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Reviews

My Fiancé Cheated, But a New Love Rings!, Vol. 1

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By Ehito and Koyukomu. Released in Japan as “Konyakusha no Uwaki Genba wo Michatta no de Hajimari no Kane ga Narimashita” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Chris Craigo.

This book was all over the place, frankly. In terms of the pacing and structure – we start where a lot of villainess novels start, but then circle back over and over to pick up the backstory, most of which is shoved into the “side stories” after the bulk of the book. In terms of the characterization – Sophelia and Livionis may be the only two people in the book who are not completely bananas, and that’s only by a matter of degree. And in terms of tone, where we’re shown the wretched and soul-crushing life that Sophitia has had to date, but we also get a love story so utterly cheesy that even the narrator turns into Tearmoon Empire’s narrator halfway through and starts mocking them. Hell, even the horse is sick of them. The horse, by the way, gets a narrative POV for a bit. As I said, this is all over the place. I loved it.

Sophitia von Lotus, the fiancee of the Prince Regent, screams loudly as she comes across her fiance in bed with her younger sister. Except this all appears to be part of a master plan that everyone in the world is in on (except, perhaps, the fiance and the sister) to rescue her from her crappy life. Especially her knight, Livionis Warrion, who has been madly in love with her for several years, ever since the traditional “meet while hiding at a tea party” childhood moment. Now there’s no time to lose, as they fake their death and flee the country. While the rest of the country deals with the fallout, Sophie and Livio (as they rechristen themselves) find themselves dealing with something neither of them were prepared for – they’re both adorable dorks embarrassed at the slightest thing.

As I said above, the main plotline is only about 2/3 of the book, with the rest being side stories that fill in the backstory. Which tells us that the king and queen are sociopaths, but good guys, Sophie’s family and fiance are sociopaths, but bad guys, and every single knight in the regiment has been drafted into the Sophitia fan club, because it turns out the king was not raising her as a fiance to be a good little wifey, he was raising her to run the kingdom as he knew his son was a prat. Everyone else also knew this, but no one else bothered to tell Sophitia, so she gradually ground her sense of self-worth into spackle. The main reason to get this volume is the sheer chasm that separates the way that everyone treats this young woman with the goopy schmoopy romance she ends up in with her gorgeous knight (we’re told he’s gorgeous every three pages, so I feel I can bang it in here). Special mention must go to the king and queen, whose relationship I can only describe as “toxic (affectionate)”.

I have a feeling that the next volume will be a bit more normal, though the addition of a runaway king (different king) and his magic-obsessed fiancee will help keep it from just being days of nothing but blushing. Fans of villainess books should definitely check this out.

I Abandoned My Engagement Because My Sister is a Tragic Heroine, but Somehow I Became Entangled with a Righteous Prince, Vol. 3

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By Fuyutsuki Koki and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Higeki no Heroine Buru Imōto no Sei de Konyaku Hakishita no Desu ga, Naze ka Seigikan no Tsuyoi Ōtaishi ni Karamareru you ni Narimashita” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Sarah Moon. Adapted by Veles Svitlychny.

This is the final volume in the series, and I get the sense that the author knew this and was rushing to fit everything in. They didn’t quite make it – there’s a brief bit at the start where they’re inviting guests for the wedding and discuss whether her parents should get an invitation, but nothing comes of it and they’re never mentioned again. Jill fares slightly better, and while I was a bit dubious about her conversion in Book 2, I remind myself that a lot of people in toxic environments become very different when removed from that environment. You could say the same thing about Lingsha, for that matter, only this volumes brings the toxins to the foreground. Yes, after grumping about her being a “Shampoo” sort of Chinese stereotype in Books 1 and 2, we now get even more of them. Fortunately, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Leia (alas, not a single Star Wars joke in the book) and Eric are ready to announce their engagement. The King and the ministers seem to take it well. But the nobility is another story, especially as they’ve just had a lot of power stripped from them. Margrave Linboldt is very unhappy that the sister of a traitor and attempted murderer is going to be the future Queen, even if she is a Saint. And then there’s the envoy from the land of Ren, who is incredibly strong, incredibly smug, and seems to want to annoy everyone as much as possible – his minder most of all. He’s there to take his little sister Lingsha back to Ren with him (which she doesn’t want), or, as a compromise, to have Lingsha marry Eric and Leia return with him to the Empire, which has no saints. Is his incredibly aggravating plan all it seems to be?

Obviously it’s not, but there’s enough ambiguity that we’re left wondering what exactly is happening. I do like how Jill, who I described in my review of the first book as the most annoying character I’d seen in a “villainess” book, keeps being relevant to the plot. Just because she’s been convicted and sent to a convent doesn’t mean that her role is over – this world does not have convenient magic-sealing powers, and as it turns out someone whose powers are “untraceable poison” is very valuable to those who have people who need poisoning. That said, the danger here can’t be TOO dangerous. We know that we’re going to end with a wedding and a happily ever after, so we can’t have Jill be kidnapped, or Lingsha be kidnapped. Heck, the moment Lingsha’s brother was killed, my first reaction was sarcasm. And that’s fine, I really don’t need THAT much depth or tragedy in what is essentially a story about two people who are almost exactly alike realizing they love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together.

