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Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~ Short Story Collection, Vol. 5

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By Tappei Nagatsuki and Makoto Fugetsu. Released in Japan as “Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Tanpenshuu” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Moon.

I tend to enjoy these collections quite a bit, mostly as they are the exact opposite of a “let’s just throw together all the bookstore exclusives” short story collections we see from other light novel series. Most of these were taken from my nemesis Monthly Comic Alive, to be fair, but they are very much canon to the main series, and the author uses them to give us characterization and backstory that they can’t put into the main series itself. It also teases future events, or ties in with the present volume coming out in Japan. Basically, much like the Index series, you don’t need to consult the wiki, but it sure helps. It also allows for lighter fare, as I’m fairly certain that, while there are certainly stories dealing with death and tragedy, we are unlikely to have the main series’ own struggles here. It’s fun to see the gang. Especially if we haven’t actually seen them in about two years or so.

We’re down to three short stories this time around, and glory be, none of them have Priscilla. 1) About 4 years before the start of the series, we see Ferris learning healing magic from the foremost authority in the land… though he’s also an eccentric weirdo who Ferris doesn’t get on with. When his teacher is murdered, Ferris and Crusch try to figure out who the killer is. (published between Book 8 & 9) 2) About 9 years before the start of the series, Anastasia is trying to get the guardian of the three cats she met in the previous SS story she was in to join her, which accidentally ends up with her foiling a robbery/assassination and making a compact with a fox spirit who we all know well from the 6th arc. (published between Book 16 & 17, i.e. well before the 6th arc.) 3) A little while after the 4th arc, Otto is directed to visit his family, and Subaru and Garfiel come along. They not only find his younger brother, who is a vet, but also Otto finds a familiar face from the previous short story book, and they take on a dangerous spirit… but is it evil? (Published right before this book came out in Japan, i.e. with Book 21.)

As I said, all these stories are good in and of themselves, but also serve to jog our memory and plant seeds. The Ferris story reminds us of the close, deep bond that he, Crusch and Fourier all had for each other at this point in the story, and therefore reminds us of the tragedy to come. We also get to see more of Heinkel being the most hateful person in the entire series… though we’re also shown a big reason why, and you can see why it’s driven him to drunken fury. We get to see Anastasia’s stubbornness and greed, but also her intelligence and compassion, and it’s clear exactly why Echidna (no, not that one) saw something in her. As for the Otto story, I suspect maybe too many people were asking when Otto was gonna marry the cute girl he met in the last SS book he featured in? This author doesn’t usually torpedo ships, but it’s pretty clear that they see Otto’s value in being unlucky in general, and having a cute girl in love with him would only get in the way.

Next time we’ll get more of “the idiot” trio, as well as Rem and Ram, but we also introduce exclusive side story characters! re: Zero fans, of course, will want this. Non-Re: Zero fans will not.

New Game Plus After Defeating the Last Boss: All These Beautiful, Problematic Girls in the First Town Have Gotten Really Attached to Me… , Vol. 2

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By Touwa Akatsuki and Falmaro. Released in Japan as “Last Boss Toubatsu Go ni Hajimeru Nishuume Boukensha Life: Hajimari no Machi de Wakeari Bishoujotachi ga Mechakucha Natsuite Kimasu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kamishiro Taishi.

And here’s where we find out why this series didn’t last past the second volume, and any goodwill I had towards it quietly vanishes. There’s a reason that writers love to create conflict for their characters: unless it’s handled well, everyone getting along is boring. Rearguard has a similar problem, but usually moves at a fast enough clip that it can avoid the worst of it. This book, though, really doesn’t pick up till about 2/3 of the way into it. Not great. And there’s also Falmaro’s art. I used to, if not like, at least not mind Falmaro as much. But as time as gone on, their art is not only fanservice for fanservice’s sake, but looks tedious. Everyone seems to fall with their legs spread open, or dance so their panties fly up. I think it’s meant to be funny? Hey, look at the obvious? It made me groan and want to move on.

(See? Even the cover art is an upskirt shot.) Returning back to their hometown after defeating the demons from Volume 1, Might and company get a hero’s welcome. They’re headed off to the capital as well, but there’s a bit of a worry. As Raksha, the dead demon who manages to nevertheless be alive enough to exposit, tells them, there’s another demon, a vampire, who’s even stronger than the ones from the previous book. And as they set off for the capital, it would appear that the vampire’s kin have been getting busier and busier recruiting new women (always young women), and they’ve even gotten a hold of one of Might’s old allies, Elk. Actually, Might’s old allies from his former “life” may end up being the cause of all these issues, along with a goddess who may not be what she seems…

So now that I’ve bitched about the entire book, what did I like about it? I did like how they worked in the old cast, though “mischievous sister goddess pretends to be her good twin to cause chaos” is a bit eye-rolling. Falina’s a good, noble girl who’s tricked badly and has to do her best not to turn evil. Unfortunately, vampirism is a real threat here, plus of course she’s in love with Might along with every other woman in the cast, so it’s hard to simply sit and do nothing. And given this is a book where everyone gets along, it was appropriate that Might’s vampire cure ended up making everyone fine with no after effects. Likewise, when Lystia returns home after running away, the reaction of most everyone is “ah well, you had your reasons.” Also, when we hear that Might’s so young at this point his voice hasn’t dropped yet (isn’t he 15?!), it makes sense why all the sexy teasing goes absolutely nowhere. This is about family, not who gets to be his lover.

