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Reviews

Accel World: Kuroyukihime’s Confession

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By Reki Kawahara and Hima. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jocelyne Allen.

I suspect how much readers enjoy the first half of this book depends on how invested they are in awkward teen romance. Last time we ended with Kuroyukihime inviting Haruyuki over to spend the night at her place, and he ends up accepting here, though he’s not quite sure how long he’ll be staying. As it turns out, the answer is “all night”, and there’s also a bath scene involved, which, as with everything else about this series, gets 80 times more awkward when you remember they’re both 13-14. But they are pretty sweet dorks, and things don’t really go anywhere beyond “I am depressed and want to take comfort in you”. And, as it turns out, Kuroyukihime has a lot more to be concerned about than being caught in an Unlimited EK, as her friend Megumi, aka Orchid Oracle, seems to be held hostage by the enemy… which has caused her real-world self to fall into a coma. Can they rescue her? And can Haruyuki get yet another girl to fall for him without trying?

Yes, we can add another “don’t read this in public” volume cover to the pile. In any case, one of the more important things that comes up here is Kuroyukihime opens up to Haruyuki about the circumstances of her birth, and we finally, definitively put to rest the rumor that her parents are Kirito and Asuna. (I’m not sure why anyone ever found this acceptable, unless they like grim ‘n gritty.) In any case, we don’t get her name, or the names of her parents, but we do discover that Kuroyukihime was a “machine child”, incubated in an artificial womb. While the direct SAO connection isn’t happening, fans of the Alicization arc may recognize some of the discussion here about the nature of the soul. According to Kuroyukihime, her parents regard her as an experiment rather than a child – she even has a barcode on her neck to drive the point home. It’s pretty heavy.

The weaker part of the book is in the middle, when most of the cast gets together virtually to try to figure out how to fix the huge trap they’re in. This involves lots of banter, some jealousy, and a whole lot of talking, but essentially boils down to “no, we can’t do this, no we can’t do this, hey, why don’t we try this”, only over the course of 50 pages. Things pick up again when Haruyuki teams up with Rose Milady in order to rescue Orchid Oracle, her sister, from the clutches of the White Legion. This amounts to a bunch of cool battle scenes, and Kawahara is quite good at those. Haruyuki tries to do the whole “I’m not really good at anything I just have a lot of help” whining, which promptly gets smacked down. That makes me happy. More importantly, they actually succeed in both the rescue and waking Megumi up, meaning this volume does not leave us hanging. (Well, everyone’s still in the deathtrap, but…)

So a decent volume, with some much needed revelations, but the core issue here is still not resolved, so the arc continues. Recommended to those already reading the series.

The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 18

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By Satoshi Wagahara and 029. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Kevin Gifford.

This book is definitely front-loaded with stuff that I am here for. Much as I appreciate the machinations and plans for avoiding destruction going on on Enta isla, I will admit I’ve always been more drawn to the Japan side of this series. And just as everyone is working to ensure that they have a future for humans, angels and demons over there, others need to work to ensure that they have a future going forward in Japan. Even if that future may not involve Maou. As you might guess by the cover art showing her with her hat off, Chiho finally gives her notice to McRonald’s, as she needs to prepare for college, and then move on to her dream of… well, that’s the problem, isn’t it. Which college does she want to try for? Does she want to keep doing archery? Does she have a career in mind at all? And most importantly, can she find a way to stand at Maou’s side rather than just admiring him from afar?

It’s not just Chiho either – McRonald’s is suddenly down FIVE people after a bunch of resignations, and Maou and Emi – their two most important part-timers – have to take all of July off to, well, save the world. They also have a new manager, and while she’s a perfectly good normal manager sort, she is not the exceptional, once-in-a-lifetime manager that Kisaki was. This causes her no small amount of anxiety. Now Maou has to find some part-time help for the business. More importantly, he has to simply be patient and not worry too much as his allies are busy putting everything in place. It’s something he’s not used to, and he apologizes to Chiho at one point, as she is very used to it. And there’s also a disturbing new revelation that implies that not only might Alas Ramus and Acieth not be able to help in the final battle, they may be turned to the other side.

Not gonna lie, my mind keeps drifting back to the frank conversation Rika has with Chiho about her future, and about her love for Maou. If only as the author seems to take the time to sink what is probably the series’ most popular pairing – Rika says that Chiho’s only real competition for Maou is probably Suzuno, and that Maou and Emi aren’t happening. It’s worth actually quoting:

“What, am I wrong? I mean, some people say a lot of good relationships start from less than nothing, but I think Stockholm syndrome would work only so much with those two. It’s a miracle they’re acting like friends right now, even. I can’t see much more than that happening.”