As far as I can tell, this is a rare villainess series which does not have an anime in the pipeline. Probably for the best. This was fun, but I am happy it ended here.

Accel World: Fourth Acceleration

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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.

It’s been about 21 months since the last volume of Accel World, but I swear it feels longer. This series is starting to feel like a singularity to me, where the closer we get to the finale (and Kawahara has said that we’re in the final arc), the slower things get, and the denser the fight scenes and exposition becomes, till eventually we’re crushed to death waiting for Haruyuki to give “I like you but as a friend” conversations to about nine different girls and finally go visit that goddamn farm. So, as you can imagine, when we got about 4/5 of the way through the book and I saw “to be continued”, followed by an extended side story featuring a character who will only be relevant next volume, I screamed a bit. Apparently she’s the star of the Accel World movie, but, well, I didn’t see that. Indeed, this appears to function as a prologue to that movie, showing her tragic past leading up to her tragic present. It’s not bad, but not what I want to read.

When we last left Brain Burst, a large number of minor characters were undergoing total point loss and losing all their memories of the game. Fortunately… or perhaps not… they’re saved by those over the top linkers who showed up at the cliffhanger of the last book. Then THEY start killing folks… well, virtually killing them. Only Silver Crow can manage to stand up to one of them for more than five minutes, and it’s clear that the other guy is holding back. It eventually becomes clear that they’re from a new “game”, Dread Drive 2047, which is a MOBA (I assume gamers know what that means), and that they’ve been told to attack Brain Burst. Because, as becomes clear when Haruyuki is finally able to talk to everyone, both groups have been told only one “world” can survive, the other will have EVERYONE lose all their memories.

There’s a lot of discussion, as you can imagine, about whether those who have suffered “total point loss” can still be saved, after we’ve seen at least three people who had that happen to them but are still in Brain Burst. Sadly, it looks very, very unlikely. It also reminds us that a lot of these players are best friends and also dating – one girl who has her best friend/possible boyfriend suffer total point loss refuses to log out right away, as she was video calling with him and knows it would crush her. It’s a really tragic part of this series that doesn’t quite reach the ACTUAL deaths in Sword Art Online, but packs a good punch. The other interesting thing in this volume is the idea of exactly what these games are, in the end. Metatron wonders why they were created, why they have to sacrifice one game so that the other can survive… it’s a bunch of questions we’ve had since the start of the series, and we may FINALLY get to answer them soon.

Lastly, pardon me for being an old crank, but I really hate the art for this series. There’s very little fanservice in the actual text anymore, so the artist makes up for it by going overboard with the proportions and shower scenes. That said, this should scratch our Accel World itch till February 2027 or so.

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian, Vol. 7

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By Sunsunsun and Momoco. Released in Japan as “Tokidoki Bosotto Russia-go de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Matthew Rutsohn.

I think I’ve mentioned before about how, when I saw that this series was licensed, I called it “The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Russian”. As it turns out, after seven volumes, the two series are not all that comparable except in the shallowest way. Alisa and Masachika could only wish their life was as easy as the couple in that series. Instead, we have a series where the tragic backstory is just not going away, and cannot be easily resolved with a trip back to the old hometown. Masachika still despises himself, Alya doesn’t know what love is and is hoping to be handed the answer in an easy to understand form, Maria suddenly realizes that the boy she fell in love with all those years ago is a young man with a libido, and for all that Yuki wants to show off she’s healthier now, if she overdoes it, not only does she feel worse, but everyone around her overreacts. There is so much drama.

If you know how anime and manga romantic comedies work, you knew this was coming. We’ve had the cultural festival, and so now it’s time for the sports festival. Which, of course, means another dramatic competition between the two student council rivals. Alya and Yuki have to participate in a cavalry battle, which might actually favor Alya provided Yuki doesn’t stack the deck and also be far more clever than her brother. But what are the chances of that happening? There’s also the problem of Masachika getting more popular after the events of the last book – in particular, his piano talent is now public, which just fills him with more despair as he feels that being good at something requires caring and working hard to achieve it. And Alya is starting to realize that there is something very, very wrong with Masachika’s family, but he won’t tell her what it is yet. However, most of this is the last quarter of the book.

If you’re familiar with this series, you know what the first 3/4 of this book is. Otaku references, in jokes, and fanservice. To be fair, they’re all handled pretty well here. I enjoyed the character of Elena, who is the classic “pervert girl who overdoes it because she’s secretly not”, and who gets along very well with Masachika because, unlike Masha or Alya, he can be himself around her. And yes, Yuki hops naked into the tub with her brother, which made me sigh. Honestly, I’d be more annoyed if I thought she was part of the romantic rivals, but I know she’s not, so it’s just a mild irritant. The best parts of the book involve Alya and Masha, who are both falling harder and harder for Masachika, and the collision when that comes out is going to be epic, and hopefully not as explosive as the collision involving Masachika and Yuki’s family.

