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Reviews

The Dorky NPC Mercenary Knows His Place, Vol. 3

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By Toryuu and hamm. Released in Japan as “Kimo Ota Mob Yōhei wa, Mi no Hodo o Wakimaeru” by Overlap Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Josh DM.

We’re starting to get a bit of an overarching plot for this series, though for the most part it is still fairly episodic, showing us John taking a job, John doing the job, the complications that set in, and the aftermath. There’s far fewer girls crushing on John in this volume – the romance, emphasized in Book One, is almost completely removed now. That said, don’t worry, all the love interests have been replaced by people who are trying to shoot John instead. We are tripling down on people trying to kill him, and while some of it is just garden-variety bad guys, we’re getting the sense that there’s a conspiracy going on here, mostly in scenes with the worst of the nobles, a cartoonishly evil girl who looks like she stepped off the pages of a villainess book. Needless to say, she’s not a threat, but her eventual fate does show us that this series is not afraid to get dark if it has to.

John has been doing pretty well lately, but this book sees him having an awful run of bad luck. On the plus side, he does make enough money to finally pay off his parents’ debt, though he gently rejects their offer to get another job, as he feels that mercenary is the one that best suits him. He tries catching some pirates, only to run into a noble’s territory, which means he can’t go further. He acts as security for a noble party, only for a murder to happen there, and one of the accomplices decides to make their escape with John’s help. At the guild itself, an arrogant ex-noble who can’t get over the fact that she’s not allowed to simply murder anyone who she dislikes really hates John. And when he does pilot duty for an archaeologist, he’s left for dead and his ship is destroyed. Just… not a great book for him.

This book definitely is “guild fantasy in space”, but it’s not afraid to be other things “in space” as well. Sometimes this is for the sake of broad comedy, such as the murder “mystery”, which talks about an amateur detective showing up to solve everything, only to treat it the way amateur detectives are usually treated in real life. That said, that was the weakest section of the book, so I hope we don’t get “pastiche of the volume” going forward. The best segment was the last one, which did not have a strong villain (almost every villain in this book is dealt with ludicrously easily), but does manage to have John in actual peril briefly, though it is a bit deus ex machina to have him rescued by… well, spoiler. Sadly, even deadly peril doesn’t really cause John to move from his default “well, whatever” emotional state. Which might be due to his traumatic backstory, but doesn’t really help us in the present.

We’ve caught up with Japan – Vol. 4 comes out in two weeks there – and that’s probably for the best, as I need a break. I’ll get the next one, and I hope we get more of the evil plotters behind the scenes, but this is almost the dictionary definition of “okay”.

Imperial Reincarnation: I Came, I Saw, I Survived, Vol. 1

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By Masekinokatasa and Kaito Shinobu. Released in Japan as “Tenseishitara Koutei deshita: Umarenagara no Koutei wa Konosaki Ikinokoreru ka?” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Jason Li.

I pay more attention to publishers than most, as readers of my reviews know very well. I’ve talked before about how, if I see something is GC Novels, my rate tends to be 9 failures for every 1 success. If I were to name the opposite, it would probably be TO Books, which is not quite the reverse ratio, but I do find that books I would not normally have tried (Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival, for example) tend to be better than I’d expect. This was the main reason why I took a flyer on this title, which is in a genre I have mostly forsaken at this point. And, sure enough, I found it quite interesting. Well, let me clarify that. I found the actual plot and characters interesting. There is, however, a MASSIVE PILE of backstory in this book, which our emperor is not only expected to learn, but expects US to learn. It feels like homework.

Our dead Japanese man, who can’t recall much about his past life than that it was rather boring and unfulfilling, gets his memories back RIGHT from birth, and finds that he is now Carmine, the new Emperor of the Bundarte Empire. Unfortunately, he is an actual baby, and has not gained his isekai memories (such as they are) when he’s 7 or 8. Or perhaps that is fortunate, as our newborn emperor knows very well what fates historically await child emperors, and decides that the best thing he can try to do is pretend to be a good little puppet, and perhaps a bit stupid, while trying to secretly find out what’s really going on. Unfortunately, what he finds out is that his Empire is on the verge of collapse, and that everyone has taken one of two sides in the political maneuvering, neither of which are his side. On the bright side, he discovers magic exists, and that he’s good at it.

As mentioned above, the thing I least liked about this book was the history lessons, which will likely be important later but which I promise you I have already forgotten. The best part was probably the alternate narrative that I was slowly sussing out as the book went on. Carmine narrates most of the book, and shows us that he’s trying to put on an “I am an incompetent child” persona to avoid getting assassinated, and that, for the most part, folks buy it. Whenever we focus away from Carmine on other characters, we see that he’s actually very bad at the facade to anyone with half a brain. His eyes simply look too clever. I also very much liked his betrothed, Princess Rosaria, who pretty much immediately spots that he’s faking but also falls for him relatively quickly because of this dissonance. She then turns around and shows that she is even smarter than him, which impresses him in turn. This is still a relationship too young to go anywhere (and some concubines are promised as well – I think we meet both of them here, if I’m right), but it’s cute nevertheless.

