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Reviews

Taking My Reincarnation One Step at a Time: No One Told Me There Would Be Monsters!, Vol. 7

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By KAYA and Naru. Released in Japan as “Tensei Shōjo wa Mazu Ippo kara Hajimetai: Mamono ga Iru toka Kiitenai!” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Amy Osteraas.

All right, I apologize, I was reading one of the main plotlines wrong. There’s no real defending it, I had forgotten how this series begins, with Sarasa shunted into this world with her massive piles of mana in order to save it. So when I kept seeing her having to fight off monsters that surprised everyone by showing up all of a sudden, I assumed it was due to her being a monster attractor. But no, I should have realized the more important fact, which is that, with the arrival of a new girl in this volume, there’s now FOUR isekai’d folks running around, more than they’ve ever seen before. it’s not that Sara attracts monsters, it’s that she and the others are here to prevent the apocalypse. As such, even in the parts of the world which traditionally have no monsters around, we end up getting a plague of locusts all of a sudden. The Invited go to where the crisis is going to be.

Sara is headed off to see Nelly’s older sister and her husband, who live in an agricultural region that has no dungeons and few monsters but does have lots of medicinal plants. They’re technically there to take care of a larger than usual attack of green locusts, but in reality they’re there because Nelly hasn’t seen her sister in forever, and also because, to everyone’s surprise, there’s a new Invited, Anzu, who also ended up in this world after falling ill in Japan. Ann has been sickly and weak, which puzzles Sara, who knows that they’re brought to this world in order to get more healthy, but the cause of this is found very fast (she’s coddled too much) and we get to the real meat of this book: Nelly is still unmarried, LOTS of people want to change that, and Chris is going to be very unhappy unless he does something soon.

So yes, finally, Nelly and Chris are a couple, though what I liked most about this was that it was framed as the two of them officially gaining a “daughter” in Sara than any romantic leanings. (Despite his mooning over her for the entire series, neither one is the romantic type.) Speaking of unromantic types, Sara and Allen continue to be besties and that’s about it, though there are hints that they both are aware where they’re going to end up in a few years but are just too young now. As for Sara, she’s forced to admit here that her philosophy of “keep my head down and stay out of the way” just isn’t going to work anymore. She cares about everyone in this world too much, and she wants to be proactive. Which she certainly is here, saving the day with her barriers again. That said, unlike Allen or Nelly, she’s happiest being a giant apothecary nerd with her fellow nerds, and fending off proposals from all and sundry.

This was a fun volume, and I do wonder how Ann will blend in with the cast, assuming that she continues to pursue her new dream. One of my favorite isekai of the moment.

The Royal Hostage Has Vanished: The Black Wolf Knight Yearns for the Persecuted Princess, Vol. 2

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By Ajigozen and Yura Chujo. Released in Japan as “Hitojichi Hime ga, Shōsoku wo Tatta. Kuro Ōkami no Kishi wa Rinkoku no Shiitagerareta Hime wo Zenryoku de Aishimasu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Emily Hemphill.

It’s always awkward when a book doesn’t really do anything wrong but leaves me a bit cold. Most of this second and final volume is fine. There are a few action scenes, which are exciting. The lead guy is perfectly fine, vacillating between stolid handsome hunk and soppy “I’m so in love with my wife” annoyance. There’s a few plot twists near the end that work pretty well, and the evil nobles are cartoonishly evil without feeling like they also kill babies and kick puppies. And yet, I think I came away from this book shrugging. In the end, I think it comes down to having the wrong narrator. This is Sonia/Nia’s story, but except for one or two POV scenes, mostly in the first book, we rarely see inside her head, instead spending all our time with husband Ark. I appreciate that not all shoujo romances have to have a woman’s POV, but this story would have worked better with it.

After getting unofficially married at the end of the last book, Ark and Nia move to their new domain, which as it turns out is dealing with a nasty outbreak of bandits… which are fairly obviously being sent by the second prince of Sylvario, Nia’s brother. Fortunately, when she was Sonia, the princess formed a bond with the denizens of the towns, which helps them win everyone over fairly quickly. The medicine also helps. Ark is a distant third. Once it’s determined that the foreign prince is behind this, it’s decided to bait him into a trap and capture him, which works so well that everyone wonders if they’re in some sort of Reverse Uno situation, but no, the prince really is that stupid. That said, he’s not the only antagonist…

Towards the end of the book we get several genre shifts to go with the “disgraced noble” that we’ve been dealing with all along. There were hints of a “secret saint” plot, and they turn out to be correct, and we also get a villainess plotline that reminds me far too much of the recent arc of Bakarina – the third princess reads very much like the original evil Katarina Claes, and her fate is likely going to be much the same. (Isekai’d otome game villainesses seem to do very badly in this world, in fact, as she’s not even the first one.) I would argue that the identity of a secret royal who can end up being a potential love interest for Prince Alphonse is perhaps one twist too far, and mostly serves as a way to allow our main couple to actually get it on without getting a cold stare of shame. But for the most part they work well. They just didn’t excite me.