So good stuff, even if it does feel a bit as if the author is pushing the inevitable resolution of this plot further and further away as the series gets more and more popular. Ah well. At least there are boob jokes. SO MANY boob jokes.

Long Story Short, I’m Living in the Mountains, Vol. 1

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By Asagi and Shino. Released in Japan as “Zenryaku, Yama Kurashi wo Hajimemashita” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by N. Marquetti.

As I’ve said before, I tend not to read the blurbs for books before I start them. As a result, I started this book assuming that it took place in some fantasy world a la every other isekai, with giant chickens being one of the commonplace things you see around there. Then our protagonist starts talking about getting TV and internet, and I reasoned, oh, hey, I was wrong, it’s just a normal Japan novel, only a bit weird. As the author states in the afterword, this turns out to not be correct either. This seems to be a strange mostly-Japan world, but with unseen gods, who seem to be selling mythological animals to anyone who happens to buy a mountain and be dealing with severe psychological issues. Does it work? Yes, mostly, though I think how much you enjoy this will depend on how much you like straight up “slow life”. This is not a slow life fake out, at least not yet. We’re here for the man and his birds.

Sano Shokei has just been dumped by his fiancee. It was a big enough thing, we find out later, that he got a sizeable payoff from her family as an apology. As a result of wanting to get the hell away from anyone who knows who he is and might pity him, he proceeds to buy two mountains and move to one of them. He also buys three checks that he gets at a spring festival, who weirdly have lizard tails. Also weirdly, they grow very big very fast, and they seem to like eating snakes. And bugs. And boars. Are they really chickens? What’s more, there are other mountains on either side of his, both of which are owned by someone fleeing a bad relationship and both of whom have animals that seemed to be normal but may actually be mythological monsters. But does it really matter in the end? They’re good birds.

The author straight up says in the afterword this is not going to have romance in it, which is a very good thing, I think, especially after meeting Sano and the other owners of the various mountains. At one point Sano wonders if he’s suffering from depression, and after seeing him through this entire book, putting down his appearance and personality and breaking down in tears when he gets drunk and thinks about his ex, I’d have to say yes. Aikawa, meanwhile, had a stalker after him for so long he has a violent fear of women (which makes it ironic that he has a lamia as one of his pets). And Katsuragi is prone to panic attacks and had an abusive boyfriend, though her behavior when she sees the very attractive Aikawa… as well as her behavior when she sees Aikawa’s friendship with Sano… suggests she may be the comic relief of this series. Well, when it isn’t the birds.

This is 8 volumes and counting in Japan, and a glance at future covers suggest it’s not really going to change from what it is. If you want to read a man tending his mountain with his giant chickens, this is right up your alley. If you’re not fond of the giant chicken genre, this won’t change your mind.

The Legendary Witch Is Reborn As an Oppressed Princess, Vol. 4

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By Touko Amekawa and Kuroyuki. Released in Japan as “Shiitagerareta Tsuihou Oujo wa, Tenseishita Densetsu no Majo deshita: Mukae ni Koraretemo Komarumasu. Juuboku to no Ohirune wo Jamashinaide Kudasai” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Jeremy Browning.

This series has pretty much shown itself to be “mystery of the day”, with the main plot usually only cropping up near the end. We see Claudia and Noah go to a country that is having a problem, they investigate the problem, they solve the problem more or less, and they return to home base. That’s also what happens here, with some nice little twists to keep the reader guessing. And, unlike a lot of other light novels where the twists are obvious and meant to be so, these are actually hard to guess till almost the reveal. That said, we can’t quite get away from the main plot, and the fact that it’s been seven years since the start of the series, and Claudia is seven years older, and yet she still can’t use magic for extended periods without having to nap for days. Stronger steps are needed.

This book is essentially “Claudia and Noah do Arabian Nights”, though thankfully the problematic aspects that could arise from that are kept to a minimum. After being knighted by Claudia on his 16th birthday, there is an attack on the castle’s barrier by a raging griffin, who is taken down when it tries to attack Claudia… and promptly turns to solid gold. This prompts the two of them to head to the kingdom of Sharavia, a desert oasis which also has a legendary Golden Falcon that is apparently the savior of their kingdom… and might also turn things to gold. Unfortunately, on arriving there, they find the king has gone undercover to look for the treasure, which has been stolen… and he needs Noah to take his place as King. As for Claudia, she’s headed to the harem…

I did say “kept to a minimum”, not eliminated. There is a harem here, though, because this is still a romantic story for women to a degree, the king only has one true love that he visits – whether that’s the current king or Noah, of course. There’s also a grand vizier type, though the series cleverly tries to dance around how trustworthy he’s actually meant to be. He’s very good at chipping away at Noah’s stoic “I am merely my lady’s servant, there is nothing between us” exterior, pointing out (as so many light novel readers are quick to point out to supposedly asexual protagonists who say they’re not in love LOOKING AT YOU ROZEMYNE) that everything he describes about how he feels about Claudia is love. As for her, she’s far more explicit in saying she loves him, but that’s possibly as she’s still under the impression that eventually she will die and she wants him to live on without her. And honestly, given the cliffhanger ending of this book, that day may come sooner rather than later.

