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Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden, Vol. 10

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By Umikaze Minamino and Katana Canata. Released in Japan as “Kyōran Reijō Nia Liston: Byōjaku Reijō ni Tenseishita Kami-goroshi no Bujin no Kareinaru Musō Roku” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by okaykei.

If you have been following A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even: The Anime, and felt that she was perhaps going a bit TOO far and getting a bit TOO evil, may I recommend the latest volume of Nia Liston? In which Nia gets very angry, and gets her revenge. But it’s the sort of revenge that may actually make everything better, and, while she confesses this is a surprise to her, no bad guys actually die who are not giant insects. Ah yes, that reminds me: if you like to see tiny ojou-samas fighting ants with the power of fists and kicks, also good news! Nia is here to kick ass and kick more ass, and she’s not remotely out of asses to kick. She does have a soft spot for her cute l’il orphans, of course, as well as the Fourth Princess, who she, um, literally buys. OK, that’s a bit too much like Livid Lady. But it’s OK, it’s not as a slave, it’s as her next disciple.

Having had her mansion destroyed by Mech Knights, Nia returns there to find that officials are busy erasing the evidence that there was any wrongdoing done there, and shortly thereafter they send Nia a bill for all the repairs. To the neighborhood. This is, by the way, while Shylrane has been desperately trying to get Nia on their good side, as she needs her to defeat the insects that are barely being held back by the country, which turns out to be on the verge of doom much more than folks know. Needless to say, Nia is unhappy with the bill. She decides to work off her stress by beating up the head of the mafia underworld, taking the contents of his safe, and then going on a bug-hunting party, where she wipes out the first level of the bugs – the only level, so far, the nation had been able to fight. This, of course, means the more dangerous bugs are no longer held back. And then she’s arrested and thrown in prison. Really, we’re very lucky this ISN’T Livid Lady…

I’ve always found the “Nia beats people up” part of this series to be the least interesting, and I always like it when the author throws in curveballs. Of which the biggest has to be Akashi’s obsession with inventing the car. This may seem baffling, given this is a book filled with sky islands, pirate airships, and flying cars, but the idea of cars on the ground – and, in particular, the prototypes crashing into walls – is not only hilarious and fun, but a terrific Magivision idea. Which, in case you forgot, is why Nia is here at all. I am also very amused with the Lynokis subplot. I’ve never had time for her stupid lolicon persona, which is present and incorrect here as always. But now Nia not only has a royal princess who’s studious and respectful towards Nia’s teachings, but also a young prodigy orphan girl who’s blazing through leaning about chi in record time. Seeing Nia get tired of her maid/bodyguard who doesn’t really want to get stronger is magical. As in it’s basically “let’s torture her”.

We’re still in the middle of this arc, but I am hoping that the next book has a bit less people being awful and a bit more filming reality TV. Oh yes, the anime is out soon!

From Corporate Drone to Mincemaster! One Order of Dragon Coming Right Up!, Vol. 1

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By Minato Minato and Tsukito. Released in Japan as “Makikomarete Shoukan Sareta Genkai OL, Guild Shozoku no [Mamono Kaitai Jou] toshite Funtouchuu ~Dragon desu ka? Mochiron Sabakemasu!~” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

I mean, it’s FINE, I guess. I enjoyed reading it. I’ll read more. The main characters are all likeable enough. But god, I do not think I have ever come across a light novel with as little originality as this one, a LN that feels like someone completed a Mad Libs for Isekai and wrote the book based on the results. There’s an office lady so ground down from overwork that the only surprise is that it’s a normal summoning and not “dead from work”. There’s her opposite number, a saint who seemingly ticks all the “evil” boxes from the moment she opens her mouth. We get an awkward dorky guy who clearly likes her, and a cool but distant guy who clearly likes her, and one of these is very clearly far ahead of the other. Sorry, dorky guy. There’s an adorable pet monster. And there’s Sachi herself, OP as hell and plucky as all git out.

Sachi Hasumi is 21 years old. Her parents are dead. She dreamed of inheriting her grandfather’s restaurant, but he told her to go to college and work a nice job. Then it turned out the restaurant was about to go under. Then he died. Now she’s working for a black company, pulling triple all-nighters for no extra pay. No boyfriend, no friends. Then, as she walks home one night, she is summoned to another world! Or rather,.. the girl next to her is. The other girl is the Saint. Sachi is a “mincemaster”. She’s essentially left forgotten by the side of the magic circle. Oh, and of course, one way trip, no returning home. Then she meets the vice-chairman of the adventurer’s guild, who thinks her mincemaster talent is just what they need, given they’re drowning in monsters adventurers have brought back.

Now that I’ve gotten the bad out of the way, this is perfectly fine, it’s just the most unoriginal thing ever. Things I enjoyed: Sachi’s growing realization that she now has a job where people appreciate her work, she has normal hours and days off, and she’s paid well. There’s no doubt this is partly written as an OL fantasy of getting out of your hellish job, and it works just fine there. I also did appreciate, even if I wish we’d seen it at the start, the brief side story showing the saint, months later, on the road, desperately trying to level up her miserable saint powers, and discovering most of her arrogant bravado came from sheer relief at being away from her Education Parents who say she will be a doctor or she will be disowned. I expect she will still be a bitch when she sees how well Sachi is doing, but at least she has a REASON to be one. Oh yes, and Sachi’s receptionist friend Ann is great fun, especially when she mocks the fact that Sachi is 100% oblivious to the two hotties hitting on her.

This does have a Volume 2, so we will get more. I expect it will remain a coloring book that does not step outside the lines, but it is… pleasant.

Assassin Empress Bellreuge

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By Aoi Miyamae and Hatori Kyouka. Released in Japan as “Ansatsu Jotei Bellreuge ~Shiitagerareshi Koujo wa Ai o Ete Nariagaru~” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Alex Castor.

