8, The Diary of a Middle-Aged Sage’s Carefree Life in Another World 8, The Hero and the Sage, Reincarnated and Engaged 6, In Another World with Household Spells 3, and My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me! 11.

And digital manga includes Cooking With Wild Game 12, I’m a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic 5, The Invincible Summoner Who Crawled Up from Level 1 5, Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World 12, Sweet Reincarnation 12, and A Wild Last Boss Appeared! 8.

Inklore debuts Heaven Official’s Blessing (The Comic), the webtoon version of the bestselling danmei.

ASH: Excellent.

SEAN: Hanashi Media has a pile of light novels, as we get The Abandoned Reincarnation Sage 2, I Got Reincarnated as a Cultist Mob in an Eroge Full of Maniacs with Death Wishes 2, I’m Just a Villager, So What? 2, and Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy 10.

Ghost Ship debuts The Cuckolding Wizard’s Adventure (Netori Mahoutsukai no Bouken) is a seinen manga from Manga Cross. A wizard is recruited into the hero’s party… and begins screwing all the women in the party… and their enemies who are women as well!

Also from Ghost Ship: The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You 16.

Dark Horse Comics has Gunsmith Cats Omnibus 3 and Planetes Deluxe Edition 2.

ASH: The first Planetes volume was really something special even among all the various deluxe editions that are being published these days.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has a spin-off: The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor: The Official History of the Continent of Platy. This is a Bad End short story volume telling us what would happen if Jill had not gone back in time and become the Dragon Consort.

Cross Infinite World also has Onmyoji and Tengu Eyes 4.

Airship’s print debut is I Got Married to the Girl I Hate Most in Class (Class no Daikirai na Joshi to Kekkonsuru Koto ni Natta), a romcom title, as you might have guessed. Two high school rivals are forced to marry due to family politics. Now they have to live together, share meals, and share a bed! But they hate each other! Right?

Also in print: Restaurant to Another World 6.

Airship’s digital debut is Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World (Tensei Kizoku no Isekai Boukenroku – Jichou o Shiranai Kamigami no Shito). Seven Seas has released the manga for years, and we’ve also had the anime. Now we get the light novel. The title is the plot.

They’ve also got ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! 5.

December only gets busier from now on. What are you buying?

Her Royal Highness Seems to Be Angry, Vol. 2

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By Kou Yatsuhashi and Mito Nagashiro. Released in Japan as “Ojou Denka wa Ookari no You desu” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by Tokyopop. Translated by Katie Kimura.

This is one of those books that’s stacked towards the back, and for the first, oh, three-quarters of it, I was worried we’d have another volume that did not live up to its title. I mean, don’t worry, Leticiel does end up going to town on a bunch of high school bully girls, but that’s still in her standard stoic, unemotional way. Heck, even when she’s in a battle to the death against supposedly long extinct enemies, she’s cool as a cucumber. But thankfully, there’s still her absolutely terrible family to content with, and their actions near the end show that, thank God, Her Royal Highness FINALLY Seems to Be Angry. That said, that rage may end up attracting attention she doesn’t want, as we lose one prince but gain another, and I think I can define him as “intrigued”. But yeah, for the most part in this volume Her Royal Highness is dealing with the traditional enemy of high school girls: exams.

After the events of the last book, the prince, Rocheford, is sequestered at the palace and apparently barely coherent. The King apologizes to Leticiel, and asks what she wants. She’s quick to take advantage of that: she wants 1) her engagement broken, 2) a house where she can live apart from her family, 3) a research lab, and 4) most importantly, access to any book in the kingdom. She gets all this but the last – she can’t see the forbidden archive, but otherwise everything is good. (The book strongly implies the answers she needs are in the forbidden archive.) So now she’s on her own (with her maid and butler, of course), and ready to go back to avoiding classes, though she does take the time to help an abused young classmate with “too much magic” disease from being bullied. Unfortunately, just because she gets away from her terrible mother doesn’t mean she stops being terrible…

The most intriguing part of the book is Drossell, who is not quite as dead as I may have thought after reading Book 1. We get a little more information about her in this book, partly as Leticiel has started to have memory flashes of her “Drossell” life, which mostly include playing with a young boy named Alec. More intriguing are the POV chapters from her twin sister Christa, where we hear more about what broke their relationship, why Christa started to get fanatically jealous of her, and what happened to Alec. It’s interesting because it definitely implies that Leticiel is going to have to make piece with her Drossell body, but also as it appears that one reason everyone’s sort of OK with her complete personality change is that this is the SECOND time it’s happened. I had assumed Christa was going to be the traditional evil sibling in this series, but I now suspect that getting these two to make up may be one of the big goals.