The end of this volume wraps up most of the plot points that were outstanding, and it’s pretty easy to not write more. The author seems to have returned to Rearguard after a hiatus to write this. I hope they concentrate more on that, Best Lizard could kick the ass of any of these girls.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Vol. 9

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By Piero Karasu and Yuri Kisaragi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

There was a long gap between Book 8 and Book 8.5 in North America, which allowed the series in Japan to not only get further ahead but even finish – the final volume will be lucky number 13. Fortunately, there’s less of a gap between 8.5 and this book, so we can start to catch up. This is the start of the final arc, according to the author, and as such we’re finally going to be looking outside of Palettia to other countries – in particular the Ailean Empire. Anis and Euphie have spent most of the series dealing with troubles in their own backyard, be it Anis’ magical inventions, the wicked nobles scheming to make her a puppet Queen, Euphie’s own broken engagement, etc. Now that most of that has been resolved, it’s time to look outward… though Anis and Euphie really don’t want to look outward. They’re still laser focused on progress at home. Unfortunately, when you’re making really cool things that can change the world, “sorry, they’re not for sale” isn’t going to cut it.

As Anis tries to deal with all the paperwork that starting a new Magicology City entails, she ends up discovering something terrible – denizens of the Ailean Empire want to assassinate her! See, the Empire had a massive “take over everything” phase a while back, and took over some countries that bordered on Palettia and traditionally hated them – and that tradition hasn’t gone away even though they’re now subjects of the Empire. Fortunately, Anis now knows in advance, and can take precautions. This leads her and Euphie to meet with the emperor, who sounds like a freak, and acts it too a lot of the time, but ends up being one of those “I disguise my intelligence behind an annoying false front” sorts, and he’s here to psychoanalyze Euphie – much to her displeasure. Can all this be resolved by a visit to the Empire?

I really did like the Emperor’s talk with Euphie. He points out, and he’s not wrong, that she has no desires of her own as ruler. She’s only doing it for Anis. In that sense, Anis really is the driving force behind the country at the moment. It’s a good point, and I can see why people would be wary of someone who doesn’t seem to have any wants or needs. There’s also what amounts to a resolution of Tilty’s storyline – I get the sense the bulk of the rest of the series is going to be visiting the Empire, and she’s definitely not coming. Searching or a way to fix her issues has led to a solution that works well for her, but I agree it should stay secret till they sort everything out. I also really liked the way to bring Ilia back into the plot, as she’s done very little lately, short stories aside. She also does nothing in this book, but the future looks better for her and Lainie.

In the end, my favorite scenes in this series remain Anis and Euphie being lovey-dovey even as they discuss assassins, empire building, and a turbulent future. Still great fun to read.

Even Exiled, She’s Still the Beloved Saint! St. Evelyn’s Weird and Wonderful Friends, Vol. 3

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By Harunadon and Kurodeko. Released in Japan as “Tsuihousareta Seijo desu ga, Jitsu wa Kunijuu kara Aisaresugitete Kowain desu kedo!?” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Camilla L.

And then it all falls apart. The afterword of this series mentions that the author really wanted to do this sort of plot, which made me raise an eyebrow, and that they suspect no other author has taken a swerve like this, which I know isn’t true. They then tell us that the editor has asked that the next cover they want to see Evelyn smile, and encourage us with a “so you’d better buy this enough!” threat. Reader, they did not buy this enough, and this third and final volume came out in 2023, with Evelyn still not quite married. That said, unlike another series I read recently, everything is pretty wrapped up here. In fact, everything was pretty wrapped up in Book 2. The most painful thing about this book is that it’s unnecessary, flabby, and will do something for a laugh and then abandon it when exposition is needed. It’s not good.

Evelyn wakes up in a room with the other eleven supporting characters of this series, where they are told by a mysterious rabbit that they are going to be playing… a DEATH GAME! Evelyn, needless to say, finds this horrifying, especially when she’s told that a lot of people in the kingdom go missing every year, and it’s now assumed they’re killed off in this game. In the first game, they run a relay race against zombies, who bite Alex and Mary, who are theoretically now zombified… though it seems to be taking a long time. In the second death game, they’re divided into two teams of six to play “Wolves and Villagers”. Evelyn’s group is narrated by her, and Kira gets the narration for the other group. This allows everyone to play detective… some badly. But who’s really behind all this?