The first book is about the first eight years of his life. It’s still ongoing in Japan, and later books promise we’ll see him reach adulthood. I’ll keep reading to discover how. Good stuff if you like reincarnation and college textbooks about Prussia.

The Tanaka Family Reincarnates, Vol. 2

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By Choko and kaworu. Released in Japan as “Tanaka-ke, Tensei Suru” by Dragon Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sasha Schiller.

I was a bit reminded of the Dirty Pair while reading this, mostly as Emma tends to think that it’s not her fault a lot of the time she gets into these situations. It kind of is, though? When you create misunderstandings by being an airhead, even if they are good misunderstandings, you have to accept the consequences of your ditzy actions. Here we see Emma take control of the low-level villainess trying to ruin her debut and end up befriending her (and not in a Nanoha way either), we see Emma destroy a noble trying to traumatize her through simply seeing the trauma as a sweet treat, accidentally solve a crime by watching a guy paint, and finally, fail to realize that all these fantasy worlds always have a Japan equivalent, and accidentally just start speaking perfect Japanese to the agog crowd. Sorry, Emma, just as with your brothers, who are also doofuses of their own making, it pretty much IS your fault.

The Tanaka family have arrived in the royal capital, though MUCH later than planned, mostly as Emma can’t stop looking for rare bugs. They barely have time to move into their gigantic mansion they all feel uncomfortable in before Emma and her brothers have to attend a royal ball, where… she’ promptly has wine spilled on her by a petty noble girl… who, admittedly, has been ordered to do it by higher-up petty noble girls. Fortunately, Emma salvages the situation and ends up making a friend of her tormentor, as well as twin sisters from a wealthy port city, a handsome girl who likes to wear the boy’s uniforms, and of course the various boys in love with her, which now includes the handsome girl’s brother. Are there any bad nobles in this series? No fear, we’ve got a nasty one.

There continue to be a few things that I’m not fond of. William as an 11-year-old lolicon is less funny than it sounds, and Emma being a 13-year-old who loves older men is not much better. Mostly it just assures us that this series is not going to be about romance, despite all the men in love with Emma, it’s going to be about the Tanakas upending society. Which has already started, but seems to be getting a few pushes in this book. Emma’s complete lack of trauma after her near-death experience is read my all and sundry as repressed trauma, which works out well for her. Finding that red paint/dye sounds like it will lead to more innovations for their business. And I suspect Emma’s “wait, women just stop education after they get married?” question will be relevant later. Nothing, though, will be as relevant as that cliffhanger, because “I know a foreign language” is going to be hard to explain away.

All this and twins who speak the same thing twice, which I found cute rather than annoying. This remains completely loopy fun.

Observation Records of My Fiancée: The Misadventures of a Self-Proclaimed Villainess, Vol. 2

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By Shiki and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Jishō Akuyaku Reijō na Konyakusha no Kansatsu Kiroku” by Regina Books. Released in North America by Hanashi Media. Translated by Ethan Holms.

I realize that, given that most of the Bakarina fans I follow are mostly interested in the lesbian side of the polycule, this may not sound like that much of a recommendation, but it is: if you read My Next Life As a Villainess and wondered what the series would have been like if it were ENTIRELY narrated by Jeord, then this is the series for you. Bertia is the villainess, and her actions are sort of what drives the first book, but by the second book she’s become a supporting character in her own series. Cecil, on the other hand, remains fascinating, continuing to try to grope his way towards figuring out why it bothers him so much that Bertia keeps shoving him towards the heroine and insisting on her own doom, and also what in the world this “otome game” is in the first place. His growth, and emotional opening up, is the main selling point of these novels.

Cecil is in his final year of school, and Bertia in her first year. Unfortunately, Heronia is there as well, and is still being the worst heroine ever, trying her hardest to prove that Bertia is evil despite Bertia… well, ALSO trying to prove that she is evil, except she remains sweet as pie, so that’s not working. Bertia’s biggest danger is gaining weight, as everyone likes her so much they keep giving her sweets. Meanwhile, Cecil is still trying to figure out what his feelings for Bertia are, even as he really, REALLY knows what his feelings for Heronia are: he wants nothing to do with her. Things come to a head at the graduation party for Cecil, where Heronia presents her “proof” of Bertia’s evils, and when this fails, decides to simply go for death from above.