I am sincerely hoping the third volume does not get delayed a year, as it’s hard when they’re so far apart to remember everything. Still, a decent read, and I think it only runs to 5 books, so not a huge money sink.

Looks Like a Job for a Maid! The Tales of a Dismissed Supermaid, Vol. 1

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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.

It’s always interesting to see how light novels deal with the age old problem of “my workplace is horrible and no one appreciates me”. Sometimes they just have the person die and end up in another world where they can get cool powers and women. But this is a J-Novel Heart title, despite an utter lack of romance, so instead we get something a bit more villainess-adjacent. Here we have the classic “I work and I slave but everyone abuses me except one or two people” plot, which inevitably begins with the protagonist being framed for something she didn’t do and thrown out. And indeed, that’s what happens. But guess what? When you leave a bad place of employment, sometimes it’s good for you! You can help others achieve their dream. You can show off your skills. And you can try to get a sense of who you are as a person besides your job. Nina has trouble with that last one.

Nina is a maid who can do anything, thanks to the harsh training of an unseen mentor. But sadly, the training did not include self-confidence, so when she’s framed for breaking an expensive vase, she has to leave without even a reference. Deciding to travel (she’s got money as she never spends anything on herself), she comes across a rookie magician who has the talent for Level 5 magic but can’t seem to access it; an inventor whose parents are famous but who seems to be stuck on that one final thing that will make her go down in history; and a beastgirl working in a mine who’s trying her best but finds all food in the area makes her sick. All three of them have their lives turned upside down by Nina, who is bad at doing things for herself, but when it comes to helping others, there’s literally nothing she cannot do.

This has a lot of fun aspects to it. Technically it’s an isekai, though Nina is not the one with memories from Japan. Emily and Astrid are nice and relatable, and once Nina solves their immediate problems they are determined to travel with her so that she stays out of trouble. Spoiler: she does not. All four of the young women in this book suffer to a degree from low self-esteem – for Emily and Astrid it’s because of their continued failures in their profession, and with Tien it’s due to starvation, but also the fact that her parents abandoned her and she doesn’t know why. Nina, though, is the toughest nut to crack, and I really love that Emily spots what Nina needs right now – a family. Nina needs to find a way to define herself that isn’t “maid”, and so far she just can’t do that. Honestly, I suspect given the narrative of the series she won’t be able to, but the effort to do so is the important part.

Upcoming books in the series make it sound a bit like Make My Abilities Average only with less work-obsessed orphans. (OK, there *is* a work-obsessed orphan in this, but she becomes one of the party.) If you love found family stories and don’t mind a maid who can solve any problem almost immediately, this is a great deal of fun.

The Isle of Paramounts: Reborn into a Slow Life Among the Strongest in the World, Vol. 1

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By Heiseiowari and Noy. Released in Japan as “Tenseishitara Saikyou Shu-tachi ga Sumau Shima deshita. Kono Shima de Slow Life wo Tanoshimimasu” by SQEX Novel. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alex Castor.

This is another title I took a flyer on that surprised me. Well, I mean, relatively. There really isn’t a plot beat in this book that has not been carefully chosen to appeal to folks who like the familiar and cliched. At the start of the book, when our reincarnated hero gradually realizes he is in fact Superman, I was rolling my eyes a bit. It kept me going for about half the book by not really doing anything wrong (which is a low bar that many series fail to clear). I think it started to win me over around the time of the blond loli vampire – because of COURSE there’s a blonde loli vampire – who doesn’t drink blood but drinks tsundere instead. That is a really terrific joke. And as the book went on I realized that I just really liked the entire cast. They were nice folks. Just chilling on an island and not overworking themselves to death or dealing with workplace abuse. Gotta love it.