I appreciate that this series runs on Rule of Silly, but I do expect some consistency. We get an extended gag of Evelyn not getting the Wolves and Villagers rules as she’s too thick, but then near the end she’s able to rattle off all the various deductions she’s made with ease. I am generally not a fan of death games in general, so his was always going to be an uphill battle. But the relay race vs. zombies thing didn’t really make any sense, and only worked as a sort of way to force Mary to apologize to her sister without making it sound out of character. Evelyn is engaged to Theodore, and loves him, but really the only reason she’s not marrying Kira is his age – they have the far stronger bond. And the revelation of the culprit’s motivations just made me sigh, but at least it fit in with everything else in this series.

I don’t expect more of this. It was very silly but fun, then very silly and a lot less fun. Go read the author’s other series, which are far better.

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Short Story Chronicles

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By Dojyomaru and Fuyuyuki. Released in Japan as “Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

Siiiiiiiigh. No, that’s not a sigh over the content of the book, it was quite good, and I enjoyed it very much. That was a sigh over the fact that it is, like a lot of this type of book, unreviewable. It’s a short story volume that serves as the final volume of a long-running series, so I’m not going to be selling it to anyone but folks who have read the other 20 books, who will buy it regardless of what I say. It’s micro-stories, so I can’t even do a nice summary of them that uses up 1/3 of my word count. But come on, they’re fine. They mostly seem to cover what happened just before or just after some of the more notable scenes in the series, and a few of them try to cover characters or relationships that weren’t delved into much before. Mostly, though, it’s one last round-up of the folks who you enjoyed reading about for nearly a decade. Machiavelli, thankfully, is absent.

The cover shows Souma with his eight wives, including the surprise final wife Juno. The wraparound story takes place about two decades or so after the final book, with Juno’s son and Aisha’s daughter going up north to go adventuring, which sadly gets immediately aborted when they run into jerks who insult their moms, meaning that beatdowns are coming… for the jerks. Luka is, much like Souma, a bit potato-ey, but like all his moms, he can kick eight kinds of ass… in fact, literally like his moms, that’s his power. Misha is an eight-year-old dark elf, meaning she’s old enough to see the world, despite the worries of her mom. And we also meet Shanti, adopted daughter of Mugal and Fumi (no, I don’t remember them either), who wants to battle now and is very pissed off Luka won’t do so. (She hasn’t gotten permission from her dad yet.) Oh yes, and Musashibo is there, and everyone knows who he is.

That takes up about 30 pages. The other 376 (!!) are the micro-stories. I have no idea if these are “bookstore exclusives” or what have you. I liked seeing more of Serina, who’s perfect for this sort of book: funny and didn’t really get a lot of screen time explaining why she fell so hard for Pancho. Likewise, there’s a series of stories showing Maria going round to visit the wives, not really getting their permission but more showing that she’s one of them now. Everyone likes each other in this. That may be its big weakness, of course. Since it covers nineteen books where we know what’s happened already, these stories are generally a bit boring. That said, who wants angst and drama at a time like this? This is heartwarming out the wazoo, the main women (it’s mostly driven by the women) are great, and it ends as it began, with Souma and Liscia riding a horse through town, only now he can ride, and she’s in front of him.

So yes, this is the final end, full stop, I’m sure there won’t be any more. Maybe. Bye, Realist Hero. You were far better than anything Eliezer Yudkowsky has come up with.

The Twelve Kingdoms, Book Five: A Thousand Miles of Wind, the Sky at Dawn, Part 1

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By Fuyumi Ono and Akihiro Yamada. Released in Japan as “Kaze no Banri, Reimei no Sora” by X Bunko White Heart. Released in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. Translated by Kim Morrissy. Adapted by Monica Sullivan.

If you recall, when I reviewed the first volume of this series, I pointed out that it being divided in two meant that the first half was mostly unrelentingly miserable, with good things only starting to happen in the second book. You can assume the same thing for this one, and if you want to leave this arc with your spirits high, you may want to wait for September for the other half. That said, fear not, this is still brilliantly written and compelling. And yay, Youko is back! Admittedly she’s not all that happy, but she’s in this one! As are two other main characters, also young women. This book is about growing up and learning about the world around you, and how closing yourself off to the world around you can lead to you being immature and disliked. Youko has learned this lesson, at least partly. The other two, not so much.