If this was ongoing, I likely wouldn’t get more of it. Fortunately, we’re done here. This was good, but in the end, I wish I’d read it from the other POV.

My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 13

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

Let’s face it, Fortune Lover I was a bad game. Lots of fans have spent ages pointing out what a disaster it would be for the country if Maria’s routes played out the way we’re told they did, but more importantly, it’s shallow and badly written. Katarina absolutely did the best thing possible by “trying to prevent her doom” and accidentally saving everyone. Unfortunately for her, they brought in better writers for the second game. Not in terms of the routes themselves, those are still lame. But in terms of the politics behind it, and how it’s now affecting multiple kingdoms. And unfortunately for Katarina, that one’s much harder to derail. The kidnappings, murder attempts, and potential coups we’re seeing in Sorcier are not “a problem for the player to solve”, and as such even when Katarina does her best, success remains elusive. Especially since she still has that pesky dark magic, and it turns out she now knows how to make it strong, and it’s not a good thing.

Cezar, the prince of Ethenell, is being sent to Sorcier as part vacation and part to see how a country that’s not recovering from a civil war is doing things. Everyone tells Katarina that she should absolutely not get involved with him, because something else he’s doing is looking for a wife. Of course, Katarina absolutely gets involved with him. She accidentally breaks up his meeting with various other desperate noblewomen, she takes him on a tour of bookstores, cafes, and farms (of course the farms are the most interesting), and she sees him touring the ministry of magic while she’s busy trying to practice with her dark magic (she’s only good at absorption) and translating the dark magic book (she gets bored easily). Unfortunately, Cezar is also investigating the conspiracy that everyone else is, and this investigation results in Maria’s family being attacked…

Those who read my Bakarina reviews know that I don’t really care about the cishet pairings, even as I acknowledge the author does. Mary and Sophia barely appear. Fortunately, our one exception is present throughout. Yes, Maria ends up getting a bit damselled in the climax, when Sarah and a bunch of goons overpower her, but the best moment might be when she sees Cezar and Katarina at the orphanage, where Katarina has been showing off what a great place it is for kids, and Cezar starts putting the moves on her (something she has no idea about). I love seeing Maria being jealous, and her cold attitude towards Cezar, though it doesn’t last long (they bond over Katarina being awesome) is great to see. What’s more, Katarina has literally saved the life of her and her mother this time. Maria is going to be more in love than ever.

As for HOW Katarina saved Maria, well, that’s worrying. I get the feeling “have better control over your emotions” is easier said than done, but I don’t think this series will get TOO dark. This continues to meander towards its ending. Mary and Sophia fans (and Alan and Nicol fans, honestly) can drop it, but Jeord, Sora, Cezar, and Maria fans will be happy. (Keith? Who’s Keith?)

Drunks

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In the shadow of the mainstream North American manga industry, there are a handful of indies who are keeping manga weird. They’re publishing the kind of offbeat stories that you won’t read in Shonen Jump or stream on Crunchyroll, stories that are elliptical, profound, strange, funny, or unsettling in ways that My Hero Academia or Blue Lock aren’t. 

On a recent visit to Star Fruit Books, for example, I discovered Okaya Izumi’s Drunks, a pair of stories that put a novel spin on the meet-cute. In the first, a shy salary man staggers home from a night of drinking only to fall prey to a chatty vampire who casually asks, “Do you have blackout drapes at your house?” You can guess where this is going, but the light tone and odd notes of humor push “Drunks” in an unexpected direction as these two wildly different people find solace in each other’s company. The second story—“Tick Tock”—also crosses genre boundaries, using elements of science fiction to set the plot in motion. Tomoko, the heroine, spends a century in a cryogenic chamber before a young man accidentally frees her. Though the pair stumble into a physical relationship quickly, Okaya focuses as much on Tomoko’s complex reaction to rejoining the world as on her sexual reawakening, helping us understand why Tomoko is secretly relieved to discover that the future is not much different than the past.

Art-wise, Okaya’s style recalls Nishi Keiko (Love Story) and Yamada Murasaki (Talk to My Back, Second Hand Love), as Izumi’s characters are rendered in thin, almost scribbly, lines that make them look a little fragile. In her stories’ most emotionally charged scenes, there is almost no background detail; the reader’s eye is drawn to the characters’ faces and body language, allowing us to more fully appreciate their sense of joy, astonishment, and confusion over finding companionship in unexpected places. The quiet authenticity of these moments help both stories transcend their cliché elements to make a deeper point about the characters’ need for connection. Recommended.

DRUNKS • BY OKAYA IZUMI • TRANSLATED BY DAN LUFFEY • LETTERING/RETOUCHING BY KELLY NGO • STAR FRUIT BOOKS • 60 pp.