I think for the sake of my sanity I’m going to treat this book the way that I treated Once Upon a Witch’s Death, which also was licensed by Yen as a one-shot and then had future volumes roll out much later in Japan. CIW notably has not called this Volume 1, implying it’s complete in one book. The webnovel is very clearly complete, but this book stops just before the climactic battle and has a bunch of side stories instead. The author says in the afterword they were surprised this got a LN pickup at all. So, let’s put it this way: if this does have a second volume to wrap things up, then I definitely recommend it, as I found it a lot of fun, especially its heroine. If this is all that we get, I suspect it will just be frustrating. And if it turns out the book is actually complete and my digital copy is missing a chapter or two, please let me know.

Let’s also get a content warning out of the way: this book is filled with blood and gore, most of it caused by the heroine killing people. They’re all trying to kill her, to be clear, she’s not evil. Bellreuge is the 2nd princess of an empire, an illegitimate child, and has spent literally her entire life dodging assassination attempts and learning from her mother how to fight back. Her older sister was briefly sweet and loving to her, but when the Queen died big sis turned 100% evil. To avoid constant assassins every day, Bellreuge became her sister’s handmaiden, essentially working as a slave and being abused left and right. Now, finally, her sister is going to be married. Except… the margrave’s son, a man with a bloody reputation, proposes to Bellreuge instead!

That synopsis covers about the first 2 pages of this book. The rest involves Bellreuge being forced to escape constant walls of people trying to kill her and going to the margravate, which turns out to be a country of hotheads who love to fight, and her new fiance is merely the worst of them. Bellreuge herself is so emotionally beaten down by years of abuse and constant death threats that, while she’s perfectly capable of acting like a royal princess if she needs to, she also tends to go to “stiletto in the brain” as the “when all you have is a hammer” answer. She and Asturm, her fiance, are awkward around each other for about half the book as they simply haven’t communicated at all, and the scene where they turn an archery contest into a “yes, I think I could fall in love with you” is the best in the book. Unfortunately, much as Bellreuge wants to simply avoid anything to do with her situation, everyone else in the world knows she has to fight her sister and become Empress. They gather armies and prepare to do battle…

And then we get short stories from the POV of her maid/bodyguard, Asturm himself, and his little sister to round things off. The end! Highly recommended if there’s a 2nd volume eventually, mildly recommended if this is all we get.

In Another World with Household Spells, Vol. 6

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By Rika and HIROKAZU. Released in Japan as “Isekai ni Kita kedo, Seikatsu Mahou shika Tsukaemasen” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned Ascendance of a Bookworm in these reviews yet, which is a bit of a surprise. We do have a reincarnated girl who is now in the nobility but knows little about it, trying to earn money for her family by inventing things she remembers from back in Japan. She has a posse of friends and classmates, she has adorable siblings, and she has a dad who’s kinda useless. (Sylvester is the dad I mean in this case.) And she’s even intriguing royalty. But if this is a Bookworm lookee likee, there’s one thing that it’s been missing to this point: where’s Ferdinand? Good news, as hitting this series like a bomb is court mage Primus Geitz. He’s the most powerful magic user in the country. He’s a bit of a jerk, but also immediately understands Patience in a way few have so far. And he’s already proposing, much to her horror. Now we’ll see how close it really gets to Bookworm.

We pick up where we left off, with Patience and company discovering amazing new things in the local ruins. As the book goes on, more and more people show up to verify and explore this, and unfortunately, Patience (and later Angela) is the only one who can activate the Open Sesame trap door that lets them into this. She’s also using her household magic to clean ancient moldy ruins and ancient hard to read texts into just as new. And she’s using echolocation to find where the electricity and wiring is in this ancient ruin, as that’s a lost art in this magic-only world. And she’s using teleportation to rescue her brother from … well, not certain death, but a scary dark place. And she’s also telling everyone how solar power works. Finally, it’s up to Geitz, rapidly becoming her least favorite person, to say what we all guessed: she’s not using Household Magic. It’s a lot bigger than what.

Again, Patience is going to have to deal with a fiance soon. Not only does this world not really believe in marrying for love, it also tends to engage em young to keep them tied down somewhere important. That’s especially true of Patience, who is rapidly becoming the most important 11-year-old in history. And this book doesn’t even have half of her fiance candidates. Probably because it adds Geitz. Unlike Ferdinand, though, Geitz has not yet revealed his softer side, and is happily ready to bribe and blackmail Patience’s brothers as he realizes that she’ll do anything they say. I suppose she can always try marrying royalty… but the job she actually is starting to want, a sort of wandering diplomat, is feeling farther away with this book, as she simply as too much magic and too many innovations.

And what’s worse, this arc still isn’t over. And there’s far too many plot strands still up in the air, including Patience’s father. Did I also mention she’s now a Baronetess? I didn’t even know that had a feminine version. For those who enjoy watching OP tweens suffer.

Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 17

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By Nozomu Mochitsuki and Gilse. Released in Japan as “Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Madeleine Willette.

We’re now seventeen books into this series, short story collections aside, and Mia has gotten very good at actual princess things. Sure, she sometimes faces death from things like assassins (as in this book, where we get to see something rare in fictional works, armor actually doing its job in a realistic way), but for the most part, Mia is no longer in any danger of the world turning against her and getting guillotined. As such, Mia has to face an even more dangerous fate, and one that so far she has been very bad at stopping: people in the future thinking TOO highly of her. Mia wants to be a good Empress and avoid execution, she does not want to be worshiped as a God. And when the suggestion of a giant golden statue of her hits her ears, she naturally tries to do everything possible in this book to transfer praise and worthy deeds to others and avoid doing everything herself. Which… works somewhat, but it’s still a C+ overall.

We pick up where we left off last time, with Princess Orania accused of trying to assassinate her father, and then escaping. Now Mia is trying to do damage control, which involves talking with the King (doesn’t help much), getting an in with the merchants (works much better), and meeting with the nation’s Parliament, where she lays out a way that “stop treating your underclass like crap” can work for them (even better). Unfortunately, this does not stop the rest of the plot, which involves escaping, getting captured, cool sword battles, escaping again, getting captured again, and everything ending at a lighthouse, which Mia desperately wants to avoid as it’s where the future suggests her golden statue is put! Does Mia have enough allies and enough power of speechifying to save the day?