A Japanese salaryman working at a black company, Arata, finds he has died. You’d think it would be from overwork, but in reality he was accidentally killed by Aqua. (OK, it’s just a goddess who’s ditzy and kind of pathetic, but there’s nothing saying it’s NOT Aqua…) He’s burned out by dealing with people, so asks to be reincarnated on a remote island with “a healthy body”. What he gets is a near indestructible super body, as well as a cheat that lets him copy skills. What’s more, right after he arrives on the island he runs into a beautiful mage who’s washed up on the island searching for something, a happy young beastgirl and her gruff-but-kind adopted father, a dragongirl that falls for our hero at first punch, the aforementioned vampire, etc. Can this really be a slow life?

Though it does not get hot and heavy like Bladesmith did (it’s still platonic by the end of the volume), I was once again really won over by the relationship between the two leads in this book. As it turns out, Reina the mage is dealing with just as difficult a life as Arata had, and between the ludicrously hard training from her mentor and pressure from the kingdoms to marry into their family or else, she regards the island castaway life as a relief. She also finds that, unlike her old country where she was top mage dog and feared by all, here she’s the smallest fish in the pond. I joked about tsundere above, but that’s not really true, she’s just trying to deal with the fact that she’s been rescued by a handsome nice guy who can punch out top-tier monsters and also can learn magic much faster than she does. It’s no wonder by the end of the volume, they’ve built a house. With separate bedrooms, of course. For now. (They backtrack on that almost immediately, though it’s still platonic.)

The vibe for this book is friendly. Even the seeming antagonists end up being, at most, annoying teases. Turns out that a relaxing life among friends where you control your own destiny is therapeutic as hell.

This Gyaru’s Got a Thing for… Vampire Hunters?!, Vol. 2

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

This appears to be one of those rare series that is not based on an ongoing web novel, and the last volume (this one) came out in June of 2023, so I think we can assume this is the last one. It’s definitely open-ended, but not unsatisfying or anything. As it does seem to be the wrap up, though, I find myself asking once again: is this yuri? Last time I said it was the sort of series I’d call yuri in 2004-2005 or so. This second volume, I’d say, moves that forward a decade. Ruka says once more here that she’s not interested in dating guys right now. She thinks of her relationship with Ginka in very romantic terms. When a girl in the series says she has a confession to make, Ruka assumes it’s a love confession and gets flustered. And, of course, she decides to make it her life’s work to ensure that she and Ginka can be together forever. I mean, they don’t kiss, but come on.

After the events in the last book, all Ruka wants to do is spend the summer hanging out with her new bestie and showing her the fun side of life, and maybe also figuring out what she wants to do after graduation. Unfortunately Suela, a 13-year-old vampire hunter (who hero worships Ginka more than a little) arrives to say that after the fuss that just happened, she’s been assigned to monitor Ginka for a month. Still, that just means they get a cute Mexican vampire hunter to hang out with them! The beach is conquered, albeit with some difficulties. Final exams go OK. And Ruka even thinks she’s decided on her future career… though everyone she knows is against it. Unfortunately, Suela is trying to get Ginka to return and take control of what’s left of the falling apart vampire hunter organization. And she’s not the only one…

I think the thing I liked best in this book, aside from the relationship between Ruka and Ginka, is how it looks seriously at career paths and the dangers that are inherent in all of them. The dance club is being asked to collaborate with a popular influencer, but that involves investigating everything about both the influencer AND the company behind them, to make sure it will be safe for the club members. Ruka thinks she has what it takes to be an influencer, but is reminded how almost all of them fail to make any money or fame doing it, and that it will require a lot of fine details that Ruka normally glosses over. And the vampire hunters can’t figure out what to do with no vampires, especially give that they have no downtime and no hobbies. This all dovetails into Ruka once again rescuing everyone with the power of niceness and optimism, and her decision is very HER. And makes Ginka happy as well, even if she has trouble showing it.