There are three interlocking plot threads, which I will streamline for ease of reviewing. 1) Youko is now Queen, but that has not magically solved everything. The people have had too many bad queens lately, and worry she’s just another one. They want a king. Also, her underlings are all conspiring against each other and taking advantage of her ignorance about this world. And Keiki, frankly, is being no help. She goes on a journey in disguise to learn about this world. 2) A hundred years ago, a girl in Japan sold as a slave falls off a cliff during a storm and ends up in the Twelve Kingdoms. After suffering at first, she becomes a servant to ex-king’s mistress Riyou… and suffers for much longer, mostly so she can speak the language. Now, though, she’s thrown out, and told she needs to learn to be less whiny and passive. 3) The king of Hou and his Queen are executed in a coup, and their daughter, Shoukei, is disguised and thrown into a shabby village in lieu of execution. She hates it, and hates being poor, but stays selfish through most of the book, till she meets a familiar face… to the reader, that is.

Not gonna lie, but Youko is easily the best thing in this, mostly as we only get a tiny bit of character development from Suzu and Shoukei, who will get most of theirs in the next book. (As a reminder for anime watchers, the high school kid who came with Youko in the anime doesn’t exist here.) She’s doing her best, but has never really been a politician, and people are running rings around her. Meanwhile, Keiki just sighs at her. I don’t blame her for running off. I did like Shoukei’s journey as well, though she’s easily the hardest to take for a good 4/5 of this volume. Meeting Rakushun is the best thing that happened to her, and she’s learning about life for non-princesses. As for Suzu, she’s very whiny and hard to like, and unfortunately her character development is also in the last fifth of the book. I’m sure she gets better.

The book ends with all three of these women converging in the same place, and I suspect the next one will have them meet up. I hope they get along. I suggest Youko not mention who she really is. In any case, essential as always.

Welcome to Olivia’s Magic Jewelers, Vol. 3

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By Rinrin Yuki and Suzaku. Released in Japan as “Olivia Maseki Houshokuten e Youkoso: Ka to Mise wo Oida Sareta no de, Outou ni Mise wo Kamaetara, Naze ka Moto Konyakusha to Gimai no Kekkonshiki ni Dero to Iwaremashita” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

It’s always hard, when you’re dealing with light novel series that have been adapted from webnovels, to tell whether a series is finished, on hiatus due to the author’s life getting in the way, dropped as the author started to write something else and got bored, or cancelled by the publisher. This seems to be mostly the third version: the author is certainly writing plenty of other series, while the webnovel of this series ends with the events of the second book (though confusingly the webnovel is split into three books) and various short stories. I wasn’t able to find the contents of this volume at the Narou site. And the author definitely says the series is finished in the afterword. As for why I’m filled with doubt? It resolves nothing. Not even an engagement or wedding. Just “meh”.

We open with a relatively content Olivia dividing hwer time between her successful jewelry shop in the capital and her family home and business a ways in the country. However, Olivia’s Magic Jewelers relies on Olivia’s anxiety as a plot mover, so we can’t have that. As a result, she’s asked to become a temporary researcher for the Magic Institute, which had been researching how to fly airships but recently had a Hindenburg-esque disaster, albeit with no loss of life, so they’re searching for an alternative. As Olivia has been in a creative rut recently owing to her desperate attempts to be as good as her genius father, she agrees, and finds herself paired off with easygoing Daisy and anxious but nice guy Robin. Despite the odd sneering from the obligatory noble girl, she’s doing well, and her magic powers seem to be fantastic – though not at her father’s level. So… what’s the catch?

I’m grumpy because this book doesn’t resolve anything, but I’m also grumpy as it makes use of one of my least favorite romantic plotlines, the “who are you going to believe, your loving boyfriend or the guy you work with who’s telling you your loving boyfriend is an elitist jerk?”. Now, this does make some sense in context – class remains built into this series, which is probably why Olivia and Elliot are still just going out here, and her “daughter of a baron, i.e. basically a commoner” status makes her susceptible to this sort of thing. And she’s always been a sad sack because of her abusive upbringing after her father died. Still: EURGH. The other issue is that the series seems to be shifting away from its premise, trying to turn Olivia into a genius scientist/inventor sort, and while there’s part of that in the previous two books, I miss the jewelry shop. I’m glad she said no. I did, however, really like Daisy, her co-worker and friend in the Institute, who is exactly the sort of girl to leap out of a plane to test if the magic “don’t crash” things work.

If you’ve read the first two books and want to know what happens, you can read this. But it’s not essential, and lacks the feel of a final volume. Alas.

Repeated Vice: I Refuse to Be Important Enough to Die, Vol. 3

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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.

I do enjoy this series, but it seems every book has something there to tick me off specifically. Last time it was the rape victim recovering by basically being told “get over yourself”. The issue with this book is not one unique to this series alone… in fact it’s in a large number of light novels… but it’s made more annoying because Lofus is in a constant state of rage, and thus it’s handled even worse. This series focuses on a noble kid with lots of power trying to escape his fate. He has met a few commoners, and he does not like them at all. “Know your place” is literally said at one point. And lest we think it’s just Lofus, the love interest from the first book is told that if she wants to get anywhere with Lofus, she’s got to be a noble, and perform great deeds to get there. I get that this genre invites this sort of thing, but don’t make it sound like a goal.