Other than that, the book is quite good, with some very funny bits – the new part-timer at McRonald’s being the best – but it does suffer a bit from Maou and Emi being necessarily sidelined at the moment. The stage is set for the final battle… but we have three volumes to go, not two, so I suspect we’ll have wacky unrelated shenanigans next time. Till then, Chiho fans should really enjoy this book.

The Sorcerer’s Receptionist, Vol. 2

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By Mako and Maro. Released in Japan as “Mahousekai no Uketsukejou ni Naritaidesu” by ArianRose. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roko Mobius.

It should go without saying, really, but fans of this sort of light novel should also be fans of shoujo manga that also runs along these lines. If you, as a reader, read manga where the lead couple are constantly at odds? The girl is constantly angry at the smug arrogant guy? Everyone seems to think they’re already a couple even though she hates his stupid guts? Yeah, that’s this series in a nutshell, it’s just in prose rather than in Hana to Yume. So yes, if smug arrogant guys constantly mocking the heroine are not your cup of tea, don’t read this, because we know who the end guy is going to be and it’s him. The other thing to mention here, which I believe I also did in my first review, is that you’d better love “oblivious to love” and “everyone can see it” as tropes, because the book is drenched in them. When it’s not actually dealing with Nanalie’s actual work, it’s watching everyone smirk at her cluelessness.

As noted above, the book is divided in half. Half the time we are seeing Nanalie at her job at Harre, growing better at it, learning valuable magical skills, and beating up lesser demons. At one point she’s sent to the southern branch for a month to see what it’s like there, and the answer is basically “hot, with added exorcisms”. The other half of the book is her interactions with Rockmann, who always seems to be around despite her best efforts to not see him, and is always there to rub it in her face that he’s still Number One and she is Number two. This even applies to alcohol – Nanalie has an amazingly high tolerance… but not as good as Rockmann’s. The one worrying plotline is that a neighboring kingdom is asking – rather aggressively – for ice witches, and Nanalie is being asked to hide that she is one. What’s really going on here? Also, why is Nanalie being asked to meet the King?

This book is not without its problems. the ending to the first book implied that there was some dangerous demon possession going on… but it’s solved quickly and then dropped. More importantly, the nature of the “Ice Witches Wanted” plotline involves Nanalie not knowing anything about it, and so the climax of the book, frustratingly, takes place offscreen, with most of it explained to her in a “yeah, sorry about this” way by the director. It’s realistic that they would take such steps, but as a reader it is incredibly anticlimactic. Also, Rockmann heals up far too quickly and far too well given they’re making this out to be the first time Nanalie might actually feel something for him. Fortunately, the rest of the book is filled with fun banter and situations, and Nanalie when she’s furious and snarky is the best Nanalie.

There is a suggestion of a few ongoing plots, with some backstory dropped to help the reader along, so I don’t expect this will be ending soon. It’s a fun little series, if a bit uneven, and recommended for those who like shoujo manga where the leads yell at each other all the time.

Our Crappy Social Game Club Is Gonna Make the Most Epic Game, Vol. 1

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By Oriori Siki and Azuri Hyuga. Released in Japan as “Jakushou Soshage-bu no Bokura ga Kamige wo Tsukuru Made” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mikey N.

Sometimes you just have to power through even when your initial impression is bad. This novel started off iffy for me. A sad-sack protagonist who had difficulties communicating with others. A perky, happy ball of sunshine who ends up dragging him back into a world he was desperately trying to avoid. Even the world the book takes place in didn’t impress me; it’s not a fantasy or isekai, but it does take place in a world where education has become driven by “gacha”, that game mechanic where you spend money to get a cool thing – possibly. I’m not sure why it needed to jump through the extra hoops, unless a pre-reader asked why everyone cared so much about social games. Fortunately, after a rough start it settles into what the book is actually about: the trauma of past failures crippling your ability to move forward and recognize your own worth, and how others can help you move past that.

Kai has just moved far from Tokyo after being driven from his previous school, one of the best in the country, for sabotaging a popular social game for reasons we are not immediately privy to. He’s trying to move on and have nothing to do with social games, but unfortunately, he’s arrived at one of those “everyone has to be in a club” schools, and the girl showing him around, Aoi, is head of the Social Game club, which consists of her, programmer and gacha-addict Aya, and perpetually angry artist Eru. The club is about to be shut down, and the Student Council President hates it, so Kai joins up impulsively. Unfortunately, the club is a mess – Eru is angry at Aoi, Kai, and most everything else, Aya is never there as she has to gacha all the time, and Aoi’s bubbly, happy side masks a girl who fears she is useless and a burden. Can the club be saved in time?