This isn’t as lights-out terrific as the first volume, but it’s still a great deal of fun, and I love the two leads. If it ever gets a Book 3, I’ll be here for it.

The Fearsome Witch Teaches in Another World: Pay Attention in Class!, Vol. 1

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By Mitsuru Inoue and Suzuno. Released in Japan as “Isekai Teni Shite Kyoushi ni Natta ga, Majo to Osorerarete Iru Ken” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

Light Novel readers are very familiar by now with the trope. Our hero ends up in another world and gets all the girls, all the swords, all the magic. And if their high school bullies aren’t literally brought along so that he can destroy them, than the antagonists that he meets will all SOUND like high school bullies. It’s the author living vicariously through the character. But what if the author isn’t really all that bothered with their high school career? What if, instead, it’s teaching that’s the problem? Students unwilling to learn, who are quick to say that their parents donate to the school. Fellow teachers who put in minimal effort and show bias against other students. An administration that wants the teachers to go with the flow and not make waves. Does that make you mad? Don’t you wish you could change it? Don’t you wish you could teach kids in an unbiased way with the help of near-absolute power? This book is for you.

Aoi Konominato dies (we’re not told how) with many regrets. She was trying to become a kendo master, but failed. So she went into teaching, but kept running into problems. Her father must be so disappointed in her. With these thoughts, she wakes up in the middle of a fantasy world, having been taken in by an elf who turns out to be one of the strongest magic users in the world. Over the course of the next decade, he teaches Aoi everything she knows, and she proves to be a fantastic student. Now he wants to send her to the premier magic academy – not as a student, but as a teacher, to instruct the future magic users of the world. There’s only one slight problem, which is that this is a typical isekai, meaning arrogant nobles who look down on commoners and abuse their position. Aoi will have to do something about that.

For the most part I quite enjoyed this, though if you’re a student who dealt with an abusive teacher Aoi might set off a few red flags. She means well, but her personality is very stoic (I’m not sure she expressed an emotion in the entire volume) and she can come across as terrifying, especially once she shows off her magic. I did enjoy the way magic works here – there are ways to teach it, and basic spells everyone should know, but you can modify and alter as you see fit, and people are creating new spells and researching new magic all the time. I also quite liked her teaching friend Elisa, a dwarf who likes to do research. For the most part she’s there to be a bit of a tsukkomi when Aoi does something outrageous, but she’s loud and lovable. And while it was a bit cruel, I admit I laughed a lot at the king and queen giving their son a good talking-to.

So yes, assuming you don’t mind Aoi’s vibe, this is a solid debut. It’s got quite a few volumes, so we’ll see where it goes from here. And no, I’m not sure why Aoi’s teaching outfit consists of a skintight short leather dress and fancy stockings. But I can hazard a guess.

One Last Hurrah! The Grayed Heroes Explore a Vivid Future, Vol. 1

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By fukurou and johndee. Released in Japan as “Jiji Baba Yuusha Party Saigo no Tabi: Oita Saikyou wa Iroasenu Mama Mirai e Susumu you desu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Vasileios Mousikidis.

I was looking forward to this title from the moment it was announced, and I’m pleased that it did not disappoint. It’s not that surprising, but that’s not what you want from a series with this premise, which is comforting and happy, even when it’s dealing with terrible people who are murdering squads of faceless guards. I especially enjoy seeing elderly men in their 60s and 70s, who are among the most powerful in the world, suddenly becoming shy fanboys in front of their senpais when faced with the titular characters. Every grand master was once a young boy or girl, and the same goes here, where we meet the powerful mage’s teacher, or the guy who taught the incredible swordsman what he knows. It also helps to underline the other point of this series, which is that those folks are, while mind-numbingly powerful, at least on the human scale. Our protagonists not only left that behind long ago, but were never like that.

Once the world was on the brink of destruction. The sky was blood-red, monsters were everywhere, many died, and everything was about to fall to the Demon Lord. Then the Hero and his party won the day, the sky turned blue again, and they all lived happily ever after. Now, over seventy years later, the hero and his wife the saint, now in their nineties, decide that they are going to be dying soon, and want to see their great-grandson for the first time before they do. He’s not on that continent, so it’s time for a journey. Along the way they meet the other surviving members of the hero’s party – a drunken swordsman and his witch wife, a bald “exhibitionist” monk with a muscle fetish, and a lying merchant who keeps changing his name. They’re all incredibly old… but I would advise against thinking they’re feeble.