This can be a very idealistic series, but at its core is a very dark and bitter future, and even now that we’ve mostly escaped that future we still see where it came from. The actual conspirator behind everything turns out to be so indoctrinated by the serpents that talking to them isn’t going to work, and in the end, despite our getting the backstory behind Orania’s father, the “does not really care about his daughter” part is mostly present and correct – more to the point, he doesn’t care about anything except his past love. There’s no “I was doing tough love in order to save you”, which I was expecting. I do appreciate that Orania is able to get past this and use it to be stronger. Using Mia as a guide, as Mia again does very well here, narrator and gorging on sweets aside. (There’s some fat-shaming again, I fear I will never be entirely rid of that.) The idealism comes in Mia’s speech, where she rails against the pointlessness of revenge and inspires everyone to work harder for the future of their children. The narrator did not talk about people misinterpreting Mia at all in this volume – they interpret her just fine.

Presumably, then, the next volume will start a new arc. I’m not sure how long this series plans to run, but I’ll always happily read more.

Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, Vol. 11

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By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn.

The author speaks in the afterword about having grand plans for a lot of wacky fun in the second half of this arc, but as they began to actually write the book, it became apparent that wacky fun was going to have to take a backseat. This is a serious book, with lots of threats to our heroines and the city as a whole. Reirin herself is still battling her own chronic illness, and has come to terms with the fact that she’ll be dying very soon – something which absolutely terrifies Keigetsu. And then there’s the brothel they’re infiltrating, which is filled with sex workers who are trying their hardest to be the one who steps on rather than the one who gets stepped on. There’s a chilling drug that not only can give you lifelong addiction, but no one knows how it’s made! And then there’s the guys who they’ve left behind, who are ready to rush the place at the drop of a hat, and have taken their hats off and prepared to drop them just in case.

In order to help Nadir stop the drug trade and find evidence to convict his crooked aide, Reirin and Keigetsu (who remain swapped the entire book) have to infiltrate the brothel that is the most likely source of the drug. Seika is going as well, of course, because she’s come to the horrifying conclusion that her childhood friend may be there. Unfortunately, for Reirin’s plans and perhaps Keigetsu’s self-image, Reirin-in-Keigetsu is not considered pretty enough to be a sex worker, so she’s made a simple laborer while the other two infiltrate above stairs. Still, this lets her easily investigate… but she’s coming up empty. Meanwhile, things go from bad to worse for Keigetsu and Seika – not because they’re being bullied as newbies (they’ve seen far worse in the inner court, and are more appalled at how unsubtle it is), but because Kinyou, Seika’s friend, *is* there, is the one at the very top, and will do anything to throw Seika out of there fast.

For those of you not reading this as a yuri series (there are some, right? The author if no one else…), there’s a lot of good stuff here. We’ve seen subtext between Keigetsu and Reirin’s brother Keishou in previous books, but there’s even more of it here. Likewise, while they start off as enemies, fans of shoujo manga should realize that Seika and Prince Nadir’s back and forth is very familiar, and likely may also turn romantic. That said, the author also cannot stop writing the strongest relationships in this series between the women. Seika and Kinyou have what amounts to a DIY marriage ceremony before Seika departs for the inner court, and there is a lot of anguish and pain between the two of them that does not scream “besties!”. Speaking of anguish and pain, Keigetsu is still reeling from the reveal that Reirin is much closer to dying than anyone thought, and it’s not a surprise that the solution that pops into mind is “why don’t we just stay like this forever so she can have my healthy body?”. Reirin would never allow that of course… so Keigetsu has to start hiding things from her again, which I’m sure will go as well as it always has.

Reirin says she’s going to tell everyone else at court about her condition in the next book, and presumably stand down as a maiden. I’m 100% sure that won’t happen, but I’m unsure where this will go. In any case, this series remains terrific, though as always, if you suffer from chronic illness, it can be very hard to get through.

Repeated Vice: I Refuse to Be Important Enough to Die, Vol. 4

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By Kuroakawa Hitsugi and Kushiro Kuki. Released in Japan as “Repeat Vice: Akuyaku Kizoku wa Shinitakunai node Shitennou ni Naru no wo Yamemashita” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by piyo.

We’ve had a couple of “trapped in the world of a game” series with more than one person aware of it, but those tend to go a different way than this one is. Usually you get the main character figuring things out, trying to change their fate, etc. and we get the other character (often an evil heroine) simply waiting for their life to be the same as the game and getting upset when it is not. That’s not what we get here, as there are two people actively trying to push back against the game’s events… in a previous life, no less, so it’s a mashup of that as well… and occasionally struggling as they see things out of context. Lilka knows that Lofus is already quite different from before, and yet when she hears about him interacting with Fol, she immediately can’t help but thinking of Fol as being the same as the past world. It’s very hard to draw outside the lines of the coloring book in your head.

Lofus continues in this book to do what he does best: make everyone’s lives a much better place while being an absolute dick about it. He is, unfortunately, unable to find an easy fix for Iz’s wasting mana disease, but he does manage to forge new ties with a merchant who really likes Lofus… possibly a bit too much… and get his railroad started with the unwanted but grudgingly necessary help of Raymond, who is still trying to be the one to force Lofus back into the game plot. Meanwhile, Fol is doing her best to map the unmappable, and Lilka is continuing to be a sky pirate. Unfortunately, as love interests go, they both have one primary flaw, which is that they’re not near the hero every day. Yes, that’s right, remember how I was feeling bad for Yusurika, Lofus’ hapless bodyguard who seemed to be unable to stop him waltzing into trouble? Turns out she’s also a love interest, and moves to the front of the line in this book.

I will admit I am not entirely positive about the Yusurika subplot. Not necessarily because of the love interest thing, it’s that kind of book, I know he’ll just continue to stack up women like cordwood. And her tragic past as a cursed dark-haired girl, despite her amazing healing powers, is unoriginal but par for the course. I am merely grumpy about the old chestnut “wait, I met you years ago and became your reason for living but have totally forgotten it because for me it was Tuesday” plot, which even Lofus has to fudge and say “no, of course I remember you”. Speaking of other love interests… not, not Fran the Saint or Maylene the Mage, but Raymond the wannabe Demon Lord, who is our token BL option (sorry, fans of the merchant, but he’s clearly comedy relief). Lofus may try to avoid dealing with him and hate his personality, but there’s no denying that their hate chemistry would spawn a number of AO3 fanfics if this were in Shonen Jump.