The second half of the book really digs into the otome game aspect of this world, and I appreciated that, while Cecil was initially baffled as to why Bertia would be doing any of this, when it’s all laid out for him he totally understands. In a world in which Bertia was normal and not, y’know, the girl who wants to be knocked down and go “gah!”, Cecil would never find anything that would fill the dull void in his life. The routes are laid out so that, when the heroine tries for anyone OTHER than Cecil, it’s a happy ending of sorts, but there’s war and death. When the heroine ends up with Cecil, there’s peace. THIS, more than anything else, is why Bertia has been doing all this: she wants a safe and happy world. And this Cecil, who readily admits the only thing keeping him from being a possible nightmare is her, agrees with her.

The series ends with this volume, though there is a three volume sequel that we may see someday showing Bertia as a wife and mother. That said, Bertia is not the reason to read this. I really liked Cecil as a tin man trying to locate his heart, and am happy I read this.

Lady Bumpkin and Her Lord Villain, Vol. 2

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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.

I try not to take these books too seriously. Most of the authors don’t want me to get too deeply into the politics, and I try to say “it’s just a book, I should really just relax”. At the same time, well, I have to say more in these reviews than “looks good apart from the homophobia at the end, I’ll read more”. And so… man, these villainess books really want to have their noble cake and eat it too, don’t they? Lady Bumpkin’s first volume showed that she was abused by her family, not uncommon in series like these. Now, in the second book, we discover that apparently young women being whipped by their families to ensure they grow up properly is a THING that happens in this country. The nobility in this book are 80% terrible. But the 20% who aren’t are going to save the day. As for the commoners? Well, there’s Robin, the villain. And, erm, Agnes’ maid. Nobles may be evil, but god save the king, I guess.

While Agnes and her husband are making the best of things in their remote territory, all is not well back at the capital. Mia is jealous of everyone who comes near her lover Robin, and that’s because Robin has been seducing ladies left, right and center, and then the ladies get disowned when it’s discovered. One of these ladies is Liliane, the fiancee of Torre, a knight who ends up becoming Agnes’ bodyguard. It seems the princess and her lover don’t actually like each other that much. Back in Sutrena, Agnes is discovering that her magic may be far more powerful than had previously been expected, and Nazel is discovering that there’s a lot of corruption out here as well, which is perhaps helping the increased monster attacks along. All this culminates in Nazel having a young lady try to kill him… the aforementioned Liliane.

So yes, as with many series of this sort, being of noble blood is inherently a good thing, and nobles are of course the best to rule. (Sarcasm implied.) But when you turn selfish, arrogant, or downright evil, you become the BAD sort of noble. And I have to admit that the contrast between the two sat awkwardly with me. The King has a plan to oust his wife and daughter, but he’s in a weak position, so has to do it over the course of years, mostly by letting it happen. There’s slavery in this world, though offscreen, and illegal. The women who aren’t sold into slavery all end up as maids in Agnes’ mansion, because they are “sullied’ in the eyes of their family, I assume. This is contrasted, bizarrely, with Princess Mia, who after the fallout is exiled to a remote island, where after a year or so of whining proceeds to buckle down, admit she loves reading and studying when Nazel is not around her, and ends up revolutionizing the prison island. It *does* make sense for her character to an extent, but the tonal whiplash made my neck ache.

I also genuinely wanted Robin executed, and his punishment and threat of prison rape did not sit well with me either. Agnes is the best part of this, and I’ll read more, I just the the world she lives in.

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement, Vol. 7

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By FUNA and Keisuke Motoe. Released in Japan as “Rōgo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-Man-Mai no Kinka o Tamemasu” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by Kodansha Books. Translated by Luke Hutton.

(A reminder that the English Vol. 7 is the equivalent of the Japanese Vol. 8.)

All of FUNA’s series tend to suffer from the same issue, which is that there does not seem to be a goal other than “have cute overpowered girls do fun stuff”. I Shall Survive Using Potions had an obvious end point, but timeskipped past it and started over again. Make My Abilities Average had an even more obvious end point, so moved the main cast to a different continent to do the same old stuff. Mitsuha has also done the continent – or at least country – hopping thing, and we’re a couple volumes now into her antics in this new country. And… it’s gotten a little boring? Most of Mitsuha’s out of nowhere powerful moves are not a surprise anymore, and her tendency towards, if not sociopathy, than at least a sort of apathy, are also less than surprising. Mitsuha is in a rut. Fortunately, we may see a way out – but I’m not confident the author will take it.

This is a book of two halves. The front half is sort of a series of short stories. We see Beatrice glom onto Mitsuha for a trip to Bozes County, where she finds that she’s not Mitsuha’s number one friend, or even number two, and this upsets her. Then Neleah, the third princess in Vanel and part of Mitsuha’s social group of girls, uses her makeup connections to blow away the competition… though she unfortunately finds she can’t then run away for seven years till the fuss dies down. Mitsuha is forced to attend another party, and struggles with being the center of attention. The second half of he book, meanwhile, has Vanel going to war with the country two nations over, Noral, and Mitsuha struggling to help out the country she has a financial and emotional investment in while not helping them so much they get arrogant.