There’s a lot of shonen stereotypes here, as you may have guessed. There’s one character who reminds me a lot of Usopp, but he has a surprising backstory, and also a surprisingly hidden power. The big guy who loves muscles and walks around with only a loincloth comes up a lot (I saw it in Last Dungeon Kid, and it wasn’t new there). That said, the main thing is that all of them are now called “eccentric” but back then had nastier names applied. Ferd the hero is so powerful that after the final battle he has to live on a remote mountain as almost no one can get near him, Elrica the saint was literally built to fight against evil (and has all the cliches you’d expect from that role), and Sazaki the swordsman is from the school of “If I sword good enough, I will be best at sword”, with an added drunken master aspect. This shouldn’t work as well as it does, as they’re all such types. But it does, as they’re all fun. I love it when Ferd and Elrica play at being a feeble, elderly couple. I also liked seeing the next generation of heroes, who are far more “normal” than Ferd and company but also appear to be writing their own story.

I’m not sure how much more of this we’ll get, but there’s at least a second volume out. Given the first book ends with them actually starting out to see the grandkid, I’m not optimistic we’ll get there. But I’m gonna love the ride. On a robot horse carriage.

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Divine Gun, Piercer of Darkness

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By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian.

This series does, believe it or not, have a bit more to it than simply a lot of cool fights and all the women in it fighting over who gets to be Allen’s #1 girl. We get lore dumps every volume, and this one is no exception, and while that can be difficult sometimes (all the old great families of yore had last names ending in -heart or -field, and while that’s aesthetically pleasing it does mean I wish this had a more comprehensive wiki), it also lends this story an epic take, a bit of gravitas that, frankly, it really needs so as not to overbalance into harem antics. 500 years ago or so was a lost age of powerful families and races that are mostly long gone, but the relics and dregs of the age still survive, and they’re either fighting to regain power or preparing to pass that power on to the next generation. Of course, finding where the power is hidden can be even more difficult…

In the aftermath of the death of apostle Io, the hero’s brother Igna, and Grand Marshal Moss Saxe, Allen can’t put it off any longer: he’s got to get a last name and some perks for saving the world – again. He tries to pawn this off on someone else as usual, and even when he figures something out it manages to be something beneficial for all – Allen simply doesn’t have many worldly desires, as those trying to get him to love them most know very well. Now they have to go off to the north to try to find another Sealed Archive so that they can gain access to a sealed book. It makes sense that Tina plays a big role, given that her late mother Rosa was the one who did most of the research into this. But why on Earth does business genius Felicia need to come with them? Only the cat knows…

I would normally avoid talking about spoilers, but it’s literally on the cover. Just as the last time Allen faced a secret archive he had Stella possessed, we now get Felicia’s body possessed by Anko, who has been lurking around this book as a black cat but of course turns out to be far more. That said, mostly what this battle serves to do is to make Felicia realize that in terms of girls who loves Allen, she’s at the bottom of the list. Allen, who is hated by a large portion of the population for various reasons, most of which are bullshit, needs someone at his side who can keep up with him – which means fighting, and Felicia is far better suited to, well, being a businesswoman. While she doesn’t say it to his face, she’s basically removing herself from the Allen sweepstakes here. As for the others, well, the title character might make more strides if she stopped acting like a child, but that seems impossible for her for now.

This was a solid volume, though I am starting to feel that this is being dragged out a bit too much. If the author wanted to make sure the series kept going till after the anime, no fear, feel free to wrap it up now.

Manga the Week of 11/26/25

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SEAN: This is when you should start buying manga for Christmas.

ASH: Honestly, I started last December.

SEAN: Airship debuts Bowing to Love: The Noble and the Gladiator (Ai ni Hizamazuku Toki), which stars two men who are torn between duty, pure pleasure, and actual love amidst a vaguely Ancient Roman fantasy world.