Now that we’re caught up on 7th Time Loop, the author’s other series, I’m pleased we still have a bit to go with this one. That is assuming the author does not kill of Claudia and just have 200 blank pages next time. Unlikely.

Abducted Princess Running Rampant: Wielding Forbidden Magic in the Demon King’s Castle

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By Hiroshi Nagamatsu and Tsubame Nozomi. Released in Japan as “Maou ni Sarawareta Kiyoshi Oujo desu ga, Maoujou Gurashi ga Hima datta no de Kinki Mahou de Abaremasu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Shaun Cook.

As I was about two-thirds of the way through this book, I wondered what it was about it that felt weird to me. I kind of hated the pacing, and thought that the author was getting distracted by having its heroine wander around rather than trying to advance the plot. Then, as I came to the very end, I realized the truth: this is only one volume. It’s pretty rare that we get a single volume series from JN-C, and of course it’s possible that they know something we don’t and it has a secret anime coming soon or a second volume in the works soon. But I kind of doubt it. There’s nothing in here that makes me want to read the further adventures of. As a one-volume series, this was OK. That abducted princess runs rampant, and then we all go out for tea.

Princess Mil Arphilia has valuable appraisal magic, and so she’s almost never let out of the castle by her overprotective father except under ludicrously heavy guard. Her dream is to be an adventurer, just like all the one’s she appraised over the years. But alas, her level’s not that great, as there’s a limit to what you can do fighting humans. Then one night, she’s abducted by the demon lord, who wants her… to do the exact same thing, only for his demon soldiers. At first, she’s delighted to see all these new species of demons she’d only read about previously, but gradually she starts to realize that she’s doing the exact same thing she did before, only with no other princess duties, AND she’s still trapped in a castle. Fortunately, surrounded by monsters, she can now level up seriously.

The best part of the book, in my opinion, is the second quarter, where Mil wanders around the castle and makes herself ludicrously strong and powerful because no one’s been told to watch over her closely. She also runs on “will this be really cool or not?”, so has no problems learning the darkest magic that can easily murder whole cities and think nothing more than “this will be handy when trying to get rid of today’s garbage”. After she inevitably escapes, thanks in part to a highly amusing demon whose mindset is “I am overly literal but only when it amuses me”, the rest of the book is less compelling, as she gradually visits various places and picks up new party members, including the shy sheltered mage, the gruff but lovable beast woman, and the demon lord’s daughter, who immediately gives off “I am a tsundere who is going to fall in love with the princess” vibes, so fast in fact that the other two comment on it.

Alas, one volume, so no yuri here. I don’t regret reading this, but if it does ever get more to it, I feel no real drive to get more of it.

Love Between Fairy & Devil: Cang Lan Jue, Vol. 1

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By Jiu Lu Fei Xiang. Released in China on the JJWXC website. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Yu. Adapted by Ivy Fox.

This one really took me by surprise. Partly as it’s a Chinese fantasy novel that isn’t danmei, a rarity for Seven Seas. But I had sort of expected the genre to be fantasy romance. Which it is, don’t get me wrong. That said, I would call the actual genre of this book “buddy film”. The author is a screenwriter, and it shows, as this really feels like it’s written to be adapted to the screen. (Indeed it was, and I suspect those who watched the Live-Action Drama may be surprised when they start the book.) The titular Fairy and Devil just can’t seem to shake each other throughout this entire volume, are constantly sniping at each other, and gradually develop a bond of trust. The fantasy is also pretty danm cool. As for the romance, well, the premise seems to invite the use of what some term the “manic pixie dream girl”, but I think this girl is a bit too much of a mess. Manic Pixie Nightmare Girl? Honestly, she’s Usagi Tsukino.

After a brief prologue, we open *after* the main plot development has already happened. (The live-action drama, which I watched part of after reading this, gives a lot more background to the main heroine.) Xiao Lanhua is currently sitting in a cell, in the body of the demon king, Dongfang Qingcang. Meanwhile, the demon king is in *her* body, and planning to escape. This, needless to say, upsets her just a bit, to the point where she slaps the demon king with the full force of her currently occupied body… killing her original body. After escape, the two of them are now BOTH in his body, Steve Martin/Lily Tomlin style, and have to each learn to operate one side. Needless to say, this leads to shenanigans which occupy the first half of the book. The plot arrives in the second half.