As I said, when you get past the original cliches (there’s also a pervy older sister who loves to tease Kai, and the arrogant/snarky student council duo are pure 100% cliche), there’s more to like here than expected. Kai, of course, did not sabotage the game back in Tokyo because he was being a villain, it was for a very good reason. Both he and Aoi suffer from crippling self-doubt, and both of them have to have it demonstrated to them, explicitly, that their fears are unfounded. Kai really does have terrific value as a planner, as his sempai at the Tokyo school (who is awesome, and has a great semi-robotic speech pattern) demonstrated to him, and while Aoi’s art is still not as good as Eru’s, she is improving constantly and is ready to take the next step. They make their game better AND they step in to help save the original game that Kai sabotaged. It’s quite the feel good ending.

So yes, there’s gold to be found here, though I’d recommend liking gacha games a whole lot more than I do if you really want to get the full experience.

The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?), Vol. 5

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By Toru Taba and Falmaro. Released in Japan as “Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu ~Sou da, Baikoku Shiyou~” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange.

This volume was always going to have trouble living up to the high point of the previous one, and it does. It’s a very short light novel, coming out at not even 160 pages. And that, I think, is the problem – this volume is too rushed, leaving everything sort of half-baked. The joy of these books is seeing Wein come up with plans, wriggle around as they’re upended by a surprise disaster, and then come up with even more clever plans. but you need time for each of those things to simmer, and we don’t get that here. There’s also very little of Falanya, who was the star of the fourth book, and also a minimal amount of romantic tension between Wein and Ninym. There’s nothing wrong with the book, it’s reasonably fun to read, and gets exciting a few times. But the reader is left with the feeling that “that could have been better”.

Natra has been doing very well for itself under Wein’s leadership… VERY well, and has started to attract attention to itself, both good and bad. It also has to worry about Marden, its recent acquisition, which is far better located than Natra itself, and could easily wind up surpassing Natra itself. They need more allies. So he turns to the nations beyond Marden, Soljest (which is run by Gruyere, the very obese Holy Elite we briefly saw in Book Three, and Delunio, which is basically being ruled by its slimy Prime Minister. Wein heads to Marden, expecting Zenovia to try to solve Marden’s problems by a marriage proposal, which he plans to turn down, and then goes to Soljest, where he ends up suggesting that the two nations ally themselves to each other, something Gruyere quickly agrees to. And then… well, everything falls apart for Wein.

By now, the strengths and weaknesses of this series are pretty well locked in. Sadly, I find the art a weakness, as it’s frequently just too goofy for my tastes, and also leans into fanservice when it shouldn’t (there is a low-angle shot of Zenovia sleeping on her tits at a desk that should be taken out back and shot). The plotting and scheming is fun, both when Wein is being brutally clever and also when he’s being out-thought, and I really liked the idea that Zenovia *is* in love with him but refuses to marry him if she’s not his equal at being a clever person. Gruyere is also a lot of fun, and I did like the introduction of his daughter, who appears to be there mostly so that she can be a rival to Falanya in future books. But… everything happened too fast. The battles, the scheming, the dialogue, even the dumb goofy comedy. Ninym screws up Wein’s hair in an amusing way! Why was nothing done with that?

The series is still worth reading, and I look forward to the next book, but this one just feels… half-baked.

I’m in Love with the Villainess, Vol. 2

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By Inori and Hanagata. Released in Japan as “Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou” by GL Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Sas. Translated by Jenn Yamazaki. Adapted by Nibedita Sen.

(While I try not to spoil TOO much, this does talk about events in this book a bit more than some might be comfortable with, so this is your spoiler warning.)

When we last left Rae and Claire in the first volume of this series, things were still great fun, with lots of teasing and tsundere antics, but there was also excellent discussions of LGBT identity and a few hints of ominous rumblings on the horizons. This second volume proceeds – immediately – to walk up to our heroine’s happy, relaxed life and clever plotting and scheming and kick at it till it falls over, requiring a stronger structure. Things do not relax from that point forward. Even a trip back home to visit Rae’s parents, the slightest chapter in the book, is still filled with economic inequality and the difference between the haves and have nots. Rae’s past in Japan, which barely came up in the first book, gets an amazing flashback in the third chapter, which also gets into transgender rights. And all of this? Is before the Revolution that is the subject of the original otome game. Rae may be trying to save Claire… but is that what Claire wants?

There is a certain amount of ridiculousness to the plot that you are just going to have to accept. I won’t spoil everything, I will just note that there is a volcano eruption that is only fourth or so on the list of ridiculous things. It is also clear that the author has an agenda, and is here to push it, and honestly that’s great as well. I mentioned Rae’s past – as Rei – and it gets into the nitty gritty of coming out – internally and externally – and how that can be for good and ill and both. It also has a literal love square, the kind that you see arrow diagrams of, and also has Maria-sama Ga Miteru novels (or a very thinly disguised version of) as the gateway into this. So as you can see, it manages to combine the heartfelt and the over the top without sacrificing either.