Her Royal Highness Seems to be Angry, Vol. 1

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By Kou Yatsuhashi and Mito Nagashiro. Released in Japan as “Ojou Denka wa Ookari no You desu” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by Tokyopop. Translated by Katie Kimura.

(This was based on a review copy provided by the publisher.)

We’ve seen quite a few of these “young noble lady suddenly has memories of her past life” series before, but if you’re looking for something unique to separate this one from the others, there are one or two things. First of all, she’s not reincarnated from Japan, but from centuries in the past, when the world was at war. (Not to worry, isekai fans, there are indirect hints that her husband from the past was in a good old fashioned normal isekai plot, albeit a tragic one.) More importantly, rather than struggle with the embarrassment of what she was like before, or have to somehow amalgamate her old self with this new one, Leticiel literally overwrites her present body. The book has her think of herself as Leticiel, her old name, throughout, and she wakes with no memory of any time before that point. It’s as if she simply murdered her past self and took them over. Which, well, her fiance also suspects might be the case…

We open with a prologue, showing Leticiel’s country on the verge of being wiped out. Her family and husband are dead, and she elects to mind-control a soldier into killing her rather than be taken alive. A ,long, long time later, she suddenly finds herself in the body of Drossell, a duke’s daughter who is engaged to the first prince. Unfortunately, she doesn’t remember ANYTHING. So, as she tries to figure out where she is and what the state of the world is, she fends off her family by simply being incredibly standoffish and curt. No one really bats an eye at this, which should tell her something, but she doesn’t really care enough to find out. Worst of all, when she goes to her magic academy (you knew it was coming), she finds this kingdom is all about magic! What? Why, when it’s so much less powerful than sorcery?

The weakest part of the book may be its title, as Leticiel spends most of the book being rather nonchalant, only getting seriously pissed off once. I assume it refers to her being upset that sorcery has fallen so far as to be unrecognized. There are more things that I enjoyed, though. The main “love interest” seems to be, not a grumpy noble as is usually the case with these series, but a nerd who spends most of his days working with machines. And then there’s the late Drossell herself (It’s possible the memories will return someday, but for now I have to assume that the girl who used to be in that body is dead.) The book sets us up to see her as an annoying spoiled brat, the typical “villainess” that you see in this genre… and then the backstory explains exactly why she’s acting that way, and it’s a lot closer to I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again! than I’d like. Moreover, most of what’s happened to both Drossell *and* Leticiel seems to be foretold, and I’m not entirely sure I trust the king and his ageless advisor to act in their best interests. The end of this book makes me want to read the next one.

So yes, at the risk of being like the “And you’ll hear it again!” Brooklyn Nine Nine meme, I enjoyed another villainess-style book.

I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!, Vol. 5

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By Reina Soratani and Haru Harukawa. Released in Japan as “Kondo wa Zettai ni Jama Shimasen!” by Gentosha Comics. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Sarah Moon. Adapted by Hayame.

This final volume suckerpunched me a bit. When I was reading the first, oh, 60 pages or so, I wondered if this was actually going to be, against all odds, a “victory lap” final volume, one where all has been taken care of and our happy couple are finally free to be with each other forever. And, y’know, that does happen. Make no mistake about it, Yulan and Violette don’t technically have much bad happen to them here compared to the previous four books in the series. And the book ends with them as a couple. And they are happy with each other, and in love with each other. They even have a child. That said, Their upbringing and the abuse we’ve seen since the start of the series still influences everything they do and think, and as the book goes on you realize that its characters are still, to a large extent, in a dark place that they may never really get out of. But honestly, that’s very realistic, and at this point in the series I guess a happy, fluffy ending would have felt hideously out of place.

The book picks up immediately after the end of the last one. Violette and Marin have escaped from her house and are living in a hotel, and shortly after Yulan moves them to the estate in the country his family owns that he now controls, to his surprise. (Marin is there because Yulan knows that Violette can’t function without her, and Yulan is allowed to be with Violette as Marin knows she would fall to bits without him. The two of them have a somewhat malevolent understanding.) Meanwhile, Rosette has married Claudia, and there’s going to be an heir. Unfortunately, Yulan’s golden eyes are still an issue, and everyone’s doing their best to plot a coup with him as the centerpiece. So for now he waits, and does the overwork they’re giving him, and patiently twiddles his thumbs till the kingdom gets to the point where he’s able to ignore that and do what he’s wanted to do all along – care about his wife and only his wife, and no one else. OK, maybe their child. Possibly.

There are a few side stories at the end of the book, as we get the POV of Violette’s mother, father, stepmother, and Maryjune. Maryjune, at least, has come to terms with her upbringing and her part in it, and has resigned herself to marrying a man twice her age in a political marriage, which is framed as good. These stories should be horrifying, and they are, but to me they pale in comparison to Violette and Yulan every time we see the inside of their heads. Unsurprisingly, Violette is terrified that she’ll end up turning into her mother if she ever gives birth. Yulan wonders if he’d even be able to care about the child. The final scene with the child seems to relieve these fears, somewhat, but it sums up the series perfectly that the end of their story is not “look at our cute child playing with laundry soap bubbles” but “we both despise our mothers for what they did, and it fills us with rage, and that’s perfectly OK.” Everyone in this is still damaged to the end, they’re just damaged with each other. Sometimes that’s all you can ask.