Not that there’s much of that. The plot appears to be Dongfang Qingcang slowly getting slightly less evil under the influence of Xiao Lanhua, and Xiao Lanhua learning more about how the world world outside of the very sheltered life that she has led. There are cool scenes with lots of fantasy explosions, and Xiao Lanhua does get some “wait, do I care about him or not” romantic tension. But honestly, the best reason to read this is that Xiao Lanhua is hilarious. She’s constantly snarking at Dongfang Qingcang, but she’s pretty pathetic when she tries to do anything without his help. She starts by murdering her own body by accident, then ends up in his own body, then a slowly rotting corpse, and by the time we’re near the climax of the book she’s reduced to an angrily screaming torso. It’s absolutely amazing, I cackled.

I’m not sure how many volumes this will end up – two or three sounds about right – but I’ll definitely read the next one, which I hope, even as things get more serious and we inevitably find out Xiao Lanhua’s secret origin, that we have time for more truly goofy slapstick.

My First Love’s Kiss, Vol. 3

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By Hitoma Iruma and Fly. Released in Japan as “Watashi no Hatsukoi Aite ga Kiss Shiteta” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kiki Piatkowska.

(This discusses the final “twist” in this third and final volume of the series, but not till near the end.)

OK, I’ve calmed down a little bit from a couple hours ago, when I finished this book and was ready to not only tear into it, but also Adachi and Shimamura, and hell, toss Bloom Into You there as well, which the author wrote a spinoff to. But I am now thinking of that meme with the “dead dove do not eat” bag, and I will admit, after my experience with the first volume, and the fact that the second volume managed to somehow up the ante, I really should not have been that surprised at … MOST of what I read here. Most of what I read here is just an author who has decided to write a thought experiment rather than about characters, and also possibly saying “see? I could have turned Adachi and Shimamura into THESE two! Aren’t you glad I didn’t?”. (Oh yes, and there’s another stupid cameo from another of the author’s series I don’t know.) So we’re left with one thing so stupid I’m still angry.

We pick up where we left off, and honestly the rest of the book plays out so predictably – mostly – that I feel reluctant to even sum it up. After hearing that Shiho is her sister, Umi seems to fall EVEN HARDER for her, and decides to move out of the bedroom she shares with Takasora and into an apartment with Shiho. This is, mind you, after Shiho runs off while leaving her bag at Takasora’s house, which requires going to her rich estate to confront her. Takasora tries to stop this happening by grumping about it very hard, but by now Umi is not only aware that Takasora is in love with her but has started to actively reject that. Things are not helped by Umi confessing to Takasora: she plans to kill herself after graduation.

As I said above, I could have guessed most of this by the end of the second book. It is not exactly a surprise that Umi does not really care about any incestuous aspect of her relationship with Shiho. In fact, the fact that Shiho is also a family member – and one who actually explicitly loves her – sends Umi over the moon, really. I’m also not very surprised that the entire Umi suicide plot is left completely up in the air at the end, because, just as Adachi and Shimamura is really Shimamura with a bit of Adachi, these books have been about Takasora, not about Umi, so her own fate is irrelevant once Takasora gives up on her. I can even, very, very grumpily, accept the ending twist where, years later, Takasora has become another Shiho, preying on young students and breaking up their friendships with other girls. It’s thematically gross and terrible, but I can see how the author went “Oh, wow, what a great twist!” while cackling to themselves. No, the absolute DUMBEST thing in this book is Takasora slipping and hitting her head on a rock, and that head injury being signposted as to what made her “turn evil”. There was no need for that! You already signposted your shitty twist! There was no need to make it due to brain damage after talking to Yashiro and wiping out in the river! WHYYYYYYY?

There’s another Adachi and Shimamura due out later this year, and I’m wavering on whether I want to read it, especially since the author wrote the 99.9 volume giving the series a very definitive ending. But whatever it turns out to be, I hope to god they don’t feel a need to shoehorn in anything from this terrible series. There are much better toxic yuri couples out there.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu, Vol. 2

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By Fujino Omori and NIRITSU. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?: Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu” by Softbank Creative. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

So technically this is the second volume, the first having come out seven years ago. It was the one with Lyu and Syr in the casino, if you forgot. And it’s also the bit that the author cut out of the 18th volume, because that would have made it 700 pages. But in reality, this feels like Astrea Record, Vol. 4. We even get extra scenes with Adi, to remind us that she’s still tragically dead but oh so very, very shiny And of course the rest of the Astra Familia that Lyu was with five years ago? Also still dead. Fortunately, Astrea is not dead, and it turns that she has new Familia in a remote smithing town. And so it’s time for Lyu to run very fast, so that she can break down, get forgiven, level up and get stronger, and then run back to help Bel. Of course, it turns out to not be as simple as that.