The most interesting parts of this book feature Mitsuha briefly having an attack of melancholy or sense. She meets at one point with her friend Micchan (this is a Japanese friend, not the Vanelian noble), who is home on break from college, and comes to realize that as time goes on they’ll likely see each other less and less. She briefly muses on the fragile nature of friendships over time… then says “well, whatever” and goes back to her shtick. There’s also an increasing sense that she is losing control of her many balls that are in the air. Beatrice has already realized that she’s keeping things from her. Sabine has almost entirely figured out everything about Mitsuha’s powers except maybe the divine interventoin. And a lot of people on both Earth and her isekai’d land are figuring out she can teleport, and where she’s getting her infinite goods from. There’s a reckoning coming…

Except there isn’t, this is written by FUNA. I expect more wacky antics next time. But hey, when all you have is cute tweens, every light novel starts to look like a nail.

Heroine? Saint? No, I’m an All-Works Maid (And Proud of It)!, Vol. 2

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By Atekichi and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Heroine? Seijo? Iie, All Works Maid desu (ko)!” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Michelle McGuinness.

If anyone still reads the site TV Tropes, there is a page devoted to what is known as a “Gambit Pileup”, where a storyline is derailed by multiple people who each have their own plan to take control of the narrative. This is frequently used for comedic purposes, but All-Works Maid really takes it to a higher level, as everyone is desperately trying to resolve the plot of the otome game they’ve found themslves in, only to see that Melody has solved everything, done every romantic route, and taken the main villain as her pet puppy. And that’s just in the first volume. This second one gives us an additional reincarnation from Japan, but also shows us that things have not completely been solved. The first villainess boss may now be Melody’s mistress, but the world still needs a first villainess boss, even if it has to use dark powers to create one. Worst of all, though, Melody has a crisis of faith. Maid faith.

We open back in Japan, where a grandmother in hospital, Maika, is talking to her granddaughter about a revival of an old otome game from years and years ago. Maika is upset, as said game was her obsession… until it took the life of her brother and his not girlfriend, who went missing in a plane disaster. Maika then goes to sleep… and wakes up as a little girl in a slum, completely confused. And then gets even more confused when her memories regress to her teenage self. Will she be able to find her brother and interact with the plot? Meanwhile, school has started and Luciana has made a friend… well, one or two. Most everyone else still seems to think of her family’s reputation first. And villain and love interest Bjork has to find a new jealous witch to make violently happy, and uses his knowledge of human behavior to do so. (I’m so sorry.)

The most interesting parts of this book are Melody and new character Micah (as she is spelled in this new world). Melody is at her best when using her talents to do things like resurrect an ancient temple with the power of horrifying magic, or accidentally resurrecting her mother into the spirit of an android maid (the latter is left vague). But at one point she’s asked “what is a perfect maid anyway?”, and trying to find the answer causes her to almost fall to bits, until she realizes how she can move forward and still be happy, even if it does disobey orders. As for Micah, she’s responsible for most of the funny bits in this book, as she goes from desperately trying to resolve plot points that everyone else resolved to simply screaming tsukkomi all the time. It’s good tsukkomi, I like her. I wish her well with her former savior turned evil possessed villain turned butler.

The ending promises we’re still not QUITE done with the main plotline, even if the Big Bad can’t decide whether to destroy the world or play fetch. Whatever he chooses, I’m sure Melody will effortlessly stop it. Very silly fun.

Lucia and the Loom: Weaving Her Way to Happiness, Vol. 3

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By Hisaya Amagishi and Esora Amaichi. Released in Japan as “Fukushokushi Lucia wa Akiramenai: Kyō kara Hajimeru Kōfuku Keikaku” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by A.M. Cola.

As with its parent series Dahlia in Bloom, Lucia and the Loom is an ongoing narrative that also can work as a short story collection. The “plot” of the series, such as it is, is seeing Lucia’s relationships with the various men in her life, and seeing her blithely reject them all (consciously or not) for her one true love, clothing. We get that here, and this book showcases some events from the seventh Dahlia book (without, thankfully, much repeating). And then we get the “short story” chapters, which basically show Lucia getting work for the business. Sometimes this ties to previous books, with former villainesses trying to reform. Sometimes it ties back to Dahlia’s main storyline, such as the kotatsu being invented, and the tailor’s guild determined to make the most beautiful, luxury coverings. And then there’s the story where Lucia is asked to handle a very delicate matter… which, honestly, is *so* good it blows away the rest.