The author suggests that readers try the manga as a “different experience”. Certainly when I tried to read it it seemed to be far more generic and less traumatizing. Stick with the light novel, which will kick you in the stomach and push your face into mud, but it’s still spellbinding and you can’t look away.

The Countess Is a Coward No More! This Reincarnated Witch Just Wants a Break, Vol. 1

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By Ageha Sakura and TCB. Released in Japan as “Tensei Saki ga Kiyowa Sugiru Hakushaku Fujin datta” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Bérénice Vourdon.

I hadn’t realized till I’d finished this book that the author also wrote a book I read less than two months ago, also a J-Novel Heart title, Lady Bumpkin and Her Lord Villain. That one came before this one, I think, which may explain one reason why this book does not bother with any of the heroine’s coward period. We open on page 1 with her getting her memories from a past life back, and after a short “everyone was abusing her since the day she was born” explanation, our heroine never looks back, taking control of her life and making sweeping changes. And honestly, I will admit that that’s probably for the best, though I have one caveat I’ll get to later. Lam, the countess, was a magical legend 500 years ago, and now she’s in the future where magic is much less impressive and much more oppressed. Shades of Reborn to Master the Blade, but Lam is quite happy to continue using magic, as long as she can retrain her weak body. You’ve read this sort of thing before.

Lam was born into a commoner-turned-baron’s household, and when she was found to have residual mana in her she was abused and belittled by her entire family. When she came of age she was sold to an earl, who doesn’t care about her, and is beaten and abused by her servants. Then one day, after getting hit one too many times, she remembers she used to be the legendary with Aurora, who was powerful, saved many people, and had equally powerful apprentices. Sadly, she can’t remember how she died, but that’s not important right now. What is important is beating the shit out of every servant, firing their asses, and getting a divorce from her husband. She’s successful in all but the last of these – now that she’s no longer a nervous wreck who can’t respond to anyone, he finds her super attractive. Even more so when he sees the magic she can now wield…

So, two issues with this book, one of which is not the author’s fault. The petty issue is it makes me think of the Kenny Rogers song Coward of the County, which I hate. The less petty issue is there’s a lot of “if only she’s been stronger and stood up to her bullies she might have been able to fix things”, which always irritates me, mostly as it’s still a prevailing attitude to this day. Other than that, this is fun enough. Lam is the sort who likes to pretend that she’s got it all together even when she doesn’t, and is at her most interesting when she’s struggling with stamina/romance, or when she’s forging new family bonds. Char, the earl and her husband, seems to be the classic “stoic uncaring guy whose heart is opened by a woman”, only it turns out he’s also a massive Aurora otaku, which is the funniest part of the book. Also, unlike a lot of books like this, this was written knowing there would be more than one volume, so there’s a cliffhanger.

Also, Lam’s sisters are named Lem and Lim. Presumably Lom and Lum were busy doing the Pink Panther movies and Urusei Yatsura. For fans of the disgraced noble genre, even though the disgrace all happens before the novel starts.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Vol. 12

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By Bokuto Uno and Miyuki Ruria. Released in Japan as “Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

I’ve talked before about how my desire to see the main six cast members live happily ever after is warring with the narrative, which keeps underlining how Oliver and Katie are doomed. With this episode, I get the feeling that we’re going to be adding everyone else to that list as well, and make this an All Or Nothing type of series. The two characters who have gotten the least focus get attention here, and while Pete is mostly setup for future volumes (with one huge exception which I’ll get to later), Guy’s arc is looking to be a lot more dangerous and potentially fatal. Generally speaking I’ve always thought of Guy and Chela as “the sensible ones”, and this book is here to throw that out the window and remind me that absolutely everyone in that group is weird as hell. Of course he survives – none of them will die till at least Oliver explains what he’s doing. But yikes, I don’t wish what he has to go through on anyone else… wait, absolutely the wrong way to put that.

Despite the fact that Guy and Pete get much more focus here, the publisher still knows who its big sellers are, so Oliver and Nanao are on the cover again, along with new teacher Rod Farquois, who will be taking over astronomy, is a reversi just like Pete, and absolutely no one knows what they’re up to – it’s very clear they’re not here at the school’s request. As for the main plot, half of it … again, we’re coming to it… but the last half of the book is a rescue arc, as Guy, Ursule Valois’ twin attendants, and forgotten first book teen bully Annie Mackley are trapped on the second floor of the labyrinth, which is dealing with someone consumed by the spell, and he’s turned the floor into his own cursed treehouse of horrors. Everyone will be going there to rescue Guy/the twins (sorry, Annie, no one really likes you), but can they do it before Guy makes an irreversible decision?