Things definitely get more serious as the book goes on, though we know they’re going to right from the start, when Rae is forced to deal with her love for Claire, something that she states out loud multiple times a day, and how dedicated to it she really is. First as comedy, and second as tragedy, events conspire to force Rae to abandon her cool, logical, and calculating persona and admit that she does, in fact, not only love Claire but want to be with Claire for the rest of her life – fuck “I want my beloved to be happy” tropes. Once the actual revolution revs up, there’s no time for school – first Rae has to maneuver events so that Claire can avoid being executed for being the symbol of all that is bad as aristocrats, and then watch in horror as Claire’s growth, acceptance and love of Rae results in all those plans being shattered to bits.

Claire’s growth is, in my opinion, even more stunning than Rae’s because we get so much of it filtered through Rae, who gets it but also does not. She knows that Claire is far nicer than she pretends to be. She shows her what their country is really like, whose lives it is built on top of, and what the commoners really feel about all this. And Claire then resolves to make things better. She helps ferret out corrupt nobles with Rae. She helps pass out food to those who are starving with Rae. And, in the end, she makes a decision that Rae can’t do, which is to accept that she is a symbol of everything that was wrong with the class system, and go to her execution in order to take responsibility. As in the first chapter, Rae is devastated and almost gives up. Seeing how far Claire has come from the standard arrogant ringlet girl is my favorite thing about this book. It even pays off in the epilogue and side story, which shows Claire adapting to commoner life rather well – indeed, a bit better than Rae is.

There’s more I can talk about, like the whole plot with Yu and Misha, which revolves around (like, honestly, a lot of this book) a metaphor that turns out to be literal. There’s Manaria, who has gallant Takarazuka vibes up the wazoo, and without whom everyone would likely be dead. There’s the young cardinal who is in love with Rae and is also… well, I’ll leave that for now. There is the fact that the book has a large number of characters who are not only yuri, but also queer, a word used by Rae in the book. (As is lesbian.) There’s the fact that there is apparently a third volume in Japan, which surprises me given that this reads very much like an ending. Above all of this is the fact that the book is simply unputdownable – it has a very large page count, but I was forced to finish it in one day anyway. It may be the best light novel of 2021, and it’s only January 8th. Read it, please. You won’t regret it.

Slayers: The Battle of Saillune

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By Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis.

The first three volumes of Slayers are filled with humor and wackiness, but they are also very, very dark, with the third one ending in the destruction of an entire city and everyone in it. It often feels like a fantasy version of Dirty Pair, with Lina and Gourry accidentally spreading chaos as they go from town to town. This volume, which introduces another one of our “regulars” (I use the word in quotes because everyone in the novels except Lina and Gourry tends to be mostly absent half the time.) also features a lot of dead bodies, and has Lina almost die at least three times, to the point where her waking up in a hospital bed is almost a running gag. Despite that… this feels like an attempt at a lighter, fluffier volume of Slayers. Sure, there’s assassination attempts on royalty, assassination attempts on Lina, betrayal, and lots of death… but any book with Prince Phil and Amelia in it is by definition lighter. Even if Amelia feels a bit odd at first.

When this book was first published, both in Japan and North America, it had a much more serious cover, featuring Lina and Gourry. But J-NC has licensed the updated reissues, and they know what readers want, and so we get Amelia pointing at us for justice. As for the plot, Lina, Gourry and Sylphiel arrive in Saillune and are caught up in a royal struggle, as someone is trying to kill Prince Phil. Lina, who has met the prince before, is underwhelmed, but she and Gourry quickly agree to help him try to resolve things, despite the fact that his brother seemingly has a mage on his side who can do all sorts of lethal things to our heroine. But how many “sides” are there in this battle? And why would the villain be trying to kill Lina personally as well?

As stated, Amelia shows up here for the first time, and seems… surprisingly savvy and clever. Honestly, it feels like her characterization takes a step back as the book goes on, with the author realizing on the fly that she’s funnier when she’s goofier, hence the additional cries of justice and the pratfall towards the end. The book is funny, though sometimes it’s not as funny as it would like to be – the way Sylphiel is written out of the book is simply dumb, no two ways about it. I was also very impressed at the traps that are created for Lina in the book, with the endless corridor you can’t get out of (which Lina promptly does), the evil bug that nearly succeeds in annihilating Lina and puts her in the hospital, and an assassin that really, really wants to kill her. We do get some reasons as to why this is happening towards the end, but a lot of it is still vague, and no doubt will be examined in the next book.