Picking up from where we left off at the end of the last book, Warm has been arrested for trying to save his father, who was arrested for pointing out the corruption of the corrupt but vital to the nobles merchant. Oh yes, and the captain of the sky pirates we met last time? Also arrested. So Lofus has to go rescue everyone, despite the fact that you sense he’d rather chew glass. He’s being egged on by Warm’s little sister, who is a cutie pie; by the mysterious white-haired girl from last time, who remains mysterious and white haired till suddenly she isn’t; and by the rest of the pirates, particularly Lilka, who has started acting very weird… and not in the “I am madly in love with Lofus” way that she was before. With all this going on, will Lofus still find the free time to do what he does best, be an asshole?

No fear there. I’m going to skip the flashy battles that are about half the book, because we know already I don’t care about those. There were some very effective scenes in this book. Most of Lilka’s subplot plays out here. As it turned out, she was indeed playing dumb in the second book, and is in a similar situation to Lofus. But while he’s a “I was reincarnated into this game” sort, she’s the “I am redoing my past life” sort. As such, a lot of her “I’m absolutely smitten with you” bullshit is a false front… though you get the sense not all of it is. I also likes the scenes with Lofus and Warm once he got over his annoying “why are you so weak I kill you” routine. Sometimes keeping an animal alive when they’re hurting is more painful than letting them go, and that’s a lesson Warm needs to learn. It’s done very well.

So will Lofus and his merry band really manage to cure Iz? Or will they get drawn into some other plot instead? If Iz dies, does she reincarnated into the Bofuri LNs? For fans of “villain” novels who like their villain extra pissed off.

The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 16

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By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Compared to the last volume, this one feels a lot more laid back and relaxed. Of course, that’s likely only because the Emperor isn’t in it. There’s still a lot going on. We’re in the middle of the Smallpox arc, after all. It’s deadly, it’s horribly, and a cure is still very elusive, though Maomao moves things along by enlisting the help of Kokuyou, the smiling wandering doctor who has facial scarring but also a heap of experience. Also, a noble family asks Maomao about a cursed jar, and that unearths a heaping helping of family… drama seems the wrong word. Family horror. Fortunately, the worst is avoided, at least for the victim. And for Jinshi, who every volume seems to have to try to finagle his way out of something that has as its result “and then he can never be with Maomao again”. Still, at least he knows Maomao does kinda like him, in her own “I try not to care unless I am literally at the end of my rope” way. Other couples need more help.

I’ve talked before about how I quite like Yao and En’en, Maomao’s kinda sorta friends and medical partners. Maomao does as well, but she also finds them exasperating. Fandom has a bit of a hate on for Yao, who is given several good canonical reasons to be very immature and then actually *is*! Gasp! (It’s totally because of that, and not because she’s fallen for the fandom’s chief hottie who isn’t Jinshi.) But even I admit she needs a talking to. More importantly, she needs to have En’en removed from her hip. En’en being gay for Yao has been quietly dialed back in the last few volumes, with it more being presented as a co-dependent big sis/mom thing, but it’s certainly the case that a Yao who has En’en doing everything for her is not going to get anywhere with either Lahan *or* her family. Which Yao understands. (En’en also does, but she’s in denial.) Good volume for them.

And then there’s our favorite couple who really, really really need to fuck but unfortunately autocorrect has ruined everything and all they do is duck. Lishu has shown up so infrequently since Book 6 that any appearance of her is welcome, but she and Basen are still at the “gosh, isn’t the weather nice” stage of things, and everybody else around them, particularly Maamei and Chue, are shouting “JUST BANG ALREADY!”. It’s pretty clear that the Emperor wouldn’t object to this. It’s also pretty clear that Basen has done more than enough to merit it, especially near the end of this book, where he once again saves Jinshi at the possible cost of his own life. (It’s fine, he can get rid of smallpox by pullups somehow.) The question is, did this current crisis and Basen’s quarantine afterwards actually get Lishu to leave the duck village? Can we actually get another fricking couple?

Maybe! Book 17? Book 17. Whenever that is. Not out in Japan. In any case, this book has Maomao in it, so it’s essential.

The Misdeeds of an Extremely Arrogant Villain Aristocrat, Vol. 3

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By Yukiha Kuroyuki and Uodenim. Released in Japan as “Kiwamete Gouman Taru Akuyaku Kizoku no Shogyou” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Ben Trethewey. Adapted by Kylee Yasin.