ASH: I’ve enjoyed some of Saki Aida’s other works and have heard good things about this one.

MICHELLE: Hm. Potentially interesting.

SEAN: There’s also a deluxe hardcover edition of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, with the first three volumes.

And we also have The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 13.

Early digital features The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 11, She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 15, and Too Many Losing Heroines! 6.

Dark Horse Comics debuts Omega 6, a manga by the creator of the video game of the same name. Bounty-hunting androids are on a race against time!

ASH: This looks like it could be fun.

SEAN: Dark Horse also has Blood Blockade Battlefront Omnibus 2.

Denpa is listed by retailers as having Nana & Kaoru: Black Label 2 and Vampeerz 6.

Fantagraphics has the third and final volume of Search and Destroy.

ASH: Here for it! (And then I’m going to read them all.)

SEAN: Ghost Ship gives us The Elf Sisters Can’t Wait for the Night 3 and Inside the Tentacle Cave 6.

Lots of J-Novel Club debuts. The Isle of Paramounts: Reborn into a Slow Life Among the Strongest in the World (Tenseishitara Saikyou Shu-tachi ga Sumau Shima deshita. Kono Shima de Slow Life wo Tanoshimimasu) stars a guy accidentally killed by God, who gets reincarnated on a remote island with immunity to illness and a copy ability. Then he finds the island is not that remote after all…

ASH: I initially read that as starring a guy who accidentally killed God, but I’m pretty sure that’s a different manga.

SEAN: Looks like a Job for a Maid! The Tales of a Dismissed Supermaid (Maid Nara Touzen desu. Nureginu wo Kiserareta Bannou Maid-san wa Tabi ni Deru Koto ni Shimashita) has a maid fired by her employer after being falsely accused. Now she has to find new work. Fortunately, as others who run into her find, she can do literally anything.

ASH: That is fortunate!

ANNA: Happy for her!

SEAN: Miss Blossom’s Backward Beauty Standards: Give Me the Ugly Crown Prince! (Bishuu Abekobe Isekai de Busaiku Outaishi to Kekkonshitai!) has an otaku woman reborn in a world where ugly is beautiful and beautiful is ugly, and thus sets her eyes on the Crown Prince, who is not only “hideous” but has terrible self-worth issues.

ASH: Hmmm.

SEAN: The manga debut is This Alluring Dark Elf Has the Heart of a Middle-Aged Man! (Watashi no Kokoro wa Oji-san de Aru). A (male) office worker wakes in the body of a (female) dark-haired elf in a fantasy world. Unfortunately, this elf is still an introvert who avoids others. Cross Infinite World did the light novel for this. The manga runs in Comic PASH!

Other light novels from JNC next week: The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects 11, The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World 7, and Revenge of the Soul Eater 2.

Other JNC manga include The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects 11, I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons 5, Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It! 10, The Retired Demon of the Maxed-Out Village 3, and Scooped Up by an S-Rank Adventurer! 2.

Kodansha Manga debuts A Curtain Call for You (Kimi no Tame no Curtain Call), a yuri series from Comic HOWL. An introverted writer hates dealing with people, but when outgoing transfer student Tsubame finds her writing, suddenly she’s being asked to help start a drama club!

ASH: Count me as intrigued!

SEAN: Omega Megaera is an omegaverse series from Itan. Omegas are discriminated against depending on whether they can bear alpha children, and so our lead, who is considered a creature that brings bad luck, has to come up with a scheme. This feels dark and political.

They also have a big old guidebook, Studio Ghibli: The Complete Works. It looks at each Ghibli film in detail.

ASH: Oh, that should be good! (Although I am used to most of the fancy Ghibli-related works coming from Viz.)

SEAN: Also in print: AKIRA Hardcover Collection 4, GAEA-TIMA the Gigantis 4, Magic Knight Rayearth 2 3 (the final volume), Sheeta’s Little Big World 2, Spacewalking With You 2, and Wistoria: Wand and Sword 10.

ASH: I really ought to give Spacewalking With You a try at some point.

SEAN: Digitally we see Killing Line 4, Manchuria Opium Squad 9, WIND BREAKER 21, and Ya Boy Kongming! 21.