There’s a semi-cliffhanger at the end, but I would not worry too much about Lilka. Especially as the 7th book came out in July. For fans of the “villain” genre.

Loner Life in Another World, Vol. 15

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By Shoji Goji and Saku Enomaru. Released in Japan as “Hitoribocchi no Isekai Kouryaku” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Andrew Schubauer. Adapted by Rei Geronimo.

There’s a bit right at the end of this book where all the nobles ask Haruka why he’s not all that worried about the Empire invading, even though they clearly are saying they’re going to do so. And Haruka utters a stream of gobbledegook, as he always does. But when translated by Book Club President, it amounts to: they don’t want to invade, they want all their enemies to collapse from within and then waltz in as saviors. It makes a lot of sense, though Haruka is also well aware that there’s a time limit on this, and I suspect in the next book we may finally leave Omui to go somewhere else again. Because this is the third book in a row where the plot is basically Dungeon, Inn, Dungeon, Inn, over and over for nearly 500 pages. The dungeon stuff is mostly filled with Haruka’s monologues about how he’s trying to improve, why no one will let him do so, and the occasional sensible observation. As for the inn, well…

On the cover is Haruka’s new servitude victim, an archdemon that Haruka decides to name Morning Star Archdemon, after the weapon he gives her. That said, relax – not only does she look like an underage gothic lolita on the cover, but Haruka thinks she is as well. So she’s going in with the demon scythes and the chickenatrice, in that she’ll be seen fighting but will not be part of the ongoing bedroom adventures. Which is good, as those are taking up more and more of the book. The book is still somehow rated OT rather than Mature, probably as Seven Seas knows that this series is not exactly picking up any new readers. That said, I used to say that the sex was there but ignorable because Haruka’s narration mostly made it incoherent. That is mostly true, but we also now get narration from the girls, which is a lot less incoherent. Honestly, I’m impressed the author has almost made this all plot relevant – the Dungeon Masters clearly want the other girls to get with Haruka as well, but know that, as they are and as he is, he would simply break them. So there’s training instead. Which involves either a lot of “stamina training” and also consumption of some “miracle medicine”. Class Rep seems to be doing better than the others, mostly as she’s their sacrifice half the time. Anyway.

In non-sexy and dungeon-related stuff… there is a bit of it… we see Haruka trying to open a portal back to Japan so that he can send the girls back home. (He’s given up on the guys, who are either married now or avoiding getting married.) He’s thinking of their families back home, and also worries that if he lets it go too long they’ll be too inhuman to ever really return. I have news for Haruka, that’s long since already happened, even if it’s only been four months since the start of the series. The girls all know this too – they’ve explicitly told him they’ve come to terms with the isekai and are staying, but he is, of course, ignoring them, mostly as he still feels responsible for everything. The Dungeon Emperors don’t only do “sex training” with the girls, they also do dungeon training, and they’re the biggest hardasses out there. Mostly as they know the girls have the same issue they do – if Haruka gets strong enough that they can’t be at his side anymore, their hearts will completely shatter. Meanwhile, Haruka thinks the ideal solution is to not have anyone he cares about at his side. You can see why this isn’t getting anywhere.

So yeah, we read another 500 pages of wheel-spinning, as the author admits in the afterword. Will things happen in Book 16? We can but pray.

Unsung Epics of the Hero’s Journey, Vol. 2

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By Hachigatsumori and Nat. Released in Japan as “Yuusha no Tabi no Uragawa de” by Dre Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT.

In my last review I mentioned that the hero’s party itself barely featured in the book. That changes with this second book, and we get to see what kind of hero’s party they are. And, frankly, it’s very much towards the idealistic end of the spectrum. No one is getting banished from the party with these guys – in fact, we literally see that near the end. The hero is the sort of girl you want to be the hero who saves the world, and she’s got strength and stamina out the wazoo. Sadly, no one really trained her, so she lacks any real experience – which is probably why Rhuys’ prophesies keep showing her dying horribly before she can complete her destiny. Technically Ariagnée, who is demi-human herself, should not really be training the hero on how to kill folks like her should the time come. But alas, the bad guys reckoned without one important fact that this book emphasizes as much as the last: Ariagnée is gay as hell, and will do anything for a cute girl.

Acting on a new vision that says that the hero is going to be ambushed by assassins, Rhuys and Ariagnée try to quickly get ahead of the party to take care of things… and end up running right into them, as noted above. Ariagnée helps Lina (the hero), who is quick to learn but also a bit of a meathead when it comes to combat. Rhuys has an awkward meetup with Agnes, the party’s cleric, who is the protoge of the woman who tried to have Rhuys killed in the first book. There’s also Sierra, a typical “not the hero but very similar” warrior, and a mage who is the only guy in the group. After ditching the party, and having a quick detour at a lake (more on that later), they end up being attacked by assassins… no, not the assassins who are ambushing the hero, another, slightly less good group of assassins. Because it turns out that the hero being chosen by magic fiat upsets folks who dreamed of THEIR hero being chosen.

That detour I mentioned is basically a maguffin that allows our two heroines to come to terms with their past. They meet a guy who is trying to find an artifact that lets you talk to the dead… which gets pretty dark when you hear why she died. But then Ariagnée uses it to talk with her mother, who is rather blasé about being dead, and encourages her. Rhuys has to rely on a DIFFERENT maguffin, but also gets a bit of closure that hopefully makes her a lot less death seeking than the first book, in that it turns out only half her family didn’t care about her at all. This may be an adventure series with yuri subtext, but the world they’re in is dark, and there’s a lot of corpses stacking up, particularly towards the end. Rhuys may keep seeing vision of the hero dying, but when merchant Utile (who, by the way, looks EXACTLY like Richeh from Witch Hat Atelier) asks Rhuys to make sure Ariagnée stays safe, we nod along. Please protect Ariagnée from the narrative.