I hate to be a broken record, but my god this series is horny. It’s baked into the plot, as it’s hinted that one of the main reasons that our heroes are suffering so much right now is that they’re not banging each other on the regular. Pete, at least, takes care of that in one of the more startling scenes in the book, where he confronts Oliver in his female body and takes him to bed. Oliver, of course, is doing similar things with Nanao, and Chela helped him earlier. Katie loves Oliver, but knows he’s rejecting her, so is snuggling Guy every chance she gets. Guy likes Katie, so is helping her with this. Third-year Rita likes Guy too, and is angry at Katie. And we also meet Leoncio’s sister, a third year who is absolutely his distaff counterpart, and who seems to be constantly aroused. I don’t think that all Oliver’s problems would be solved with an orgy… unless?

This is another book that ends WHAM, no epilogue at all, so I’m not sure what happens next. The cover to Vol. 13 sure looks like a “Breaking of the fellowship” situation, though, huh? In any case, please read about these powerful and pent-up idiots.

Agents of the Four Seasons, Vol. 4

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By Kana Akatsuki and Suoh. Released in Japan as “Shunka Shūtō Daikōsha” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sergio Avila.

Last time I mentioned that everyone in this book is an abuse survivor, and in this book it becomes even more clear that our heroes are all either children or traumatized when they were children, and the bad guys are adults who are seeking to manipulate them for their own ends. It even spells this out literally, with the leader of Doyen Turtle says how good it is that the Agents are young and easily manipulable. The kid we briefly saw in the last book is no exception, and the biggest plot twists revolve around making him have a complete nervous breakdown because of his powers and things he had no control over. Thankfully, the Agents and their Guards are all much better at this than the last arc,. and things actually go swimmingly… OK, partly as even the “good” adult characters are also manipulating everything behind the scenes. A lot of the main characters end up in romantic relationships, and there’s a reason for that – when you can only trust one or two people, you stick with them.

Picking up where we left off, the Agents of Summer are up on the mountain, and have met up with the Archer of Twilight. The other Agents and Guards are on their way there, but are being blocked by the usual insurgents and traitors, because we still have a battle between two organizations, one of whom wants (theoretically) to protect the agents and one who wants to “replace” them all. And then there’s Ruri and Ayame’s fiances, who are also on their way to the mountain… and it turns out Ruri’s fiancee is actually head of the “protect” organization. They both really love their fiancees, something they hope they can convey after all hell breaks loose. Oh yes, speaking of fiancees, Sakura gets a marriage proposal from Hinagiku’s brother, which would keep Hinagiku safe but make Sakura’s life a nightmare. She is, of course, considering it, because EVERYONE in this series hates themselves.

A lot of the back half of this is an action movie, so forgive me if I talk about the couples a bit more. We learn a lot more about Raicho here, who seems to be someone you would not want to trust. He’s never had a girlfriend longer than three months, and regards love as something he doesn’t want to bother with… till he meets Ruri. Ruri is his OTP, even if they get off on the wrong foot, and it brings out… not the best in him. There really aren’t any sweetness and light relationships in this series. But it does arouse his protective instincts. As for Eken, the cause of most of the “mountain” plot, he gets the plot twists, and they’re very good, forcing us to re-evaluate everything we’d been told – and then do it again later. He might be a bit annoying, but given that he’s been super traumatized and is having guns pointed at him, who can blame him?

So things are temporarily safe again, and Summer Is Icumen In, or at least getting married. The next book in the series is, finally, a stand alone, dealing with the other Archer, who we only briefly saw in this arc. Hopefully it will be less fraught. Please keep these poor kids happy, I beg you.

Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? On The Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 13

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By Fujino Omori and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka? Gaiden – Sword Oratoria” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

It’s been over four years since we last had a volume of Sword Oratoria, though thankfully the next two books in the series are out in Japan, so it shouldn’t be that long all the time. If the first six or so books in the series were an Aiz spinoff, the next six were, on and off, focused on Lefiya. She gets this one as well, serving as an epilogue to her arc, and showing how she’s dealing with Filvis’ death and her part in it. I will admit, I probably did myself a favor reading this book right after a volume of Tanya the Evil. That series, which it can be fascinating, is not one you read for great prose. It’s a military slog. This, on the other hand, absolutely flies by despite being almost 300 pages. Say what you will about Omori, they can write a well-paced volume. What’s more, this takes place at the same time as Vol. 19 in the main series. We’ve finally caught up.

We pick up shortly after the events of the last few books. Lefiya returns to Loki Familia, having cut her long hair short, and now equipping herself with Filvis’ sword. She needs training to get stronger so she can be a magical swordsman, she says, and she chooses to train with Bete, reasoning that he’s the only one who will beat the shit out of her till she gets stronger. Loki, realizing that Lefiya is headed down a dangerous path, instead has her go to the flying School District to scout new students for the Familia. After all, Lefiya came from that school originally. On arrival, interspersed with memories of her time as a student, she learns how to be a teacher, and also continues down her very dangerous path. Fortunately, she’s better at one of these things more than the other.