This is actually the second story in the book that opens with Lucia being told she does not have to take the assignment if she doesn’t want to. A 13-year-old girl has died, and her family are asking a female couturier (because it will involve dressing her body) to make an outfit the for funeral. Lucia, who has seen her grandmother pass on, is OK with this, and goes to meet the father, who an Earl and also from a family of knights. As she finds out more and more about Enrica, their late daughter, she starts to realize what she was like (which is not very much like her father imagined her to be) and worked round the clock, enduring the cold of the mausoleum, to dress her in the most appropriate outfit. I have to tell you, it was hard not to tear up at this chapter. It was fantastic, and easily Lucia’s finest hour in this book.

Other highlights for Lucia include protecting Hestia from a leering noble who wants her to become his mistress; making pajamas for Lotto, which includes allowance for his tail (please note Lucia does not remotely consider the idea that making pajamas for a single man, in this world, is at all romantic); getting an assignment to make raincoats for Dante’s ex-girlfriend, which is heartwarming and bittersweet and possibly the second best story in this book; and making a new suit for Jonas, who is Lucia’s childhood hero but who she still doesn’t quite recognize. Dahlia and Volf, in the main series, are in a shonen romance, mostly consisting of food, drink, and willful blindness on both sides. But Lucia is in a shoujo series, with multiple love interests, all of whom seem doomed. Like Dahlia, Lucia needs to be protected. But… that’s gonna be tough, gotta admit.

We’ve caught up with Japan, but fortunately, Dahlia has resolved its issues and we get a new volume of it in just a few weeks. That should have a bit more Lucia as well. This was excellent.

Management of a Novice Alchemist, Vol. 4

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By Mizuho Itsuki and fuumi. Released in Japan as “Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

So remember that angry local lord plot I said would probably happen in this book? Nah. Not even brought up, aside from a brief bit where Sarasa notes that there really should not be as many bandits attacking this village as there are. Instead we get a return to the Salamander plot, and also a return to the marriage subplot. as, even though Lorea says she’s not into girls either, and Sarasa in fact seems to be quite ignorant about most everything sexual (not a surprise given her life), it’s very clear that Sarasa is an amazing catch. A powerful alchemist who is the apprentice of the Master Alchemist, and looks like she’ll surpass her one day. A woman – well, still girl – who can fill the “wife” role in the family and also be Sarasa’a apprentice, who looks to be a very quick study. A powerful knight who’s also pretty and practical. And Zoidberg… erm, and Iris. Who tries very hard. Mostly to seduce Sarasa, which she thinks is the way to get this going. It feels like the author read about yuri in a book once years ago.

A monster researcher, Nordrad, has arrived at the village looking for bodyguards to help him with his latest research project – examining the nest of the Salamander that Sarasa took out last time. Now that the salamander is gone, it’s the perfect time to get a lot more details about it that are otherwise impossible. And he really is offering a lot of gold to just stay with him while he does this, so Iris (happily) and Kate (reluctantly) agree to help him. While they’re gone, Lorea and Sarasa, des;pite both saying they’re not into women that way, propose to each other, Lorea moves in, and Sarasa essentially has a “please be good to my daughter” discussion with her parents. Also, Lorea asks to be her apprentice, but that seems to be secondary to her moving in. And it may just be the two of them, as Iris and Kate are… in trouble.

In a series that already features a very, very eccentric lead character in Sarasa, it would take a lot to top her, and Nord, trust me, is a lot. You want to punch him about eighty times in this book, and I was disappointed that he mostly got what he wanted and then took off, despite trapping himself, along with Iris and Kate, inside a volcanic mountain for over a month because of his research stupidity that said things like “what if I got another salamander to come here, what would happen then?”. That said, there is one benefit, which is that it allows Sarasa to show that, even if she pretends not to be all that interested in them, she will absolutely move heaven and earth to help them if their lives are in danger. She spends a LOT of money and makes a LOT of things in this book, most of which we only hear about in passing, all for the sake of finding her two other not-yet-wives and getting them out of Certain Death Cavern. It’s sweet.

I suspect this book requires a lot more tolerance of weird bullshit than most light novel series, but if you can put up with it, and don’t mind the author avoiding everyone’s barely disguised fetish, it’s quite good.

Fiancée No More: The Forsaken Lady, the Prince, and Their Make-Believe Love, Vol. 3

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By Mari Morikawa and Bodax. Released in Japan as “Konyaku Haki no Sono Saki ni: Suterare Reijō, Ōji-sama ni Dekiai (Engi) Sareru” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Adam.

It had been a while since the last volume of this series, and so I had forgotten about its vibe, which is “serious”. Most of these villainess or villainess-adjacent books tend to have a tongue at least somewhat in cheek, but this one is absolutely here to tell you that Estelle’s life has not been great, her new life is fine but still features miscommunication and anxiety, and, oh yes, someone is still trying to sabotage Arcrayne. Even the honeymoon, which we get at the end of this book, is called off briefly once they arrive due to an errant dragon attack, and the wedding features worries that she won’t be able to fulfill her role in bearing Arcrayne’s child. That said, everything in this series has been pretty straightforward, and so I’m sure the payoff here will… oh look, there are some genuinely surprising twists and turns. The author definitely wrote this with three books in mind.