This book is very 1990s at times, and “ha ha, it’s funny because he’s not handsome!” is not the laff riot it’s meant to be, but this was a very solid Slayers, and introduces one of my favorite regulars, even if she’s not quite cooked characterization-wise. Next time we’ll meet another regular, a certain “priest”, and things should get even more chaotic.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke, Vol. 3

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

Last time I talked about how Rozemyne, try as she might, is not going to drag this world kicking and screaming into the 20th century anytime soon. Indeed, anyone reading this series hoping for a class war starting between the elite nobles and the clever commoners has probably already checked out by now. Rozemyne may tell Ferdinand that she will never be comfortable with killing another person – and thank God for that! – but she is still going to stay a noble and try to follow noble rules. Of course, there are other ways to subvert society, and we find that her cards and picture books are doing this far more than most people are ready for. Kids are learning fast. Very fast. Heck, even Angelica, her bodyguard who took the job because it would mean she didn’t have to study at school – ends up learning with a sufficient reward dangled in front of her. The Revolution Will Be Printed.

As you can see by the cover, much of this book takes place in winter, though fortunately Rozemyne only has one “and then I was in bed for days” incident in the book. She’s gathering ingredients for her cure, which can involve fighting a massive snow leopard monster who can create hideous blizzards, or can involve collecting nectar from a hot spring that proves to be a lot more sentient than Ferdinand was expecting. So there’s actually a fair bit of action here. We also get to see Rozemyne play politics, as she gets the noble kids to work together, teaches them without it being overt (the best kind of teaching), and starts to create the idea of lending libraries, getting one poor noble’s daughter books in return for hearing new stories that her mother had told her. Honestly, if it were not for the resolution of what happened with the Mayor last book, this would be a light and fluffy volume.

It is not a light and fluffy volume. Rozemyne is forced to not only watch the Mayor, his wife, and a few people who had shown (thank to Ferdinand’s magic) that they were disloyal be killed, but also to see how nobility in general regards commoners as little better than animals, and their lives absolutely do not matter. Much as we would like to see her fix this, Rozemyne is still about 7 years old here, and cannot bend the world to their will quite that much. The execution itself is fantastical in nature but also horrific, and much is made of the fact that those killed with be unburied and unremembered. Fortunately, we do move from this to the Hot Springs episode, which, fortunately, does not lead to a bunch of fanservice as it would in any other title. The closest we get to fanservice is Rozemyne giving Brigitte a present of a fashionable dress, and remarking on her large chest. As for the hot springs ingredient gathering, it’s honestly hilarious, especially in retrospect. Even Rosemyne and Brigitte getting eaten by a giant toad just made me think of KonoSuba (it’s OK, they get out).

There’s two more volumes to go in this arc, and I’ve really no idea where it’s going to go, other than better printing, more books, etc. But that’s fine. Even the chapters discussing springs and leverage are interesting in this series. It remains a must read.

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 11

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By FUNA and Itsuki Akata. Released in Japan as “Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Diana Taylor. Adapted by Maggie Cooper.

There was a point in the second story here, when they came across a scavenger that is trying to repair the machines keeping the world alive, that I realized that this was actually a plot that we had seen several volumes ago, and was meant to be quite important. MMAA does have an ongoing plot thread, but it can take many volumes to get back to it, as we’ve seen, and then it will happily wander away from it again. The book is here for fun overpowered little girls, and not much else. And you know, that’s fine too, because – sorry, nanomachines – I’m not really that invested in saving this world as a long-term plotline. And neither is Mile, who points out – possibly incorrectly – that she’ll be dead before it happens so doesn’t care. (I get the sense, honestly, that Mile may end up living forever.) I want to read fluff and cute character moments. We get both of those here.

Pauline is on the cover, and is also the focus of the first story, where our heroes meet a mother and daughter who are in trouble with money lenders. I appreciated Pauline’s vigorous defense of them, but of course, this book being the type of series it is, it turns out the money lenders ARE assholes, so she turns on a dime and gleefully destroys them. We then go to a mountain village which has a few golems on the mountain, who are mysteriously… not really doing much. This ties in most with the main plot I mentioned above, and is also an excuse to watch Mile and company accidentally go crazy without realizing it to help a group of orphans who live up there. We then cut back to Adele’s friends from the noble school, who have graduated and set off, at the princess’ request, to find Adele by any means necessary. Naturally, they walk right past each other without knowing it. The best story in the book has the Crimson Vow meeting up again with the Servants of the Goddess, who have managed to temporarily escape Leatoria’s protective father, and the two have a friendly competition.