Retailers say KUMA gives us YataMomo 2 next week.

MICHELLE: I’ve been meaning to read this!

SEAN: One Peace Books has an 11th volume of Farming Life in Another World.

As we’ve done I think every week this month, we start Seven Seas with a new danmei novel. Mistakenly Saving the Villain is whatever the danmei word for isekai is. Our hero dies and is reborn in a fantasy novel, where he has to rescue the hero. But he gets the wrong guy! There’s also a special edition with a double-sided bookmark, a sticker sheet, a poster, and four postcards.

ASH: Danmei has really taken off, it seems! And I’m not sad about that.

MICHELLE: Me, neither!

SEAN: Also danmei, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi Deluxe Edition 2.

In non-danmei Seven Seas news, Grand Metal Organs is a seinen series from Comic Days. A weak guy in a world where only the strong survive, tries hard anyway, and is rewarded with death. But now… he’s come back wrong. For horror fans.

ASH: That’s probably me, then! I also like what I’ve seen of the artwork.

SEAN: Tales of the Hundred Monsters Next Door (Tonari no Hyakkai Kenbunroku) is also horror, about a guy suffering from demons and a yokai expert telling stories.

ASH: A yokai expert, you say? Sounds like this is another series one for me, too.

ANNA: Always happy to see some more yokai series.

SEAN: Wimpy Demon King and Tsundere Hero (Hetare Maou to Tsundere Yuusha) is a BL one-shot from equal. (Capitalization and Japanese manga magazines are enemies). The title is the plot.

Also from Seven Seas: The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Wizard’s Blue 9, Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord 6, Gravitation 7: Gravitation EX (the final volume), Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid 16, Royal Tailor: Clothier to the Crown 5, A Tale of the Secret Saint 10.

MICHELLE: I hadn’t realized Wizard’s Blue went on for so long!

SEAN: Tokyopop has one debut, Dear Demon King (Shinai naru Waga Maou e) a BL one-shot that ran in from RED. A king must choose between duty and love… also, I think, griffins are hot guys in this?

ASH: That does seem to be the case.

ANNA: Sometimes this happens, I suppose.

SEAN: It also has a 2nd light novel volume for Her Royal Highness Seems to Be Angry.

Retailers say Udon has 2nd volumes for Little Mega Man and Mr. Mega Man.

Viz Media has a big artbook, The Art of Manga, which apparently highlights ten manga artists (they don’t say who) and shows why manga is so beloved. This ties into to an exhibit in San Francisco.

ASH: Assuming that the cover art is reflective of the contents, we should at least see Rumiko Takahashi, Jiro Taniguchi, Kazumi Yamashita, Mari Yamazki, and Fumi Yoshinaga included. I suspect Tetsuya Chiba, Fujio Akatsuka, Hirohiko Araki, Gengoroh Tagame, and Eiichiro Oda will be featured, too. This should be phenomenal.

ANNA: Oh, this does sound cool!

SEAN: Viz also has JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 7–Steel Ball Run 4.

ASH: I have so much catching up to do, but I’m still incredibly happy to see more of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure being released in English.

ANNA: Yes!

SEAN: No debuts for Yen On, but we do see Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 24, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 17, Kusunoki’s Garden of Gods 3, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 15, Victoria of Many Faces 3, and Who Killed the Hero? 2.

Yen Press pushed all its still to the last week of the month, so here it is. CLAMP Official Artbook: COLOR KURO is one of two artbooks, the other being SHIRO (also out this week) to highlight CLAMP’s career. They’re very expensive-looking, which is good, as they’re very expensive.

ASH: Truth!

SEAN: Corpse Knight Gunther is a webtoon series about a world where vampires have defeated humanity. Now the humans are striking back with… well, take a guess, he’s in the title.

Fruits Basket: The Complete Box Set is what it says. It has new covers and some postcards.

ASH: I’m still delighted Fruits Basket is still in print.

SEAN: The Girl Past the Filters (Filter-Goshi no Kanojo) is an ecchi manga from Comic Zenon. A stoic boy who enjoys interacting with an online persona who posts lewd pics of herself is startled to find that she’s his studious classmate.