So the bad news is that this is still the last volume published for the moment. The good news is that, after a two-year break, the author has recently started writing more of the webnovel, so that may eventually change. Certainly absolutely nothing is resolved by the end of this book, so more of it would be welcome. As for the book itself, it continues to do what it wants to. If you like male power fantasies and are not too picky, it fills that need. Luke is a grumpy asshole who can’t help but get involved in his friend’s problems and have every girl in the series (except one, mercifully, this hasn’t turned into a cheating series yet) fall for him. What’s worse, his father has big plans for him… plans, I suspect, that Luke will very much not approve of. And there’s fanservice galore, of course. It also manages to, somehow, avoid being completely misogynist despite every love interest turning into a submissive masochist when they see Luke.

Note I said “completely” – the art still exists, and is pretty blatantly “Hope you like big tits”. In any case, after taming the ice dragon, Luke has to figure out what to do with… her? Yes, her, and while she stays in two forms in this book – big powerful scary dragon and cute fun-sized dragon – I suspect we’ll get a hot dragon woman soon enough. In a normal world, he’d be invited to the palace to be honored for this amazing feat. This is not a normal world, and his dad is pretty much openly trying to bring down the royal family by being much better at running a country than they are. As such, there’s a party being held where the second prince might drop by if he feels like it. (He does, though he’s not happy with what he finds.) But the author says this is Abel’s book, and… I guess? Abel definitely gets stronger, and suffers a lot, but it’s hard to pass someone like Luke.

Because I suspect readers of this series will want to know, yes, there’s an (offscreen) sex scene here, and Mia is now Luke’s lover as well as Alice. More to the point, it’s not just Abel – all of Luke’s lovers and potential lovers are desperate to remain useful to him, knowing he’s the sort to abandon anyone who isn’t, and so they push themselves desperately to become ludicrously powerful. Unfortunately, comparing themselves to Luke just leads to depression, as Mia finds out – she even gets a pep talk from Luke’s dad, who has to point out that she already can use multiple magic elements. Their desperation and co-dependency would be a bit sad and tragic if this series were not comedic and upbeat about it. The only despair in the book comes from Abel when he’s trying to rescue Lily, and even then most of this is just Abel hating himself, rather than actual danger. Luke, the most powerful man in the country, is usually depressed, and everyone around him seems to be getting that trait too.

We end in another country, with elf terrorists, and multiple invasions. Hopefully I remember all this by the time the fourth book comes out!

Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden, Vol. 9

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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.

I have to give the author credit. When I began this new volume, which starts after the epic tournament arc, I wondered if we really were going back to Nia films herself racing dogs again. I felt the story was somewhat played out, frankly. And much to my surprise, the main character agrees with me. The best scene in the book may be right at the start of the book, where Nia blithely asks Lynokis “what am I even doing with my life?”, and realizes that being the strongest means throwing away everyone near and dear to you… and she’s already done that in her previous life, and while she still can’t remember much it made her feel empty. She needs something new. Fortunately, the author agrees with us, as we ditch 9/10ths of the cast and go back to just Nia and Lynokis creating chaos wherever they go. So much chaos, in fact, that Nia forgets that’s not actually her goal.

The tournament was a resounding success. For Nia, for the winners (at least after they wriggle out of being a wanted criminal). and for the kingdom. Unfortunately, having not seen anyone in the tournament who could come close to beating her, Nia is a bit depressed. Moreover, when you have a huge event that gets everyone to buy Magivision, you need to follow up with more brilliant ideas or it will stagnate. And so the King orders the kids to come up with a brilliant idea… and reminds them that they’re kids, so as long as it’s not literally illegal, they can get away with just about anything. Nia is here to test that “just about”, and she finds that there are indeed limits. As while they do get a huge event that drives sales even higher, um, she’s now been thrown out of the country.

I will admit, this may be the single funniest book in the series. The entirely of the chapter “The King Falls Into a Pit Trap” had me giggling, and I appreciated that it started with the aftermath – the author wanted to create an absence of tension so we weren’t distracted from the hilarity of the king falling into a pit trap. Even the queen agrees. As for Nia’s exile, sure, I may miss the rest of the cast a bit, but not much, and my main disappointment is that Lynokis is still around, so we still have lolicon jokes. That said, I regret I must give a content warning that countless other light novels have: if you dislike starving orphans being snapped up by the heroine and given food and housing in exchange for working, well, here it is again. The orphans are pretty cute, though.

All this plus a new royal to torture. Nia is here to kick ass and spread the word of magivision, and she tends to forget about the latter, so kicking ass is what you get.