There’s no third volume of this yet, but Drecom tends to wrap series up fast rather than cancelling them unfinished, so I’m sure one will pop up. If you like subverting the hero’s journey, or just a lot of gay women (there’s at least three, and I’m prepared to go up to seven if I have to) this is a good read.

The Villainess Speaks Not: The Black Pawn and The Summoned Heteromorphs

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By Kei Yose and Ruria Miyuki. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijou wa Shaberimasen” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Adam.

These are chunky books, with each volume being around twice the size of your average light novel. As a result, I deeply appreciate that the book starts with a “story so far” catching me up on what happened in Book One, because after that the reader is not really given any more help. There are lots of characters in this, and you need to remember who they are and which faction they’re with. More characters are introduced. Some characters we thought would be major players in this book end up being taken off the board instead. Liliana has changed a lot about the way that the “plot” of this world is supposed to go, but it feels like fate wants to railroad her anyway. Things are definitely not helped by her attempts to distance herself from the love interests, which not only fails, but actually gets worse. Basically, she’s so good at everything that she may accidentally end up as dead as the narrative wants.

Liliana can actually speak now, though she hides that from most people. And she’s much calmer and better at powerful magic, meaning she has an alive handmaiden rather than the dead handmaiden she had in the narrative. Despite this, the world keeps moving on, and she keeps trying to figure out how to fix things so she escapes her fate. Maybe it can be by understanding the complicated politics of the various countries that deal with them – especially the Empire, who seem to be actively sabotaging them. Maybe she can save the entire country when a massive monster swarm attacks the royal capital on the Prince’s birthday party. Maybe she can make an ally, and indeed hire, the assassin who’s been trying to kill her and her allies. And maybe she can get Riley to choose someone else to be his fiancee, though honestly, that’s the hardest goal. After all, he’s mostly figured out what she’s hiding.

This book has a problem a lot of light novels taken from webnovels do, which is that the big climax of the book happens a little over halfway through it, and the ending is sort of a quiet “to be continued”. I suppose it’s better than a nasty cliffhanger, but after 389 pages it can feel anticlimactic. That said, we did have lots of climaxes in the pages beforehand. The addition of Obsidian to the cast is fantastic, as every heroine needs someone who will snark at her and also try to kill her just so she can prove she’s still better than him. I also liked the subplot around Austin, who ends up going out on the monster hunt even though he’s too inexperienced. He survives, but clearly needs therapy, and I appreciate this is recognized and forced onto him. As for Liliana, I think she may need to admit soon that she and Riley are in fact a perfect couple. Then again, she still isn’t even ten years old yet.

If you like your villainess stories to be more like black coffee than sweet tea, this is right yup your street.

Fired? But I Maintain All the Software!, Vol. 2

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By Yuki Kashirome and icchi. Released in Japan as “E, Shanai System Subete One Operation Shite Iru Watashi o Kaiko desu ka?” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Minna Lin.

Content warning: This review will be discussing a book that deals with multiple companies that use AI, and it discusses AI throughout the book, usually in a positive way (though it does emphasize AI without humans making decisions is a disaster). Reader discretion is advised.

The second volume of this series tries to figure out what to do next, as (the author admits this) it was written as a one-shot with no real idea where to go next. As it turns out, while there’s still a lot of discussion of startup companies and AI, for the most part the series turns into Ai being a counselor and solving the mental blocks and traumas of young women. If you asked Ai, of course, she’s not particularly thinking of herself as a counselor, but that is de facto what’s happening here. We also get an introduction of a new regular, who looks so much like Megumin from KonoSuba that the book outright admits it. Oh, and we also meet a younger sister who’s tall, smart, and also indebted to Ai. The series may not be yuri per se, but Ai can’t help but draw cute girls into the fold.

As with the first book, the cover art is the first moment of the volume, as Ai gets up, still in pajamas, turns on the TV, and sees her old boss doing a press conference in cosplay. She doesn’t have time to boggle at this too much, as her company has a problem – because Ken was unprepared for Ai’s brilliance, they had to sell the Smart Frames – including the rights. As a result, Ken takes most of the book off to level up, so to speak. As for Ai, she realizes she doesn’t have a dream like most everyone else she talks to, and decides to talk with the handsome, rich, brilliant CEO she met in the last book. He immediately tries to headhunt her, but reckons without her oddly low self-image. He then directs her to a similar problem genius – Megumi Yamada, whose combination of intellect that skirts around being labeled autistic and deep past trauma and grief have left her something of a basket case – but a brilliant one. After this, Ai then meets Tsubasa’s younger sister, who has a dream she can’t fulfill and has grown jaded and weary of life. She’s also a complete genius, by the way.

A lot of the solution here seems to be “fight genius with genius”. Yes, Ai takes Megumi to a hot springs and forces her to do things like sleep, but what really fixes things is that Ai is clever enough to rapidly catch on to what Megumi is doing and make suggestions to fix the one thing that was missing. As a result, not only do they have a brilliant new product, but they have a new employee, as Megumi now wants to be at Ai’s side at all times. As for Arisa, I did come up with the technical answer for how her issues were going to be dealt with, but I was thrown off by the extended description of a sports anime that also helped wear her down and reminded her why she liked basketball so much. The solution actually combined the technology from both Ai and Megumi, making it thematically appropriate, too.

The big flaw with this series, of course, is that it’s so ridiculously idealistic it squeaks. Ai is essentially an isekai’d guy with a sword and a harem, only the sword is her computational brilliance. That said, in a genre overflowing with guys with swords, that can easily be good enough.

If the Villainess and Villain Met and Fell in Love ~ She Was All But Disowned for Her Spirit Contract, But She’s Still Competing with Her Rival ~, Vol. 5

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By Harunadon and Yomi Sarachi. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō to Akuyaku Reisoku ga, Deatte Koi ni Ochitanara: Nanashi no Seirei to Keiyaku Shite Oidasareta Reijō wa, Kyō mo Reisoku to Kisoiatte Iru Yō Desu” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

Japanese series, and fantasy light novels in particular, really love a certain kind of villain. He’s usually portly, he’s definitely arrogant, and he tends to sneer a lot. There are few grey or sympathetic villains here, most of the ones we see are kicking puppies when no one is looking. And an awful lot of them seem to be with the church. We’ve had sympathetic clergy so far for this series, but there have been factional fights, and with the death of the head priest at the end of the last volume, it’s time for them to take over, jail and torture the ones on the moderate side, and put out an all-points bulletin: arrest Brigitte and get that phoenix. Which is why, of course, Brigitte has disappeared. Even worse, this isn’t the final volume, so you know that we won’t quite wrap everything up.