After the events of the second book, Estelle is rapidly becoming a heroic story, which she’s not wild about, but that’s what happens when you shoot a dragon with your gun that explodes when you shoot a dragon. Fortunately, her engagement ring is remade and everything seems to be hunky dory. (record scratch) So she’s now locked in a tower prison, where accommodations are good but she’s been arrested for supposedly helping her fiance to try to assassinate the king, who is allegedly at death’s door. Needless to say this is a lie concocted by the Queen and her evil father (more on them later). Fortunately, things are not quite as desperate as they seem, but Estelle very much has to go from “I’m about to be executed because I was forcibly engaged to this guy” to “I’m going to be the next queen” pretty darn quick.

The most interesting part of the book is after the failed coup itself, where we get to see the double reverse Uno that was apparently going on while Estelle and Arcrayne were suffering a bit. I will try not to spoil too much, but it turns out that the Queen, who I had really disliked in previous books, has a backstory that… well, let’s just say they make it BETTER by saying “he hit her”. Daddy Dearest was a real piece of work. As a result, we get to hear about how a lot of everything in Arcrayne’s life was faked in order to appease different factions, and that he knew none of this. I like the twists, but I wish we’d gotten the chance to figure them out before they’re dropped on us. OK, while I said that everything was written to be a perfect three volumes, maybe it was a bit rushed. A few more flashbacks might have done wonders.

Still, overall this series wasn’t bad, and is a good one to recommend to those who want a “disgraced noble” sort of book without any deconstruction or parody.

Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother, Vol. 3

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By Chidori Hama and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō, Brocon ni Job Change Shimasu” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Rymane Tsouria.

One of the things that you see a lot in villainess books, and especially this one, is having your cake and eating it, too. Our protagonist is a villainess trying to avoid her doom, and turns out to now be smart, sweet, and beloved? That’s all very well and good, but you still need an ACTUAL arrogant girl in the book, preferably with drill curls. The brother and sister are wonderful nobles who are working hard to recover their family’s reputation and work for the sake of their people? Sure, but better show some stupid, evil nobles as well, because stupid, evil nobles are what this genre does. Ekaterina may be changing her fate, but the world itself still inspires bad actors to be around, and it’s implied that the nobles that flitter around the royal family are even worse. Fortunately, neither she not her brother have to worry about that, as they’re far too busy making everyone stare with their G-rated brocon/siscon shenanigans.

School’s out, after final exams show Ekaterina coming in… third! (It’s fine, the prince and the “heroine” are first and second, so this works for her not-so-secret agenda.) Now she and her brother are returning to their ancestral home for the first time in a long time… and for her, the first time since she got her memories from Japan/became a massive Alexei otaku. Back home she finds some servants who don’t like her, but that’s balanced out by the people who have been hired back after the death of her grandmother, who turn out to be fantastic. This will culminate in a ball where Ekaterina will make her debut as the head of house. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of scheming nobles who want to get their hands on Alexei’s power and fortune. Luckily, those scheming nobles are complete idiots.

I know I keep bringing up the incest, but it really is impossible to avoid – it’s the premise. And yet I still applaud the author for somehow managing to make it so these two are disgustingly in love with each other, and also that he is impossibly handsome (something she notices all the time) and that she is voluptuous and beautiful (something every male around her notices all the time), and yet it STILL is as sexless as you could possibly want. These two adore each other yet absolutely are not down to fuck, and that’s terrific. It’s terrific mostly because their shameless pawing and flirting, when contrasted with, say, the drill curled noble throwing a tantrum, is so sickeningly sweet it’s hilarious. They’ve somehow weaponized incest subtext, and are using it to kill off their enemies. Amazing.

I’m not sure where the series is going next, except that, as implied by the ending section, Ekaterina will be getting a horse soon. But as long as it continues to have these two lovey-dovey siblings be not remotely sexual, I’ll stick around for it.

The Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival, Vol. 4

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By Harunori Biyori and Hitaki Yuu. Released in Japan as “Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyō Survival” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Camilla L.

After spending the last four books ignoring the otome game aspect of this world for the most part and being devoted to showing pages of stat upgrades and lots of monster fighting, we will finally be getting around to the actual game in the next volume, with academy hijinks and everything. That said, some aspects of the game still shine through, and one of them is that, though she doesn’t really notice it herself, everyone and their brother is falling head over heels for Alia. Random passersby on the street gawk at her. Royal knights all vow to protect her. Elena thinks they’re soulmates. And Karla… well, we’ll talk about Karla later. Alia’s got that heroine energy for sure. Heck, at the climax of this book she’s forced to get rid of having ash in her hair and let her peach flag fly. The trouble is, Alia does NOT think of herself as the heroine of an otome game, so all of this, with the exception of protecting Elena, is irrelevant to her.