Lyu groveling for forgiveness, which comes relatively easily, takes about the first 10 pages of this book. the rest is harder. When Astrea levels her up, she levels to 5, and anyone who read Book 18 of the main series knows that there’s something fishy going on here. Then Lyu tries to train with her new level, and discovers there’s a big difference and she needs to practice. Fortunately, she has three adorable Level 1 juniors to beat up… erm, play tag with, as well as a forest spirit who is really looking for an excuse to go all out… possibly a mistake given this is Lyu. Unfortunately for Lyu, the current captain of Astrea Familia, a Level 2 smith named Cecille, hates her guts. Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that Astrea has entrusted her with something very important in regards to Lyu.

This is a book about Lyu, so it’s not a surprise that the plot is as straightforward as hell. Lyu is not quite completely healed, and also needs to go from Level 4 to Level 6 in about 5 days, something which no one has EVER done before, so strategy is called for. Fortunately, most of the strategy is “keep hitting things till you get it right”. As for Cecille, she’s not hard to figure out either, mostly as she’s very similar to Lyu, something Lyu knows as she very awkwardly tries to take on a mentor role. It turns out that trying to create the perfect weapon for someone you’ve only heard stories about that drive you crazy with envy can be very hard! It’s only when Lyu opens up and shhares her own tragedy that Cecille manager to find her own inspiration. That said, “straightforward” does not mean bad. This series has never really been known for narrative curveballs anyway.

Good stuff, and if you want to know what happens next, go read 18 again. I think next for us is the Sword Oratoria SS volume.

The Villainess Is Dead! Long Live the Empress! Redoing the Story After a Poisonous End, Vol. 1

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By Iota Aiue and Tsukasa Kuga. Released in Japan as “Shokeisareta Akujo wa, Taikoku de Kouhi no Za wo Tsukamu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Mac B. Gill.

I would not be reviewing 80 billion of these villainess books if I was not a big fan of the genre. As such, I can usually forgive it if it’s a bit on the nose. There are a lot fewer surprises in this first book than is perhaps required, although you might call the end of the book a surprise, as I sense that making this a series rather than a standalone book was a last-minute decision borne out by the rushed non-ending. It does, however, have a terrific romantic couple as our leads. The villainess is honorable, noble, tricky, stubborn, etc. in equal measure. The prince (technically that is a spoiler, but come on, it’s revealed almost immediately and is not a surprise even then) is handsome, self-assured without being smug, and they realistically realize the truth about each other very fast. Also, there’s a handsome woman knight, who is such a great character I will ignore our heroine buying her as a slave (it’s fixed almost immediately).

We open with Westalia, our heroine, being executed after being framed for an attempted murder by her supposed best friend. (I did say this was a typical villainess book.) But it’s OK. She’s taken an antidote, and rises from the dead when her grave is being robbed. Fleeing across borders, she ends up in the Archadies Empire, where the Empress is chosen by a country-wide search. Though, given the literacy rate is pretty low, the finalists do tend to be rich nobles. Westalia came here on purpose. After spending her life trying to learn to be a good queen only to be betrayed, she’ll be damned if she’s going to thrown away trying to help people and do good. So she’s going to become Empress by hook or by crook. Fortunately, the only real competition she has seems very familiar, as if every villainess needs an idiot heroine…

I talked about being a fan of villainess stories, which means I’ve met my share of bratty younger sisters, evil heroines, etc. We get two varieties for the price of one here. Both are presented as “mostly sort of evil”, which is to say they’re evil until the point where the author allows them a bit of depth. Lily has always hated Westalia, and was too busy pretending to be her best friend to realize that her dilemma of being married off to a creepy middle-aged man might have been something solvable with Westalia’s help. (She’s merely disgraced, so we may see her again.) Meanwhile, Elizabeth is using her money and connections to buy the contest, so is very upset when that still isn’t enough. She seems to at least have a bit of self-awareness. She’s definitely coming back, because they rewrote the cliffhanger to assure it.

If you are a villainess fan, this is really good. If you can take or leave it, you probably won’t like it. I’ll definitely read more, though I suspect it might have been better as a one-shot.

Lady Bumpkin and Her Lord Villain, Vol. 3

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By Ageha Sakura and Kurodeko. Released in Japan as “Imokusa Reijou desu ga Akuyaku Reisoku wo Tasuketara Kiniiraremashita” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Vasileios Mousikidis.

In the first volume, we saw how Agnes was physically, mentally and emotionally abused by her family, and it was pretty terrible (the abuse, that is, not the book). In the second volume, we hear how actually a number of young noble ladies have this problem, and many of them are cracking under the strain and falling for handsome guys with vague mind control powers. And now, in the third volume, we’re told that it’s pretty rare to find a teenage noble girl in Desnim who is NOT abused by their family in some way. Heck, even when we get the classic setup in this volume – abused, Cinderella-esque older sister, arrogant and spoiled younger sister – it rapidly becomes clear that the younger sister is not actually LOVED by her family or anything, and that if they lose their scapegoat they’re perfectly happy to offer up scapegoat number two. Oh, yes, and other noble girls are raped by priests until they’re driven mad. Meanwhile, Agnes and her husband flirt shamelessly and plan an official wedding ceremony.