Yuri and Brigitte’s friends discover she’s gone, and very quickly work out why – it’s not hard to figure out when the clergy are going around the school searching. So they decide to search for Brigitte as well, plus try to throw the pursuers off the trail. Meanwhile, Brigitte and Tonari are trying their best to hide by going back and forth between the Crack and the real world, while also having conversations about whether Brigitte might actually be a changeling and not a real human being at all. Y’know, just chatting about stuff. Brigitte does not exactly need this right now, but she perseveres anyway, as she’s plucky like that. Unfortunately, running away is not going to actually solve the problem, so we’ll go with plan B, which is deliberately get captured.

There’s a lot of good stuff here. I like that, in the end, Yuri’s family are all various shades of abusive and neglectful not because they’re bad people but because they’re all awkward dorks who are poor at communication. “I would have helped you, but you never reached out and were also kinda whiny”. Horrible, but I get it. It was also, and I hate the fact that I’m saying this, interesting seeing Joseph again. He’s been under house arrest, and has mostly given up on having anything good in his lift, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to choke Brigitte out and still being the world’s shittiest ex. Yuri wants to kill him for what he did, and, well, there’s still one more book to go, so good luck, Yuri! Speaking of that one book, unfortunately, the bad guy got away, and bad family things are happening, so gotta postpone the wedding a little longer. At least the next book is the last, I think.

This feels like it’s gone on a bit too long (the online version ended with Book 4), but I’ll keep reading it till the end. It’s mid-tier Villainess.

Anime NYC 2026, Saturday

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Maybe it was because this was the biggest Thursday I’ve ever seen, and Friday was packed to the gills with stuff, but this Saturday did not seem as insane as Saturdays of the past. There were long lines, and the corridors were jammed, but you could actually find seating when you got lunch! And using the bathroom did not take over an hour! It was also an easier panel run for me, given that Friday was packed. That said, I still started first thing in the morning, with Yen Press. They talked about being the biggest publisher of light novels and Korean titles, and one of the biggest manga publishers. They talked about all the Summer 2026 anime that have Yen Press manga. They talked about Overgeared, which I guess is getting an anime? And then we got announcements, starting with the Korean titles.

Solo Levelling: Ragnarök is a sequel to the original series, focusing on the son of the main character, who I’m sure will be just as OP as dear old dad. They also said that the series (light novel, manwha, and audiobook) is coming out in Spanish! This got a pretty good reaction, and I guess is something that folks want to see, given someone asked about Spanish-language at the J-Novel Club panel. And also, hot on the heels of the Delicious in Dungeon game, we see Solo Levelling: The Board Game. It’s exactly what you think it is, and there’s also a deluxe edition with even more bells and whistles. And, if you want a title that’s Korean but NOT Solo Levelling, we get Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid, which is somehow based on The Little Mermaid but not Goodbye Lara. It’s a hugely popular webtoon, has won awards, and has a live-action series coming out.

The first light novel licensed was Cause I’m Freedom! (Datte, Watashi wa Freedom!), a new series from the creator of Last Round Arthurs. A girl grows up in a family of swordsmen, and longs to be just like them… then she finds ancient ruins with gun technology. Her strict, purist family kick her out, but she’s determined to strike out on her own, with cool future weapons! The other title was The Witch’s Conviction, the Beast’s Redemption (Majo no Danzai, Majū no Shokuzai), illustrated by the Our Last Crusade artist. A starving orphan resorts to cannibalism, is caught, arrested, and experimented on. Now he’s a beast. Then he meets a supposedly evil witch. I’ve seen a lot of this type of genre lately, with a hapless guy being carted around by a powerful yet eccentric woman.

The first manga announcement was Seal My Lips with a Kiss ((Kiss de Funaide, Barenaide.) is from the magazine Suki Shite? Momoiro Nikki. An office worker doesn’t like her cold boss, but she has a crush on her friendly co-worker. Then one day she gets lcoked out of her office, it’s raining, hey, why not stay over at co-worker’s place? Only… his roommate is that boss! There’s only one solution: hide in the closet. This is classic josei smut fodder, and looks fun. They then talked about the already announced short story collections from the Delicious in Dungeon creator, out this fall, as well as the Yen Press titles that were honored by the American Manga Awards.

Übel Blatt II: Knights of the Fallen King (Übel Blatt II: Shiseru Ou no Kishidan) is exactly what you think it is: a sequel to Übel Blatt. It runs in Big Gangan. This has been simulpubbing digitally, but there is now print coming. The Gray Exorcist (Haiiro Onmyōji) is a fantasy title from Weekly Shonen Champion. An exorcist hides a monster rather than destroying it… only the laws now say that’s treason. Can I Call You Unnie? (Unnie tte Yonde Mo Ii desu ka?) is a yuri series that runs on Comic Walker. A K-pop fan decides to finally give in and try a dating app… and finds she’s now dating her favorite idol! Showbiz drama ensues. Unnie seems to be one of those words we’re supposed to just know now.

After plugging Then Shall I Kill in Your Stead, a BL title that asks “what if your lover was a yandere who would literally kill for you?”, they talked about Interdimensional Memoir (Ikoku Memoir), a KADOCOMI series about a boy who finds life boring… till he meets a metaphorical white rabbit, a boy who whisks him away to another world! The art apparently has that cute/creepy balance so beloved by fans. Make it an Eternity (Eikyū Shimei Onegaishimasu!) is a lengthy (15+ volumes) shoujo series from Koisuru Soiree. A girl who lost her parents has become a shut-in, and her brother supports them both… in a host club. And now his fellow club members are invading her home! And they’re hot! OH NO! And for BL fans, there’s lots of BL tease, and her brother is canonically bi.