We do see Bell in this, and yes, Lefiya still hates him. (The Memoria Freese game that’s currently being mined for spinoffs suggests they go back a lot longer than either of them realize.) Lefiya and Bell have been compared and contrasted through the entire Sword Oratoria spinoff, and it’s even more clear here, as Lefiya absolutely throws herself into getting stronger so that she can carry on Filvis’ legacy. The flashbacks suggest that Lefiya lacks a goal, and that adventurers who lack goals end up dead adventurers. She’s honestly pretty terrifying in this, especially in the back half, as we realize that she’s essentially trying to commit suicide by destroying her own identity. Fortunately, the genuine teaching moments she gives to the students in her care (some of whom are older than she is) helps to save her in the end. Lefiya can’t be Filvis no matter how much she loved her (and she says it out loud here). She has to remain Lefiya. Now, at least, she can move forward.

As for the spinoff itself, the next volume moves backwards, and appears to finally show us how Finn, Gareth and Riveria ended up in Loki Familia. Till then, I will finally admit that I’ve stopped disliking Lefiya. She’s gotten good.

The Saga of Tanya the Evil: Dum Spiro, Spero, Part 1

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By Carlo Zen and Shinobu Shinotsuki. Released in Japan as “Youjo Senki” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by James Balzer.

It’s been 15 months since the last volume of this series in English, and this one has a new translator as well. That said, it was 42 months between the 12th and 13th volume in Japan, so I think we lucked out there. To reverse this luck, Japan got the 14th volume only one month later, whereas we have to wait another six months or so. That said, after everything happening in this volume, I’m exhausted, and don’t mind a wait. I don’t think we’re quite in the final arc of the series – the Unified States haven’t fully joined the war yet – but we’re nearly there, and this volume throws us back at the Federation/Empire conflict, with not-Russia having a very cunning plan to win the battle and possibly win the war. It’s so cunning, in fact, that even Zettour doesn’t pick up on it, which leaves Tanya and company in a bit of a pickle, since they’re soldiers, and it’s bad form to do things without actual orders. Unfortunately, without orders, they’ll all die.

The Empire (including the Emperor and the royal family, who we’ve seen little of in this series) are expecting a fantastic victory from the Empire’s glorious military. The glorious military, unfortunately, is rapidly realizing that everything hinges on Zettour, and that’s bad, because if anything happens to him, the entire war collapses. Meanwhile, Tanya and her crew are back on the Eastern Front, and are somewhat disturbed by how… quiet it is. Technically this is good, right? It means that, as they thought, the Federation is not going to attack till at least spring. They *do* find a mage battalion, but they’re all weak and are taken out super easily. Everything’s coming up roses… so why is Tanya’s danger sense tingling? As it turns out, she’s 100% correct, and the Empire is now facing an unprecedented attack along the ENTIRE front. They need immediate orders to retreat or they’ll all be slaughtered. Unfortunately, the general at the front is MIA. What can Tanya do?

I was delighted to see a lot of Visha in this book. Let’s face it, I can do without Tanya talking about military history and what a good, kind person she is for 380 pages a pop, but give me some of Visha being the happiest adjutant around and I’m fine. I still suspect that all of Tanya’s unit except Tanya are going to die before the series ends, but hope springs eternal. As for the plot itself, well, not to spoil too much, but the climax of this volume relies on Tanya having to essentially do something that would normally get her court-martialed and executed (Bruce McCandless is mentioned) but, because she’s surrounded by people who trust her utterly, she’s able to do it. Given the whole “The Evil” designation for this series – and don’t get me wrong, she’s committed atrocities – it’s startling how she’s (presumably, hi, cliffhanger) able to survive here because her command group have all been with her for years and know what she’s capable of. Now – will it work?

Probably, but things are STILL going very badly for the Empire. Assuming you can get past the dense prose, this is still interesting. If you can’t, the manga reads better and also has more than two women in it.

Spy Classroom Short Story Collection: Honeymoon Raker

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By Takemachi and Tomari. Released in Japan as “Spy Kyoushitsu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Hiroshi Thrasher.

I’ve mentioned before that Spy Classroom drops far more short story volumes than most light novel series. This is the third, and there’s a fourth one coming after the next main volume in the series. The short story collections all take their subtitles from James Bond films, and this one is no exception. This one also has a purpose: just as the 2nd SS book had all the Lily stuff that the author had to cut out of the 4th book, this has all the bonding between Lamplight and Avian that had to be removed from the 5th. Which means, yes, it’s one last round for Avian, who have now been dead for five books but keep coming back for more punishment nevertheless. Of course, they’re all alive here, and since we already saw them abusing our heroines in the main series, these are a far more gentle series of short stories… mostly. Towards the end, we finally get to see exactly how Avian died, and it’s just as brutal as you’d expect.