Alis is finally, somewhat reluctantly, joining the Rainbow Blade, mostly as that’s the only way she’ll be able to help Elena, who is going to a very difficult dungeon, along with her brother, her brother’s fiancee candidates, an annoying uncle, and various retainers, in order to gain the fantastic “any wish” reward the dungeon can offer. After officially leveling up, and dodging a murder attempt, Alia and the rest of the adventuring party arrive and head through a secret door that allows you to skip seventy floors of the dungeon – which still leaves us with the most dangerous floors. Can Alia keep Elena and the rest of the royal family safe without getting murdered by dangerous ogres, terrifying minotaurs, and the scariest being of all, Karla?

As with the last book she appeared in, Karla is absolutely one of the best reasons to read this, as she is legitimately mentally disturbed in a way very few anime villains really manage to pull off. “Yandere” is a word I hate because it gets abused, but there’s no denying that Karla’s death wish revolves around her obsession with Alia, and her desire to level up – even if it means murdering piles of people, which she does here – is solely so that she can achieve her wish of fighting Alia in the ruins of the entire kingdom until Alia kills her. It is a grand guignol death wish, and I have no doubt it will be the series finale – hopefully NOT in the ruins of the capital. As for Clara, the other villainess in this story… meh. Even her name is easy to mistype when I mean Karla. I get that she’s sort of trapped, but she needs to get more interesting. (Arguably Elena does as well, but at least she manages to solve the worst of her problems by the end of this book.)

With a big YMMV reminder over the series, which always reminds us how young these girls really are, this remains a strangely compelling narrative. I’m hoping spending time at the academy with petty nobles and classwork might mean a few less stat screens, though.

Duchess in the Attic, Vol. 3

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By Mori and Huyuko Aoi. Released in Japan as “Yane Urabeya no Kōshaku Fujin” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by piyo.

(This review discusses a plot twist near the end of the book, but I will wait till paragraph three to do so.)

This is a very odd series, in that it’s technically meant to be a thriller of sorts, where we see Opal struggle against events that are conspiring against her. But she’s never seriously in danger, and knows it. And we, the reader, are fine with that. We’re not reading this series to see Opal being threatened by goons, we’re reading this to see Opal being smug, and boy howdy do we get that here. We also get another attic, and this time she stays in it for an extended period. I sometimes wonder if the author thinks of Opal in the attic, and then writes a plot to get her into it, rather than the other way around. As for the book itself, well, it’s taking the events of Books 1 and 2 and telling the reader we should have been paying far closer attention to them.

After the events of the last volume, which ended with someone trying to break up Opal and Claude, she heads off to their new lands without him. There she finds an old-fashioned, Satan-hating land maintainer, a butler who screams “I am evil”, and a footman that she immediately dislikes on sight. Fortunately, she does have her loyal maid Nadja. Unfortunately, while on her way to inspect mines, which requires her staying at a ludicrously opulent mansion that looms over a poor neighborhood, she finds herself kidnapped, locked in an attic, and held for ransom, along with Nadja. At least she gets things to read from that footman she dislikes. As for why she’s been kidnapped, well, the anti-royal faction have decided to have their revolution, and she makes a great hostage. Supposedly. If their revolution were going well.

So, one mystery I love is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie. It’s not loved by everyone, however, and gets into “is it OK to withhold vital information when you are a first-person narrator?”. This book does the same thing, with Julian, the footman. I already knew he was going to be more than just one of the three bad guys. For one thing, he’s on the cover, pictured happily next to Claude and Opal. For another, he gets a big interior illustration the moment he first appears. That said, I assumed that he would be, y’know, an old friend of Claude’s who’s being a spy. Which, admittedly, is 100% true. But he’s also someone we’ve been hearing about since the very, very start of the series, always present by his absence, and Opal’s immediate dislike of him should have been a bigger clue. No one fights quite like a brother and sister, after all. This also makes the climax of the book, which should be tense and anxious, hilarious, as the two cannot stop sniping at each other. It’s glorious.

The first book had a definite ending, and then it continued. This third book also has a definite ending, and yet there is more. I’m looking forward to it a great deal, though.

Babel: The Bewitching Princess in the Birdcage

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By Kuji Furumiya and Haruyuki Morisawa. Released in Japan as “Babel III: Torikago Yori Izuru Youki” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Amelia Imogen.