It’s been a year since Agnes arrived in Sutrena, and she’s is happily married to Lord Nazel (who is very happy to perform his husbandly duties all the time now that Agnes is mostly over her shyness). Nazel wants to have the big wedding ceremony they never had when they were married, and cajoles Agnes into it. This will require a priest sent from the capital, who is rather downtrodden and overworked, so quite happy to end up in a domain where people appreciate him. They also need a silver ring from a different domain, and meet the pleasant lord, his wife, and their two children. One of whom looks like she’s about to fall over dead from overwork at any moment, and the other of whom looks like she was born to hold her hand in front of her mouth and Ohohohohohoho. So yeah, family abuse. Sadly, things then get worse. For both daughters.

We’ve seen “good older sister, spoiled brat younger sister” endless times now in light novels, to the point where I was ready to roll my eyes. It’s a credit to the writing, though, that I rapidly realized that Furla was not going to end up with a fate worse than death, nor was she going to be arrested with her parents (whose crime is treating their child like crap, really). No, this is about getting an incredibly selfish young woman who, deep DEEP down, realizes that she’s nothing special to understand that all her safety and security is now gone and that she can’t simply simper at someone and get her own way. Technically things don’t end well for her – she’s another of Agnes’ endless parade of former nobles who are now maids, and the guy she’s fallen for is in love with this series’ equivalent of Superwoman. But frankly, compared with where she could have ended up… Furla does OK. She’s even learning laundry.

I will once again be annoyed at the author for yet another “I don’t swing that way” joke, which is tedious. Other than that, the fact that this series pinballs between dark abusive tragedy happening right off screen and Agnes and Nazel being flirty and happy and adorable is both the series’ greatest strength and its greatest weakness. Also, still don’t know why there’s a chibi-Agnes on each cover.

Fluffy-Eared Realm Restoration: Taking It Slow with My Cool Big Brother, Vol. 1

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By Iota Aiue and Tsukasa Kuga. Released in Japan as “Tensei Mofumofu Reijou no Mattari Ryouchi Kaikakuki: Cool na Onii-sama to Amaama Slow Life wo Tanoshindeimasu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Raenoire.

This is one of those series that I was on the fence about till I saw that I had read the author before. They’ve done a very series over here, mostly for Cross Infinite World, and I’d enjoyed their previous series, Third Loop. Though honestly, I may have enjoyed this new one more if I had not read Third Loop, as it’s clearly trying to hit the same sort of themes and cuteness as that one. The author seems to dabble in popular genres, and clearly this one is dabbling in both the “I go back in time to fix things” stories as well as “fluffy things are wonderful and cute girls are cute” stories, which has gotten popular lately. This book does have a few interesting things that held by attention, but unfortunately it is also very by the book, with almost no actual surprises. It’s a “would you like that fastball right down the plate?” book.

We open with Lune Renard, the crown princess, about to get guillotined by a revolutionary mob, along with her adopted brother and father, who don’t seem to like her any more than the mob. She’s tried to help her family and their holdings, but has only made things worse, and now she’s being executed. She prays to the fox god who supposedly rules this domain… and he answers, sending her back in time to just before she was found in the temple as an orphan by her family. Can she make things right this time, and ensure she is NOT married off to a royal? Sure she can. After all, she now can not only speak to spirits, but she also has adorable fox ears and a tail. She never had the power of cute in her past life!

I did like a couple of things about this book. We’ve sometimes seen prisoners abused by the kingdom in previous books, but we’ve never really gotten a low-security prison for political criminals like we get here, complete with the “funny” eccentric doctor. (YMMV.) And I appreciated that it acknowledged the difference in status and how they’re treated with the commoner “hard labor” criminals. Also, while the crown prince showing up was as bratty and awful as you’d expect, he was actually more layered than I expected. He becomes a different type of awful once he realizes that Lune is valuable and can talk to spirits, but he still sees her as an object rather than a person, and thinks she should be grateful to be his concubine. (They’re both eight, by the way.) That said, when presented with evidence that he cannot really weasel his way out of, he manages to actually not be evil, even if this means, um, throwing allies under the bus. That said, most of this book is Lune being adorable, talking to her snarky god, and fixing things relatively easily as these sorts of books go.

And, as I noted, I’d read this once before, when it was called Third Loop. If you like fluff or defeating roundworm through the power of yoga, this is okay.

Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 99.9

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By Hitoma Iruma and raemz. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Molly Lee. Adapted by Emlyn Dornemann.