The “honeymoon” part of the book just means that this takes place when Avian are in between missions and freeloading at Lamplight HQ, leading to the following short stories: 1) Pharma uses the three youngest members of Lamplight to catch a pedophile politician, much to Sara’s horror (she is one of the three); 2) Lan tries to avoid getting killed by Annette for calling her a “runt” in the main series, and also tries to catch a member of a gang of ex-spies, with Monica’s help… sort of; 3) Annette is trying to get a stray cat she saw in the alley by the docks to open up to her, and Queneau is there to tell her it’ll never happen as long as Annette is the way she is; 4) Avian continue to try to catch the ex-spies, as well as continuing to try to get one over on Klaus, but are horrified to find Lamplight are better at that than they are; 5) everyone comes together – if only by accident – to take on the leaders of the ex-spies; and 6) Avian gets brutally slaughtered, leading to Book 6 of the main series.

I’ve already said that Sara is my favorite character, but Annette may be the most interesting character, if only as she has the farthest to go in terms of character development. Her story may be the most predictable in this book (also, content alert, there are murdered animals in this part), but it’s also the most needed, as she’s told point blank that she needs to “alter her nature” in order to obtain her goals. Annette experiences loss here for possibly the first time she’s conscious of, and I wonder if it will impact her going forward. Most of these stories are an inverse of the 5th book, which was there to show us why Lamplight were so bad compared to Avian. Here we see, in cases other than pure combat, Lamplight have better teamwork and better planning, mostly as Avian doesn’t work as a team but as a bunch of folks who work together. They almost manage to get past this… before that ending.

Each of the SS collections has been better than the previous, which pleases me. Next time we’re back to the main story, which apparently starts its third arc.

I’m the Strongest in This Zombie World, But I Can’t Beat This Girl!, Vol. 1

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By Ryou Iwanami and TwinBox. Released in Japan as “Zombie Sekai de Ore wa Saikyou dakedo, Kono Ko ni wa Katenai” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Eriko Sugita.

Yes, it’s that time again. The time when Sean picks out a title that he normally would never touch with a ten foot pole and gives it a try to see what the people who don’t read what I read are reading. The author of this series has been active in light novel circles for over a decade, with various small run series, but this is their first license over here, I believe. And it’s a weird combination of ecchi romcom and zombie survival horror. Even the author admits that they didn’t think it would get picked up when they pitched it. So, with that in mind, how is it? Well, it does its job. It knows exactly what a readership who want zombies and a readership who want an ecchi harem title need, and it gives us both of them. There’s innuendo galore, and lots of saucy, sexy situations (with no sex). There’s also grim zombie deaths. And then there’s our hero, who… well, now, that’s the story.

Yuuma, the nebbish high school boy who always seems to star in these sorts of things, is in class one day when suddenly there’s a zombie outbreak. As everyone panics and gets bitten, he’s the only one to get out of the school. Unfortunately, he gets bitten by his zombie family when he goes home. Devastated, he lies by the riverside and awaits zombiefication. Just then, the younger sister of his childhood friend, Haruka, shows up. She isn’t a zombie, but is upset, as you might imagine, with current events. He reveals his own condition, and somehow the conversation ends up with her allowing him to grope her breasts before he dies. Then he turns zombie… but manages to revert, because he really wants to protect Haruka. Now he can switch between zombie and human… and also has a girlfriend? Maybe?

The general rule of thumb is you’re allowed one ridiculous handwave in your book. Obviously, the handwave for this series is that Yuuma can switch back and forth between being human and being a zombie because he’s just that good. Well, OK, the end of the volume hints that it may be more than that, as zombies really want to get at his blood, and his saliva can also cure zombiedom. Which means he has to make out with one of the other girls every few hours. I’ll be honest, this is still not my bag. But the zombie horror and discussion of existential zombie issues is done reasonably well. And, given its genre, the ecchi harem stuff is also done well. There’s four heroines, each a different “type”, lots of discussion of boobs and looking up skirts, etc. It manages to do what that genre should do without getting too skeevy. (It is a little skeevy, but that’s the genre.)

I’m not sure how invested in this series Yen is, given they got the name of the heroine wrong in both the first novel’s blurb and the second novel’s blurb. (Her name is Haruka Hyuuga, but some Naruto fan has sabotaged things, as the website designated her “Haruka Hinata” in the first one and “Hinata Hyuuga” in the second. I gotta say, Haruka is NOTHING like Hinata from Naruto. More of a Sakura type.) Anyway, digression aside, if you like zombies and boobs, this is right up your alley. As for me, back to villainessin’, I guess.

Lacey Longs for Freedom: The Dawn Witch’s Low-Key Life after Defeating the Demon King, Vol. 2

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By Hyogo Amagasa and Kyouichi. Released in Japan as “Akatsuki no Majo Lacey wa Jiyū ni Ikitai” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Alex Honton.