Speaking of BL, their final license was “old man yaoi”, Hot Nights at the Hot Springs, Secret Trip No. 241 (Onsen de Himitsu no Otomari, 241 Kaime), which runs in Comic Fleur. Two older men have been hiding their relationship… but every month they go to a hot spring, and they feel younger. In more ways than one. This was called “wholesome” and “adorable”.

After that, we had the debut panel for a “brand new” publisher, Kaze! Yes, that’s actually the French and German publisher, now making inroads into the United States after getting bought by Crunchyroll, then Crunchyroll’s manga arm in Europe was bought by HarperCollins. It’s also a rebranding of the HarperAlley imprint, which mostly did children’s graphic novels but also dabbled in manga, mostly the series Plus-Sized Adventures in Love, which they were giving away copies of, and is now a Kaze title according to Amazon. They plan to launch with manga in 2027 – 3-5 titles that year, then revving up for 28 and 29 with more stuff. No specific genres, they’re here for everything.

They also plugged an OEL manga, Sol Sistah, by Saxton Moore and Phillip Johnson. “Ultraman meets Power Rangers, Pan-African, kaiju-smashing, teen slice of life”, and yes, that also means they’re open to pitches for other OEL titles. Sol Sistah should be out next year. They’re going to do more conventions, promotions, the whole shebang. And, most importantly, they reassured people that they would pay actual translators and not use AI. So while there were no new Japanese manga titles announced, the people at the panel seemed very excited about what was to come.

After lunch, it was time for the J-Novel Club panel. Sam always knows what we’re there for, and did not even have the “for those who don’t know, what is J-Novel Club?” slide, we went straight to the announcements. Starting with Middle-Aged and Mid No More: Rising in Ranks over Drinks with an Elite Priest (Mannen Silver Rank no Ossan, Shijо̄saikо̄ no Bо̄kensha to Naru ~Party of Tsuihо̄sareta Yakezake Shitetara Otonari no Shinkansan to Ikitо̄dо̄-shite Ichiya wo Sugoshita Ken, Tte Omae Saikо̄ Rank no Bо̄kensha ka yo~), a series with art by the artist behind I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level. A 30-ish guy with a reputation for always being good but not good enough it ready to call it quits, when he meets a legendary (and beautiful) priest who could really use his help.

There was a lot more BL than folks were expecting, starting with Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Who Ate the Poisoned Apple, Core and All? (Kagami yo Kagami, Doku Ringo o Tabeta no wa Dare?). A struggling idol finds himself the “muse” of a famous photographer… and yes, the muse part includes sex. But it’s good for his career… unless another muse turns up. Elegance in Exile: From Alchemy to Luxury with My Ardent Knight (Tsuihо̄sareta Akuyaku Reijо̄ wa [Renkin Skill] de Kareinaru Cheat Seikatsu wo Mankitsu-suru) is the first J-Novel Heart title of the night. The artist, kyozip, also does Sister Mafioso and Canon Fodder’s Ascension. It’s a broken engagement story, with a side order of exile. Little does everyone know that the trauma of this awakens past memories of her life in Japa… wait, no, of her life as a powerful magic user! Now she’s ready to start a new life, and possibly find a way to trust other again.

Fleet-Footed Dungeon Delver: Tune in for Magical Girls and Motion Blur! (Shinsaku no Dungeon Tansaku-sha) is from the creator of Sexiled and Dragon Daddy Diaries. The artist also does Fruit of Evolution and Buying My Classmate Once a Week. In this world, dungeons are everywhere… and so streaming your dungeon adventures is big business! Our heroine can’t figure out why her stream keeps crashing… will she meets another adventurer, who explains it. Together, they will move on up to the top! This is less yuri than “buddies”, but it looks fun. Keep Me Close: Finding My Home in You (Watashi ga Kaeritai Basho wa ~Ibasho o Nakushita Reijо̄ ga “Tokenai Hyо̄zо̄” to Uwasa Sareru Ryо̄shu-sama no Moto de Shiawase ni Naru made~) is a Heart title that, again, has a familiar premise. Our heroine has her father die, meaning she’s at the mercy of stepmom and sister. Now a servant, she’s bullied… then framed and thrown out of the house. And forced to be with a man who has a reputation as a cruel, horrible person. If you’ve read any of these, you know what happens next.

Fraudulent Fiancés (Tamanokoshi Goyо̄i Shimashita) is a Knight title. A man who has to resort to scamming people to live is caught by a handsome CEO and given two choices: go to prison, or be the CEO’s fake boyfriend. He chooses the latter, but may regret it. Being Famous Is NEET! Going Sister-Rank on Livestream (Imо̄to no Meikyū Haishin wo Tetsudatteita Ore ga, Ukkari S Rank Monster Aite ni Musо̄ shita Kekka ga Kochira desu) stars a guy who is trying his hardest to support his sister’s dungeon livestreaming (I guess this is a genre now?). But when he has to punch out a monster going after his beloved sister, suddenly his strength is drawing attention! This is for those who love guy surrounded by girls in love with him.

An Otaku Prince Finds Love in Akiba (Otakuouji to Akiba de Koi wo) is another Knight series, this one about a foreign prince who travels to Japan to find the creator of the game he’s obsessed with… and finds it’s this introverted guy with no confidence. Can the power of being a really hot foreign prince and also gay help bring the guy around? Déjà Vute: Betrayal Begets New Beginnings (Imо̄to ni Subete o Ubawareta Reijо̄ wa Konyakusha no Uragiri wo Shiri Kaiki-suru) is a Heart title that may, again, have a familiar premise. Betrayed by her fiancé and her sister, our heroines ends up… in the past, two years earlier! She’s determined to change her fate… but her fiancé, all of a sudden, is devoted to her? The artist for this also does The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen.