So, first of all, I want to note that I *loved* this volume. It’s not only my favorite volume of Babel so far, but it may actually be my favorite book by Furumiya I’ve read so far. That said… boy, this is absolutely exhausting to read. As always with this author, it’s a brick – the digital version comes in at 463 pages – and much of it, especially in the back half, is a series of “is this going to end badly with Shizuku dead?” mini-cliffhangers. More to the point, while the start of the volume does indeed continue the themes of the previous one, showing Shizuku trying to explain how teaching language can be a good way to solve the current crisis – it rapidly derails into Shizuku doing what she does best, which is speaking to those in power and smacking them down. With Lars that mostly just led to a lot of arguments. With Princess Ortea, it leads to revolution.

We pick up from the cliffhanger of the previous book: Shizuku is being kidnapped and brought to another country by the evil mage Niké, with Erik’s life being threatened till she gives in. (As a result, Erik is almost entirely absent from this volume.) When she gets there, she discovers that mages have been conducting cruel experiments on children to solve the language issue, and Shizuku is there to try to solve it with her own solution, education. The one she has to impress is the cruel and capricious Princess Ortea, who has been running much of the nation behind the scenes and has a tendency to have people who displease her executed. As the book goes on, Shizuku becomes Ortea’s aide, and gradually comes to realize that there’s a lot more going on here than an evil princess and her worried brother the King. Is the answer overthrowing the monarchy? Yup.

For the most part, I adored this, though I could do without the curse above Shizuku’s womb that’s even more agonizing because she’s a virgin. The only thing more annoying than having superpowers that only work because someone is a virgin is having suffering that is even worse because someone is a virgin. That said, the best part of the book is talking about how you cannot erase your past actions, even if they’re atrocities (especially if they are), but you can try to atone for them and move forward, especially if you care more about the country than about power. Honestly, I kind of wonder if the final book will end with Lars and Ortea marrying, as while they get on even worse than Lars and Shizuku, I could see it working – they’re very similar. As for the lack of Erik, fear not, we do get a romance of sorts, as evil mage Niké turns out to not be all that evil really, and also gradually falling in love with Shizuku, despite her bad habit of getting kidnapped and shot at and stabbed and having painful womb curses put on her. Shizuku needs a break, let’s be honest. Anyway, needless to say he gets nowhere, but he does get in a kiss before she leaves, which is the one thing in the book that reads like a cliched anime moment.

The next book is the final one in the series. After Book 1, I was fairly sure that she would not be returning to Japan, but now I’m not so sure. Will Shizuku have to give up and settle down here? And can she solve the Babel crisis before she returns? A terrific series.

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 15

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By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

Generally speaking, when a series has a volume that consists of nothing but battle scenes, I tend to groan and whine a lot. Battle scenes are hard to review beyond “yup, they sure did hit each other hard”. Strangely, though, I don’t really mind the ones that happen in Bofuri. Part of it is Bofuri’s a game, as opposed to endless “fantasy world that just happens to have game stats”, so I really don’t need to be concerned when a character I like dies. But the other reason is that I trust this author’s style. It’s fast-paced – the action really does not stop for a minute in this volume. And it’s short, so that I don’t need to worry about this taking 600 pages like some OTHER action driven series. Congratulations, Maple, you’re better than Bell at this. As for who the winner is… well, the event does end, but any aftermath will need to wait for Book 16.

This is the climax of the event, and there’s a lot going on. Maple shows off some death from above with mysterious acid rain. The group try out various strategies, but given the enemy has the Best Snipers Ever, as well as Naruto and Hinata… pardon me, Velvet and Hinata, Maple is in danger from this. So the best thing to do is to literally shove her in a box till she’s needed. The twins are separated, but each of them manages a suicide attack that devastates the enemy forces. Marx gets to briefly be cool before dying. Kasumi gets to briefly be cool before dying. Kanade gets to briefly be cool before dying. OK, maybe I was right to worry about writing this review.

And then there’s Maple and Sally. As I write this, the webnovel version of Bofuri came to a close two days ago, and the light novel will wrap up with the 20th volume next month. We’re a ways away from that ending, but I think I can be fairly confident how it’s going to wrap up. Maple and Sally have been the focus of the series fro0m the start, and as the books go on that’s become even more apparent – this is not a series that is just “what crazy shit will Maple come up with next?” This book is all about showing us just how utterly, utterly broken Sally is, how she’s just as terrifying as Maple if not more so, and that it’s even more impressive because while Maple’s play style mostly runs on her instincts, Sally’s is calculated to the last microsecond, allowing her to do the impossible while fooling people into thinking she can go BEYOND the impossible. Also, she is 100% gay for Maple.

The next volume should give an after-event recap of this arc, but more importantly, I think it will begin the climax that will take up the last quarter of the series. Can Maple and Sally get to the 10th Strata without finally being killed off? And can they continue to make everyone stare at them with their jaw dropped?