So, the rumor is that the author of this series started panicking and worrying that they would die before it was finished, and so they came up with several volumes that would feel like a final volume. That said, there is not a more final final volume than this one. and yes, I know that we still have Volume 12 and a second Short Story collection to go, but thematically, this ties absolutely everything into a nice neat bow. Unlike the SS volume, which featured 3-4 page microstories as well as one long one, this has 4 longer stories and a wraparound plot which were written for the Blu-Ray release of the anime. Generally speaking, Blu-Ray ‘extras’ tend to be a bit more involved than your typical throwaway bookstore giveaways, and it shows. This not only manages to have a lot of typical Adachi and Shimamura style shenanigans, it gets quite sad and tear-jerking at times. Be prepared to be with Adachi and Shimamura to the very end of their lives.

A brief content warning: this volume contains more Yashiro than any other volume to date, and with good reason. The wraparound story has A young woman in the very far future, on an post-apocalyptic world, being slowly led by Yashiro to her destined soulmate. Along with that, we see 1) Shimamura visiting Hino at her mansion; 2) Adachi inviting Shimamura to a hot spring, supposedly so they can finally have their first time together; 3) A Shimamura in her late eighties, with all of her family, all her friends, and her lover now dead, finding solace in playing an RPG her sister once played with, you guessed it, Yashiro; 4) The resolution of the future world, with Yashiro, her mission now done, heading out to find other Adachis and Shimamuras and reunite them; and 5) Shimamura dying, and going where she knows she needs to go.

As you may have gathered, this volume gets a lot darker than I was really guessing. The far future story is more heartwarming than anything else, and the Hino story was fairly pointless except for us to see her as an adult (sorry Nagafuji fans, she’s not in it). The hot spring story, and this is hardly a spoiler, does not end with sex. But it’s the story of Shimamura in her dotage that hit the hardest. The chapter with her looking back on everyone who left her behind is quite touching, especially as she’s haunted by her lover, who shows up to be a Greek chorus. Then there’s the last chapter, which is both a tearjerker and also a bit eerie, as Yashiro shows up to lead Shimamura to the afterlife… which has her grandparents, and her beloved dog, but that’s not where she needs to be. You know where she needs to be? Remember Adachi’s idea of heaven from the previous SS book? Yup. Shimamura is now in Adachi’s heaven, with no one else but them. Never let it be said this series is not defined by the lovable headcases that are its leads.

Possibly this worked well for me because I am overly sentimental, but I found it one of the best in this series. I’m not sure I want the 12th volume, but we’ll see if it can be more than “slice of life”, which this volume was.

Dinners with My Darling: How the Former Monster King Ate Her Way to Happiness, Vol. 2

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By Mugi Mameta and Nagisa Hanazome. Released in Japan as “Aisanai to Iwaremashite mo – Moto Maou no Hakushaku Reijou wa Kimajime Gunjin ni Ezuke wo Sarete Shiawase ni naru” by M Novels f. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by JC.

There are times throughout this second book (and indeed the first one as well) when you can kind of feel everything about to go off the rails. Abigail is a lot, and not only does the cast have trouble trying to control her, so does the author. Perhaps we did not need quite so many scenes of her yelling ‘coitus’, especially as the writing has not quite mastered the difference between “Abigail sounds like someone who has grown up isolated and also is more monster than human a lot of the time’ and ‘Abigail sounds and acts like a 6-year-old”. Where the book does succeed, though, is the divide between genres. The rest of the cast are in a tense political thriller, and also investigating a corrupt domain that abused our main character horribly. Oh, and killer monsters are everywhere. Abigail, however, is in a cooking manga.

The first half of this book is all smiles, as Gerald and Abigail travel to the sea for fish and souvenirs, try to decide if a whole sheep or a whole cow is a better gift for someone, and finally have their first time, which is offscreen but which Abigail seems to like a whole lot, given how much she uses it as a go-to “calm my husband down” thing later. In the second half, though, they’re both forced to go visit the royal family, and deal with the fourth prince, who is in charge of the old lands that Abigail grew up in. Unfortunately, the officials sent there to take care of things have all disappeared/been murdered, so he really needs Abigail (and Gerald) to head over there to help him figure out why. What they find there is that Abigail’s blase description of her abusive life proves to be more horrifying than what they thought.

As with so many other series that are basically “everything was terrible till the start of the first book, everything is wonderful from that point on”, the best parts tend to be the jagged edges that stick out on occasion. Everyone seems to be trying to kill Abigail, be it hired bandits (who she spots running alongside their carriage) or the citizens of her former land (who try to poison her), and things get to the point where an angry dragon decides to kill every human in the area because they’re just that terrible. The best part of the book, as it’s the most horrifying, is when Abigail decides the solution is to let the dragon kill her and be reborn as a human again and get married 15 years down the road. It has to be explained to her why everyone hates this. Then again, Gerald is no better, as he doesn’t seem to understand why Abigail is upset he ran off to fight and left her behind, to the point where she had to climb to the op of a high tree to fix everything.

This is not in the top tier of Cinderella style genre books, but it’s solid. I’ll read another.