My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex: “You, More Than Anyone Else”

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By Kyosuke Kamishiro and TakayaKi. Released in Japan as “Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

So first of all, I’m going to be blithely ignoring the cliffhanger ending of this one, as well as its “oh no, it ends sadly after all” implications. First of all, no it doesn’t, and secondly, now that this series is down to once a year, we’re not gonna have to worry about it for a long, long time. Instead, let us revel in this book, which gives us a whole heaping helping of Isana. We even get a flashforward about four years, seeing her talking with a junior and seemingly having her life a lot more together than she does now. We also get a new girl added to the mix, who does us the courtesy of falling for Mizuto immediately, and so hard that he actually notices and rejects her. Of course, no fear, that takes the entire volume, because yikes, he’s still Mizuto. When Yume calls him Enemy of All Women she’s not kidding. This guy will be cripplingly nice at you until you have no recourse but to fall over dead.

It’s the Culture Festival, and Mizuto’s class needs to come up with something nifty. an escape room is a good idea… that everyone else is also doing. But hey, maybe if they have art by Isana! Yes, she’s outed at last for being a brilliant artist by hyperactive, scatterbrained Yoshino, and will thus be doing art for the day. She’s already stressed enough, as she has a job offer to do a light novel series, but is afraid of taking that big step. Meanwhile, Yume and her student council election rival are in charge of the entire festival, meaning Yume’s stressing out a bit as well. And then there’s the girl writing the play for her freshman class, who is a great writer who lacks passion, and ends up having Mizuto making some really good but really ill-timed advice. As for Mizuto… well, same ol’ same ol’.

This series has always been really heavy on the fanservice, but I was very impressed with this book, which not only stars Isana in terms of the plot but in terms of the artwork. Isana wears farmer’s overalls that emphasize her chest… and then back in her room, wears them without a bra or shirt. Towards the end of the book, we also see her in her underwear. The big fanservice, of course, cannot actually be drawn, alas, but at least she got her groove back. I also really liked her mother, who is well aware of Mizuto’s “kindness” in helping his friend being incredibly cruel in many ways as well. He deserved to be hit, to be honest. The idea they have for the escape room, with it essentially turning into a multiple endings sort of thing, is quite clever. Best of all is Isana coming to terms with the fact that people like her art, and while it may be embarrassing, it’s her, and she needs to embrace it.

And now we wait, and see if the author actually does pull the trigger on that cliffhanger. Till then, this is saucy romcom fun.

The Petty Villain Plays by the Rules: Rewriting This Otome Game with Honest Work!, Vol. 2

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By MIZUNA and Ruki. Released in Japan as “Yarikonda Otome Game no Akuyaku desu ga, Danzai wa Iya nano de Mattou ni Ikimasu” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

This continues to be in my Top 5 “I’m enjoying this far more than I thought I would, and possibly more than I should be” titles. Its biggest flaw is its pace. It’s not slow life – there’s a lot going on here, most of it involving princes and other high nobles – but it is definitely slow writing. This thing is fourteen volumes and counting in Japan, and by the 14th book he still doesn’t really look much older than he is in this book, which is to say six. This despite the fact that he meets his wife in this volume and officially gets engaged. While also, erm, causing a major international incident. Which, to be fair, he was gonna have to do anyway. Kinda hard to solve the other kingdom’s problems without going full ham. especially in this series.

After training in martial arts with his tutor and his father, and in magic with his other tutor (and accidentally revolutionizing all magic… again), Reid and his dad are off to the neighboring kingdom of Lenarute, home of the Dark Elves, where he’ll be meeting his fiancee… who is also six years old. Unfortunately, the Dark Elves are in a massive power struggle between the King and the traditional Evil Noble Who Wants Power And Also Things To Be The Way They Used To Be. Sadly, evil noble has poisoned his fiancee’s brother against Reid, turning him into a proud arrogant brat. So when Reid is forced to have a sword battle with him, he’s asked to humble the prince a bit. Not a problem. Unfortunately, the prince and the Evil Noble decide to make Reid mad by insulting his slowly dying mother. THIS is a problem. For them.

Most of this book runs on a six-year-old accidentally being really smooth, far too smooth than someone his age should be. That’s a pretty good gag, and it helps that we already know his future wife (she was the lost girl in the town in Book 1, hiding her elf ears.) But there are other really good gags, mostly character based. Farah (his fiancee) is adorable, and also shows her positive emotions by wiggling her ears, something she’s very bad at turning off. Her bodyguard, Asuna, is a battle junkie, and oh my God I wish Diana was not already in a relationship with her childhood friend, because Asuna and Diane would make an AMAZING lesbian power couple. There’s also a bittersweet side story from the POV of Reid’s mother, who wants to be an active, teasing mom who loves her kids, but is simply too bedridden, and she hates it. She also gets the funniest gag in the book, at the end of her chapter.

Basically, this is better than I expected – again. Despite it being nearly 400 pages, and the author STILL couldn’t finish the arc. I’ll read another one.

Unsung Epics of the Hero’s Journey, Vol. 1

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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.