The most light novel-pilled title of the day was Grinding My Way to a Happy Ending: If Only My OP Big Bro Didn’t Make Things So (Sister) Complex! (Bad End Mokuzen no Heroine ni Tensei Shita Watashi, Konse de wa Renai-suru Tsumori ga Cheat na Ani ga Hanashite Kuremasen!?). This is a long-runner (10+ volumes), and also has an anime coming. An OL finds she’s now in her favorite game… as the heroine! (Yes, not a villainess story.) Unfortunately, she doesn’t have the memories of her fictional self, and the game she’s in is really hard and will try to kill her off. Fortunately (?), she has an obsessed brother to help her. Lastly, the sole manga they licensed was Crybaby Love Song (Amaenbo to Love Song), a Chara series about a musician who had a panic attack on stage and cost his band the competition. He now avoids music altogether… and his mom is remarrying, so he has a new stepbrother! Who’s cute! Yes, this is BL.

They then had several print announcements, some of which they already announced at AX. there’s the contest winner Beautiful Daydream, the Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter manga, Now I’m a Demon Lord! 2-in-1s, Pens Down Swords Up, and the big news, Chivalry of a Failed Knight in deluxe, fancy 3-in-1 omnibuses. Sadly, it’s still not as good a series as The Asterisk War. Another contest winner, ATLAS, is getting an audiobook… as well as a manga adaptation in Japan! And speaking of Apothecary Diaries, the audiobook debuts next month. Lastly, they plugged the 3rd Original Light Novel contest, and submissions open September 1st. The Grand Prize gets a substantial cash reward, for those writers who are really good but also possibly broke.

And that was my final panel of the day, as I went off for a deserved cider at a bar. Tomorrow’s the final day! And, as always, the quietest.

The Fearsome Witch Teaches in Another World: I’ll Save You from Being a Shut-in!

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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.

I talked in my last book about how this book has an agenda when it comes to teaching, but I’m not entirely convinced that the agenda is “show people there’s a better way”. I don’t think anything that Aoi does in this book is something that can really be replicated in the real world, it works because Aoi is effectively omnipotent. Hell, even her non-magical way of thinking is suspect: at one point, she seems to seriously think that the best way to get shut-ins out of their rooms is to remove the door. Aoi is the best reason to read this book, but she’s a deadpan, a ditz, and OP, a very dangerous combination. What it leads to is a lot of stuff happening that will seemingly change the world, only because she’s the narrator the bulk of the book, the impression given is “and then I did this thing anyone could do if they were taught correctly”. She’s feared here.

I’ll have to leave it to experts as to whether the cover images have zettai ryoukai or if Aoi’s stockings make it ineligible, but the artist is certainly dedicated to showing off her hips and legs. In any case, the start of the book finishes off the Culture Festival, after a brief crisis – no one’s going to see the kids as the dwarves have taken over and are doing a sword demonstration. Aoi straightens that out, and then both the student’s lightning magic and her own fireworks go well. However, she then discovers that there’s a student who’s been a shut-in since she got there. He’s Solare, and he’s the grandson of the headmaster, but bullying and the crappy responses to dealing with bullying have made him not want to trust anyone. So it’s time for a world tour in which Aoi meets up with the bullies and makes them see what real power looks like.

This isn’t the first series to take on Japanese (yes, they’re elves, but look, it’s an obvious metaphor) bullying in schools. We see, but find it hard to sympathize with, Glen’s balancing act, as he tries to help his grandson while also trying to avoid starting a huge political war by just expelling everyone who participated in the bullying. We also see that a lot of the time the attitude of the bully is also held in their parent, making things even harder. Aoi’s solution for her own experience, alas, is one I’ve seen a great deal in anime, manga, and light novels – if you’re being bullied, the solution is to get stronger. It’s on you, not the bullies. I hate this solution, but there’s a reason it’s still a very popular one – it rocks the least boats. As for the rest of the book, it was pretty fun.

That said, this series is definitely not essential. If you’ve been reading it, you can keep doing so.

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Beach Queen +

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By Hajime Kamoshida and Keji Mizoguchi. Released in Japan as “Seishun Buta Yarou wa Beach Queen no Yume wo Minai +” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

One refreshing thing about this series is that, while it was running, it lacked all the SS or .5 volumes stuffing in tons of short stories to drag out the plot. Which is good, as this series already felt like fifteen volumes was too long. But it’s over now, and so it’s time for Vol. 16, the first of two short story collections. Fortunately, for me if no one else, these aren’t microstories. There’s only three. The first story was a bonus that came with the Blu-Ray release of the anime. The second story was a freebie for fans who went to the movie. And the third is actually written for this book. Given that, they take place before Sakuta’s plotline is resolved, but they feel more relaxed regardless. The first story has a bit of drama, but it’s drama Sakuta is uninterested in. The second has drama, but mostly as a character beat for Sakuta. And the third is pure fluff. Perfect short story collection, in other words.

The first story takes up the bulk of the book. It’s the athletic festival in Sakuta’s final year of high school, and Mai is even coming at lunchtime to give him sandwiches. Unfortunately, despite being an alternate, he keeps having to do events as the star athlete has disappeared. Sakuta tracks her down, only to find that the disappearance is quite literal. In the second story, Sakuta and Mai go on a cute Christmas date, but Sakuta keeps seeing another girl, and he’s having these horrible emotions come to the surface. In the third story, Sakuta laments that, because she’s so famous, he and Mai can never go to the beach. She then surprises him with a trip to an exclusive summer residence with a pool… though he does have to also have his sister, Nodoka, and Uzuki tag along.

I’m going to try not to spoil the first story too much, but I was very surprised, I will admit. In fact, at first I thought what I was suspecting was a big fake-out, and it would be something far more prosaic. But no, it actually WAS what I was suspecting. The writing reads a bit like it was written for teenage guys a bit (because, well, it was), but hey. I did also appreciate that we get no resolution because Sakuta does not care about anything other than Mai, and so walks away. The second story relies very much on you remembering what happened in Books 6 and 7, and how even when a death is rewritten so that reality doesn’t have it, the grief still has to go somewhere. The third story is, as I said, pure fluff, but will definitely appeal to fans of Sakuta and Mai – they’re practically married here, as Mai notes.

There’s a second SS collection, which apparently does actually take place after the main series. Till then, fans will enjoy this.