The Maid Is a Vampire (Maid-san wa Kyuuketsuki) is a 3-volume omnibus of a series that ran in Manga Cross. If you liked Mechanical Marie but wished instead of a strong girl pretending to be a robot, she was a vampire, this is for you.

The Terrifying Students at Ghoul School! (Youkai Gakkou no Seito Hajimemashita!) is a prequel to, well, A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School!. It runs in PFantasy.

Also from Yen Press: Adachi and Shimamura 6, Ako and Bambi 6, The Beginning After the End 9, Blade & Bastard 3, The BS Situation of Tougetsu Umidori 2, Convenient Semi-Friend 2, Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie 7, Dara-san of Reiwa 2, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 23, Everyone’s Darling Has a Secret 3, I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too 6, I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class 2, I Want to Be a Receptionist in This Magical World 7, Is the Order a Rabbit? 4, Kowloon Generic Romance 10, The Skeleton Enchanted by the Cursed Blade 2, So What’s Wrong with Getting Reborn as a Goblin? 9, Sword Art Online Ordinal Scale 3, The Three-Body Problem (comic version) 4, This Monster Wants to Eat Me 5, Trinity Seven 31, Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet 11, and A Witch’s Life in Mongol 2.

ASH: A good reminder that I need to read my copy of the first volume of A Witch’s Life in Mongol . And that I need to start reading Kowloon Generic Romance, too.

MICHELLE: I routinely forget about Kowloon Generic Romance, but I also want to read it, at some point.

ANNA: Yeah! So much manga!

SEAN: Lots of good gifts there! Anything catch your eye?

A Tale of the Secret Saint, Vol. 9

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By Touya and chibi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Sita Daiseijyo ha, Seijyo Dearuko Towohitakakusu” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Kevin Ishizaka. Adapted by Michelle McGuinness.

There are many examples in the light novel genre of “slow life” books, where the main character seemingly spends the entire book farming, or running a store, or petting fluffy animals, and not much of substance happens. After reading nine volumes of Secret Saint, I’m starting to wonder if the writer of this series is actually from another world, and was reincarnated in this one to live the slow life putting out the plot one drip at a time. The author actually anticipates this, writing defensively in the afterword about how we all have to be patient. But come on. It helps even less that, as usual, this book is 60% main plot and 40% side stories. We get one major plot beat here, which actually functions as a cliffhanger into the next book. Little sister is still in a coma. Fia’s cover is still not quite blown. Everything is moving forward very, very, very slowly. Fortunately, Fia is an airheaded savant, so it’s all very readable.

After the events of the last book, Fia is spending part of her days in the royal garden, trying to get the roses to have the magical power to wake Colette from her coma. She’s also meeting the other saints, who are… well, in a power struggle with each other, as the position of saint these days is very political and those whose powers don’t measure up find themselves sent to the remote countryside very quickly. Meanwhile, the Queen Dowager is returning to the capital. She’s the head saint, and she has chosen a woman who is sure to be the next head saint. This comes as a surprise to Fia, who was expecting the grumpy but good deep down Priscilla to get the job. That said, Fia is even more surprised by who the king reveals will be his candidate. (Fia is the only one surprised by this.)

The side stories in this book are based on the 2nd character poll, with the top 6 getting a story of their own. It includes the ZERO spinoff, so no surprises, Sirius is in first place. It actually feels a bit odd to see the younger, Serafina-focused stories in the main series now that she has her own spinoff to play around in. As for the book itself, it’s mostly fun, aside from the Queen Dowager, who has “end of level Boss” vibes to her, does not seem to like either of her sons, and I suspect will really not like Fia once she sees what Fia can do. There’s a ton of humor here, especially when Fia decides, for no good reason, that walking around with her pet dragon on her shoulder will be fine after all. Fia is all heart and no head, and that can be a bit frustrating, both for the reader (if she figured things out this series would be over by now) and for the romantic leads (she doesn’t recognize a date even when told “this is a date” and she’s given presents).

If you’ve been following this series, well, don’t expect huge plot and character development. But it’s fun.