I really liked this last story a lot. It had some great action scenes, and, given the groups weren’t trying to kill each other, relied a lot more on tactics than the group usually does. This also leads to Reina’s biggest concern with the Vow, which is that they’re not a TEAM – they’re four overpowered girls who basically blast through anything. They’re not coordinating the way most hunter teams do. (There’s also Reina’s crush on the leader of the SotG, but that’s mostly played for laughs – indeed, one senses the author found out about the slight yuri fandom this series has and took offense, as there’s another extra story at the end with Mile wishing she had a boyfriend… but her sights are set way too high.) Honestly, I think Reina’s concern is not really needed – the Crimson Vow may not fight as a tactical team, but they are still the best of friends.

Despite the occasional carp, this was a strong volume in the series, which I think is almost caught up with the Japanese release. We’ll see if the nanomachines get Mile to care a bit more about the world in the next book.

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 5

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By Yuki Yaku and Fly. Released in Japan as “Jaku Chara Tomozaki-kun” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Winifred Bird.

As I write this review, the Tomozaki anime is about to start, and I am very curious to see how it does, given how much of this series is just dialogue with very little action. It’s about two gamers, and at times reads a lot like you’re reading their gaming log, particularly when characters get together to try to decide how to fix things. On the bright side, Tomozaki has improved by leaps and bounds, and there is very little “normie” chatter here. He barely feels like Hachiman at all now. That said, he is somewhat humbled when he tries to apply the same lessons he, a shy cynical introvert, learned over months to Tama-chan, who is merely very serious and dedicated, and when she tries his helpful hints, she improves far faster than he ever did. That said, the true star here is probably Kikuchi, who starts high above everyone else and just soars ever higher. It’s a shame girls like her are never the lead.

Hinami is the lead, but… let’s save her for later, OK? A good 3/4 of this book is a lot of fun. Tomozaki tries to help Tama-chan by helping her change herself so that she’s more open and likeable to her classmates, which would defuse some of the tension caused by Konno’s bullying. Part of that is simply not fighting back constantly (It’s noted that Tama-chan is basically “attack, attack, attack” in terms of game metaphors), but also to try and have her fit in with banter, conversation, and self-deprecating jokes. There’s a great moment when everyone realizes that Tama-chan does not really care much about the rest of her class, and I enjoy that it’s seen as a flaw but she’s not shamed for it. He also bonds with Kikuchi, brought in as a conversation partner for Tama-chan, and I think he is beginning to realize he likes her as more than a friend.

That said, this is not helping with the basic issue, which is Konno. Except it isn’t, because in the back quarter of the book, we realize that Hinami has taken this far more to heart than Tomozaki or anyone else had expected, and she proceeds to wreak an absolutely epic r3evenge that almost destroys Konno. (It does not completely destroy her, and thank god for Tama-chan coming in at the end, or else this book would be even darker than it already is.) The book ends up being about Hinami, whose “mask”, as it turns out, is pretty obvious to most of the rest of the class, particularly Tama-chan, who feels responsible for Hinami having to go as far as she did. Notably, aside from one or two brief meetings, Hinami and Tomozaki barely interact here. I imagine readers ended up being pretty unnerved.

That said, I have to agree with Tomozaki: I desperately want to know more about the real Aoi Hinami, and she’s still my favorite reason to read this book, as I find her fascinating. (As for who Tomozaki should date, well, let’s leave that for now.) For a series that started off as “what if My Youth Romantic Comedy but milder”, it’s really started to come into its own. I can see why it got the anime.

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol 5

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An Incurable Case of Love Volume 5 by Maki Enjoji

After four volumes with plenty of workplace hijinks now that Tendo and Nana have become an actual couple, there have to be some random external influences show up to test their relationship. In the fifth volume this takes the form of a forlorn young man who shows up and demands that Nana hide him from some people who are following him. This turns into an extremely odd impromptu date involving a bowling alley and a park. Nana humors him for awhile, because her nursing instincts are kicking in. When he has a seizure, Nana has him transported to her hospital.

An Incurable Case of Love Volume 5

The young man turns out to be Chikashi, the heir to a conglomerate. He refuses to be transported to a private hospital and demands that Nana be assigned as his personal nurse. Nana agrees after Chikashi makes it clear that he isn’t above a bit of blackmail, he also incorporates some threats to Tendo’s career. Nana and Tendo’s relationship is strained, and while Chikashi is clearly acting like an extremely bratty patient, he’s also doing this because he’s incredibly lonely. One of the best parts of this volume was Tendo’s aggravated faces as he attempts to deal with this situation semi-professionally. Nana lets her caring nature lead to her getting taken advantage of, but it seems like Chikashi ends up in a better place than he was before, so if her goal is to maintain being an excellent nurse, she’s still on track to achieve it. While there isn’t really a high amount of drama or complex story line in this volume, this workplace romance still manages to be diverting and seeing Nana and Tendo work through their issues with the core of their relationship strong is plenty heartwarming.

Kokoro Connect: Precious Time

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By Sadanatsu Anda and Shiromizakana. Released in Japan by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Molly Lee.