This book leans very, very strongly into Lacey’s introversion and tendency to rebuff all praise, and it’s the better for it, because the premise of the series is not really “will she get together with Wayne?” – this isn’t a romance, though there’s elements – but rather it’s “will she learn to love herself and accept that she’s a genius who comes up with amazing ideas no one else could think of?” And by no one else, I mean no one else in the magical land she’s a part of, living in a small village. Because honestly, scented sachets and insulated bags to keep things cool are things that seem obvious to us, a modern reader. But they take the country by storm – which is possibly not a good thing, as they’re getting far too much attention, and for someone whose wish to the king was that she wanted to be free, that’s bad news. Lacey is going to have to fight for freedom rather than just long for it.

Lacey’s opened her “Anything” shop, but she’s having trouble getting customers, mostly as the village saw the superpowers she used in the last book and don’t want to bother her with things that aren’t all that much. That said, when she hears Allen’s family talking about how they want cold drinks in the heat of summer, she comes up with an insulated bag to keep cool things cool and warm things warm. After this, her former party member Dana drops by, both to reconnect with Lacey and to consult her on the muscle and head pain she’s got from dealing with nobles too much. (The answer is: sleep.) Unfortunately, one of those nobles is rather desperate to get a hold of the creator of these super-popular inventions, and he’s not above kidnapping people – or, for that matter, murdering people – to get what he wants.

Lacey’s journey to self-confidence is slow, and still a work in progress, but she makes tremendous strides here. She’s helped by Wayne, who’s probably the weak point of the book – he’s basically the perfect boyfriend, patiently waiting for her to figure it out, and also helping her behind the scenes to make sure she’s happy. I wish he had more flaws. Lacey has plenty of those, as she constantly denies her own cleverness by pointing out how much everyone else contributed to her idea, and of course is still hiding her true identity because she feels she can’t live up to the Dawn Witch in everyone’s head. The running theme in this book is seeing her crouch down on the ground and pull her huge witch’s hat over her head to hide from anything that overwhelms her. By the end of the book, having stood up for herself and those she’s now vowed to protect, she doesn’t need the hat anymore, and it symbolically blows away in a scene that is (chef’s kiss).

So definitely still enjoying this. But I think the third volume only recently came out in Japan, so it might be a bit before we get more. Recommended for introverts who love to painfully identify with the heroine.

Disowned But Not Disheartened! Life Is Good with Overpowered Magic, Vol. 1

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By Riko Saiki and Baracan. Released in Japan as “Ie wo Oidasaremashita ga, Genki ni Kurashiteimasu: Cheat na Mahou to Zensei Chishiki de Kaiteki Benri na Second Life!” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Grant U.

Sometimes you get an author who doesn’t quite get why a thing is popular. They see that the Narou site has a lot of those “Cinderella” style light novels these days, starring a girl who’s been through a lot but things get better for her. Add a touch of isekai and otome game, and you’ve got an automatic winner, right? Except no, you actually have to put in the work. You cannot simply have three to four pages of tragic backstory and then have our heroine be absolutely fine the rest of the book. What’s more, you have to actually have a heroine. Plucky girl is not enough by itself, she needs to somehow grow and change throughout the book. Unfortunately, this is one of those books where the author did not get the memo. And as a result, we’re left with someone who would never be disheartened, because honestly, everything goes their way. What if Cinderella grew up with the prince?

When she’s three years old, Tafelina develops a rare mana destabilization… and then suddenly her hair and eyes change color. Naturally, her father reacts to this the only way he can: by strapping a three-year-old to the side of a horse and letting it run out of his territory. Fortunately, when we meet her, now nicknamed Lera, she’s been rescued by her uncle and has grown up in the earldom of Peylon, which she describes as being full of “meatheads” but is, in reality, filled with powerful monster slayers and magical geniuses… none more so than Lera herself, whose memories from her past life in Japan (come on, you can’t say you’re surprised) allow her to come up with amazing invention ideas that research teams can turn into money makers. Now she’s thirteen, and what do all teenagers do in books like these? They go to the academy, of course.

I kept being annoyed at the way this book did things. The Cinderella amounts to the prologue and one point in the main story where she’s shown to an attic by a prejudiced dorm head. Other than that, she’s got an adopted family who adore her, friends who admire her, and a knight who seemingly falls in love with her at first sight and is asking if she’s engaged yet. Those who dislike her are all evil cartoons, particularly the “other” Tafelina, who her father brought in to replace her after running her out of town on a mare. Most annoyingly, Lera doesn’t have enough of a personality to carry a book like this. She’s already super powerful, so doesn’t really learn much in classes, and she rarely gets angry or overexcited about anything, so we’re mostly left with a narrative “meh”. The one big conflict we’re promised, the downfall of her birth family, doesn’t happen, and is clearly being saved for Book 2.

Even the names in this book are annoying and hard to remember. Skip it.