It’s been interesting coming at all these fantasy light novels based on Japanese RPGs (which are in turn based on Japanese folklore) without really having played them. The idea of the hero going off to defeat the demon lord, and of course they’re accompanied by the warrior (who is usually “the hero, only not quite”), the cleric (healer girl), and the mage (varies the most, this one seems to be a sad sack of a man) is not one I have played, but I have read enough of these so that it’s as old hat as the author wants it to be. As such, and as you can no doubt tell by the title, this isn’t about the hero. They weren’t even in the original webnovel, and only get a few tiny scenes here. Instead, we follow another cleric and adventurer as they try to stop a prophecy from coming true… though both of them also have their own hidden agenda and hidden tragedies.

Rhuys is a young cleric who is trying to find a strong swordsman as she knows of a prophecy: the newly anointed hero will be killed off early in her journey, leading to devastation for the world. In a rundown tavern, she finds Ariagnée, who is very strong and very cool and wears a strange black gauntlet on her left hand. Everyone is already a bit on edge as the hero, who is supposed to be chosen every 100 years, has been chosen after only ten. Something weird’s going on. Rhuys asks Ariagnée to travel to where the hero is going to be ambushed and take care of the bad guys before the fact, which Ariagnée agrees to partly for hidden motives of her own, but also partly as Rhuys is cute. As they journey on, each one learns about the other’s secret past and horrible backstories, which both tie in with the reason that this hero journey has come so early this time around.

There is definitely yuri here, for those who seek it out, but this is not a romance per se; the focus is on the adventure. Both our heroines are pretty messed up, with Rhuys hiding her true powers and wracked with guilt over her childhood, essentially having become a very passive death seeker. Ariagnée has a past that is not as secret as perhaps it should be – I guessed a lot of it before the reveal – but that doesn’t make it less compelling in terms of the overall narrative. The two of them do make a very good team, and hopefully couple. I will admit that the big fight in this book, which takes up a large chunk of the back half, felt far longer than I would have written it. But this is a fantasy thriller, not a psychological drama or a yuri romance, so it makes sense there’s lots of sword battles and hidden moves and the like.

As with most Dre books, this reads like a one-shot but there’s more. Will we actually meet the hero? Who knows, but the hero certainly isn’t why we’re reading this. We’re reading for the lead couple.

The Fearsome Witch Teaches in Another World: Behold the Growth of My Students

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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.

It’s not a secret that this series definitely has an Agenda with a capital A. The most obvious part is trying to convey how to teach people, how to talk with kids and understand their own varied issues, etc. That certainly applies here as well, but the author also seems determined to kick back against all the cliches that you seem to see in light novels in this sort of world. Getting an arranged marriage without your consent to someone decades older than you? No you’re not. Country determined to prove that Magic A Is Magic A? No it’s not. Are those nobles who insist only those of the upper class can use magic and that filthy commoners should know their place? We’ll put a stop to that. Oh look, those dwarfs only care about magical weapons rather than using magic itself? Not gonna happen. Aoi is here to drag everyone into modern times with the best magic, and she will beat up the world to do so.

As with Tearmoon Empire, this series has trouble figuring out where to end a book. The first third of the book wraps up the trip to the Holy Maple Leaf Empire, as Aoi has to travel to Shenley’s home because her father has decided to pull her out of school. Naturally this pisses Aoi off, especially when she discovers a) he’s ignoring all her other accomplishments, b) he’s ignoring Aoi, and c) he’s marrying Shenley off to the one guy who didn’t grow to love her magic in the 2nd book. Needless to say, “Aoi Being Very Aoi” solves all these problems. The larger part of the book is essentially this world’s version of the culture festival, only it’s an international event, with the world leaders coming to see what cool magic tricks Fiddich Academy has come up with now. As such, it’s mostly the teachers who are stressed about presentations. No worries, though, Aoi is here to help.

There’s a lot of family stuff in this book. Once Shenley’s dad is given a talking to, he travels to the academy to see exactly what Shenley has been going through, and ends up sympathizing far more with her. (It helps that under Aoi’s tutelage she’s becoming a genius.) Dean’s mother is the classic “education mama” for whom no amount of good things is enough, you can always do better. (Admittedly, that plot will have to be resolved in Book 4, because we’re ending in the middle of an arc again.) Felter’s dad is, unsurprisingly, a guy who lives only for battle, and essentially comes every year to beat his son up and is now intrigued at this tiny powerful woman. And there’s even the commoner kid who Aoi teaches magic to show that it has nothing to do with breeding, whose dad may help pave the way for her to spread magic even further. Aoi may beat up a lot of her problems, but she’s also good at negotiation, bartering, and everything except common sense and facial expressions.

As ever, if you hate OP folks who win easily all the time, avoid avoid avoid. Otherwise, this series remains a lot of fun, and Aoi is ridiculous.