This final volume of Kokoro Connect, as you might guess by the ‘Time’ subtitle, is a short story collection, with one shorter story and three longer ones. It’s a fitting finale for a serious that has really dragged its cast across razor blades at times, and fortunately is not nearly as stressful as previous books in the main series have been. The series has always been, to a degree, about growing up and moving forward, and this final volume really emphasizes that, with each story hammering the point home. The first three don’t have the main cast as the regulars, although they do get narrative voice at times. Fittingly, the final story is in Iori’s narration, the one member of the CRC not paired up (OK, there’s Uwa and Enjouji, but come on, we all agree it’s just a matter of time, right?) and someone who’s still excellent at putting on a mask to disguise her own pain. Fortunately, there are answers for her here.

The first story is the shortest and the slightest, as the CRC are coming over to Taichi’s house one afternoon, and his sister Rina decides she’s going to interrogate… erm, interview them all to make sure that there’s nothing wrong with them. This is, for the most part, amusing, and of course the real issue is that she feels he’s growing up and leaving her behind. The longest story in the book, Fujishima organizes a giant couples-only battle royale event, mostly to give the third years something “unique” to remember the year by. This is the most CRC-focused of the stories, though it includes the entire school cast, and does finally hook Maiko up with a guy (sorry, fans of her glomping Iori). The third story is the weakest, though its themes are good, as we get an introverted first-year determined to “fit in” at high school but unable to expend any effort to do so, finding a home in the CRC, which just did that the previous year with Uwa. Finally, Iori’s future is laid out for her… so why is she so depressed?

There’s no real drama or conflict in this story, which fits given it’s basically a final “present” from the author to the readers. I did like seeing Gossan as an actual slacker teacher (who still gives good advice when he needs to) rather than the usual “I have been possessed by Heartseed” version we’re used to. Heartseed are blissfully absent from the whole book, as is typical with SS books but also as it’s the final one. Our heroes are getting ready to graduate and move on, and hare making decisions about what to do with their lives. For the most part, they’re good ones (and I do wonder how long Inaba and Taichi are going to wait before getting married – the tsun and dere of Inaba’s personality are perfectly blended here, and it’s a definite highlight). Taichi is not leaving his little sister behind, but the cast is leaving us behond, as they go off to do whatever they want to. (Technically there are fanfics, but alas, very, very few.)

Despite the fact that it seems I spent most of these reviews talking about how angsty and depressing everything was, in the end Kokoro Connect, was a wonderfully solid series with a terrific cast. Kudos once more to the translation by Molly Lee, which really gives you the great sense of a bunch of teenagers having terrific conversations. I’ll miss this a lot.

86 –Eighty-Six–, Vol. 6: Darkest Before the Dawn

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By Asato Asato and Shirabii. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Roman Lempert.

In my review of the last volume, I mentioned that my favorite scene was the argument between Shin and Lerche about the nature of being a soldier and why someone should fight. It turns out that that scene is the linchpin on which half of this volume turns, as Shin is having a bit of a nervous breakdown trying to reconcile this argument and his own hatred of the world with his deep-seated desire to show Lena the sea, which of course means actually trying NOT TO DIE. It’s easy to see why he’s having trouble, given his entire life to this point, the conditioning he’s been through due to the war itself, the way others treated him in the Federation, and his own teenage emotions, particularly his growing love for Lena and his terror and self-loathing of the same. Not that Lena is handling things much better herself, but at least she’s moving forward. Fortunately for Shin, the second half of the series gets to be an awesome James Bond battle, complete with active volcano. He’s better at those.

Things are still looking bad for our heroes at the start of the book, despite the cheerful-looking cover. The Legion are still very much in the driver’s seat, and the plans that they think up do not go well at all… until Lena comes up with an idea straight out of the A-Team School of Plans, though there’s also a bit of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress thrown in. After this, what remains is a harsh battle with the Eighty-Six, the Sirins, and the UK troops trying to stop the aerial machine cover killing their lands, take out as much of the Legion as they can, including a Shepherd who seems very familiar to Shin, and achieve what their goal was in the 5th book; capture the Merciless Queen. That’s not going to be easy, especially since the Phonix is back, and it really, really wants to kill Shin.

This book has more than one POV scene from the Merciless Queen, and it’s quiet fascinating, and shows off that they are not merely inhuman robots that just keep coming. The last quarter of the book is dedicated to a balls-to-the-wall battle between Shin and the Phonix inside the volcano, and it reminds you how fantastic the author is at writing action scenes – which bodes well for the upcoming anime, I hope. As for Shin, I think he’s finally turned a corner here, which is good, as he really was starting to get on everyone’s nerves – both the readers and the other characters. How this plays out in the future I’m not sure, but it is nice to see him actually make the effort to meet his grandfather at the end of the volume. On the down side, after seeing Kurena and Anju in the skin-tight plugsuits Lena wore last time, I fear this is definitely the work of the author rather than an editor.

The author promises – again – that the next volume will be a breather and more lighthearted, and the cover seems to bear this out. But war is never too far away from the Eighty-Six, and war is the reason this remains an absolutely riveting series – it’s still horrible, there’s still lots of deaths, and we need to do everything we can to work for peace.

My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 8

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By Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka. Released in Japan as “Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei Shite Shimatta…” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Marco Godano.

As always with Bakarina, it’s one step forward, two steps back. This volume is perfectly enjoyable, and I had a lot of fun reading it. But as for actual forward plot development, it’s pretty much “the pick of the best of some recently repeated Katarina hits again, Vol. II”, as most of the book has Katarina being incredibly kind and empathetic almost on reflex, followed by a different POV showing the affected person realizing how wonderful she is and far behind her they are in comparison. This is particularly true of Maria and Jeord, who get the bulk of the serious things happening to them… or because of them. Not everyone is as well characterized as I’d like (Mary and Sophia in particular suffer here, with Mary literally getting a nosebleed that forces her to be put to bed because she is thinking of Katarina naked), but if your goal is “pleasant silliness”, this will do nicely.

The subject of this volume is an International Assembly, an event that happens every two years, and this year Sorcie is hosting it. It’s a huge gathering of the higher nobles from many countries. Katarina cannot get out of it. What’s more, everyone is panicked that she will embarrass herself and everyone around her. So it’s time for history lessons, dance lessons, etiquette lessons, most of which she knows but it can’t hurt to be sure, right? That said, as readers know well, the issue is rarely Katarina when she has a prearranged agenda, it’s when she wanders off the agenda. That happens here when she’s caught lying on the grass one day by a dark-skinned young man. They bond very quickly, though Katarina has to pretend she’s a servant. Is *he* a servant? What’s more, why are Maria and Sora at the Assembly and what are they investigating?

There are many interesting things happening here beyond the surface of “Katarina charms everyone, they all love her”. She does gain a new love interest here, but he’s not making any moves while she’s engaged to Jeord, and he’s also from another country. He makes a cool new addition. There’s also a darker plot of slavery and kidnappings going on behind the scenes, leading to Maria almost getting assaulted at one point (Katarina climbs a tree – ruining her ballgown – to stop this) and a cliffhanger which implies a lot more action-packed thriller stuff next time. Perhaps most interesting is Jeord, a character who has not had a fun time of it with Western fandom, despite – indeed, because – being the primary love interest. His reaction to seeing Katarina besmirched, and near homicide he commits, horrifies him, and the fact that Katarina is not really all that appalled by it doesn’t really help matters. Please remember that you can burn people, Prince.

So it’s mostly fluff, but lovable fluff, much like our heroine. Next time might be more serious. Till then, hope you like Katarina making everyone’s life better by being an amazingly dense ball of sunshine.

Yona of the Dawn, Vol 27

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Yona of the Dawn Volume 27 by Mizuho Kusanagi

I’ve been eagerly waiting for this volume of Yona of the Dawn since Hak came forward with an actual love confession in the previous volume. One of the things I love about this long-series is the fact that it can still surprise me. Instead of any drawn-out angst, in the aftermath of the love confession Hak totally oversleeps, unburdened by worries while Yona is the one who has been tossing and turning all night. This volume serves as a transition from one storyline to another as the Four Dragon Warriors need to recuperate closer to Hiryuu Palace. There’s some adorable awkwardness between Yona and Hak, and he decides to take up training with her again in an attempt to make things a bit more normal. Kusanagi’s illustrations show Yona progressively more embarrassed and overcome with emotion as Hak no longer has any hesitancy about telling her exactly how he feels.

While I enjoy the sweeping action and more complicated political plots as Yona roams around trying to make the lives of her people better, I find these more character-focused quiet volumes in between the larger story arcs a great way to reset and reflect, setting me up to look forward to the next complex storyline. Of course, this wouldn’t be shoujo manga without additional emotional complications, and Hak speculates that while Yona might be able to move on with her feelings about Su-Won, he is still dedicated to nurturing his hatred.

This volume also provides an opportunity to check in on other beloved characters such as Riri and Tae-Jun, who are dealing with the aftermath of the averted war with Xing in their own ways. There’s a skirmish happening and Yona and her warriors come to Tae-Jun’s aid. While Yona’s been able to be somewhat undercover for awhile, more and more people are beginning to realize that she’s not dead after all. As it turns out, Yona’s growing notoriety and the legend of the Four Dragon Warriors might be the cause of upcoming conflicts