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Reviews

How I Swapped Places with the Villainess, Beat Up Her Fiancé, and Found True Love, Vol. 1

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By BlueBlue and Meiji Anno. Released in Japan as “Danzai Sareteiru Akuyaku Reijou to Irekawatte Konyakusha-tachi wo Buttobashitara, Dekiai ga Matteimashita” by M Novels f. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by JCT.

There are good elements to this book, which I promise I’ll get to later. But for the most part, as I was reading this I found myself thinking ‘we’ve finally hit the era of generic villainess books’. It’s boilerplate, and most things that it does do well (such as our heroine beating up her problems) are done better in other, more famous series and also ignored for the majority of the book. It features a super evil “heroine” character, which I have grown very bored with – if you’re going to be evil, you’d better at least be as interesting as Lilia. But the most annoying part of the book may be how easy it is. Everyone immediately figures out the problem and comes up with a solution. Our main character is overpowered. And mostly it’s just her friends doing a Noel Coward play while the heroine fumes. This book suffers from being smug.

You know how this begins. Truck-kun. After our main character is killed saving a mother and child from a truck at the cost of her own life, she meets a goddess who has a deal to make for her. She was killed by accident, so can’t be reincarnated in Japan. But fortunately there’s a bad situation in another world. Alexandra Vistriano is in a time loop. She has been betrayed by her friends and fiance, exiled, and brutally murdered four times now, and it’s about to be five. Her soul is so damaged by despair that she’s at risk of being lost forever. Could the main character, who grew up learning karate and is a bit of a tomboy, step into the villainess’ place? Of course! The new Alexandra has no issue beating the crap out of everyone trying to exile and betray her. That said… when she does that, time loops AGAIN, and Alexandra has to do everything for a sixth time.

I did mention the good things. There are some plot conceits I quite liked involving the time loops, which also help explain one of the book’s biggest and most ludicrous handwaves, the amulets of protection. I also really loved Alexandra finally snapping at the end of the book and screaming at Celette for everything she’d done, expressing sheer horror and disbelief that she could possibly be so cruel and uncaring. It felt earned. That said… the rest of the book feels too easy. Since Alexandra has her past life memories, AND she now has a ton more magic power thanks to the reincarnation, this particular loop mostly consists of the heroine failing over and over again and everyone sneering at her. Also, the main love interest is, well, a jealous and obsessive stalker, and YMMV with those types – I just read one two days ago in the other October CIW debut, so was less forgiving this time around.

And of course, one more common villainess book cliche – despite wrapping up all its plotlines in the first volume, there are four more. For completists only.

A Pale Moon Reverie, Vol. 3

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By Kuji Furumiya and Teruko Arai. Released in Japan as “Tsuki no Shirosa o Shirite Madoromu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Jason Li.

The third volume of this series, as with the previous two, is very much concerned with people who are trying to control other people vs. people who want to live their lives freely, and it’s not a surprise that we’re very much on the free side. The bulk of the first two-thirds of this volume involves fighting against a god who really wants to have Sari do what he says, and is quite content to blow everything up if he can’t do that. We also have Xixu, hemmed in by his royal blood and his diligence to duty, who needs to be almost killed and possessed himself before he and Sari finally agree to make the choice we’ve been waiting almost 1000 pages for them to make. Even the last third, an epilogue, features a bunch of slave traders kidnapping people, or blackmailing them into evil. At the end of the book, one open ending has an antagonist, no longer being blackmailed, simply leave the city, unsure how to be free. Sometimes control can feel safer.

There’s war in other countries, but it hasn’t quite hit Irede yet. Unfortunately, as a result of the fight she had in the last volume, Sari accidentally left behind a pool of blood for the enemy to find – which the enemy can now use to essentially create a number of brainwashed assassins. A much more down to earth problem is that there’s a new guy showing up to the Pale Moon every day, and he wants to go to bed with Sari, and he is not taking no for an answer. And of course there’s Vas, now possessed by a God and very interested in making Sari give up her humanity and making Xixu dead. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that most everything that’s been happening to date is the god’s doing. As a result, it’s probably a very good thing that, after a bit more pouting and self-deprecation, our couple are finally ready to BE a couple.

So yes, spoiling the one question that everyone who’s read the first two volumes has, they do indeed have sex. Indeed, it’s possibly the most awkward first time ever, as due to all the machinations of the plot that have been going on, it also involves some death and resurrection. Which feels very fitting in a book with so many gods going on. Xixu remains the same awkward but heroic guy he’s always been, but it’s really striking how much Sari comes alive after she’s finally chosen Xixu as her life partner. The Epilogue section in particular shows her fully in control, kicking eight kinds of ass, and freezing bad guys in ice and then shattering them to bits. She’s gotten over her worries. I also liked the plucky young royal we saw here, introduced as a theoretical threat but in reality that’s defused almost immediately and she proves to be a savvy businesswoman with a good head on her shoulders – which is good, because she gets abducted. Abductions happen a lot in this series.

Fans of Kuji Furumiya should read this, of course, but it’s also a good read for those who are sick of isekai RPG-style fantasy and want something different. It also has a lot of cool sword fights, magic battles, and giant snakes. I loved reading it. And hey, a lot less death than I was expecting!

The Frugal Priestess Becomes a Saint

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By Hanami Nishine and Suzuka Oda. Released in Japan as “Isekai kara Seijo wo Yobe to Muchaburisareta Shinkan wa, Cost Performance no Tsugou de Seijo ni Naru” by Muchu Bunko Aletta. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Kashi Kamitoma.

I always like it when a book hits all the things I enjoy, though sometimes I have to remind myself that it’s fine because it’s fiction. The main romance here works because a) despite even the publisher labeling the Crown Prince a yandere, he’s very careful to go so far and no farther, so he gets to be extremely possessive and give chilly looks to everyone else, but around the girl he loves he’s a total soppy sweetheart. b) Fiona, our heroine, is as oblivious as a bag of things that don’t know they’re hammers, but because she’s so serious and dedicated, it’s refreshing. She lacks the ditzy quality we frequently see from this type, and it’s also very clear why she’s like this – she’s been carefully kept in a gilded cage for the last ten years. The reason for that, frankly, is not a mystery to the reader, but it is to her.

Fiona Everett is a talented priestess and aide to the pontiff. Unfortunately, the King has demanded that they summon a saint, mostly as the country next door has summoned one and he really wants to keep up with the Joneses. They already tried to summon a saint ten years ago, but it failed, and summoning one again will cost a great deal of time, manpower, and MONEY. So Fiona has an idea. Since saints traditionally have black hair, a rarity in this kingdom, and Fiona also has black hair, why doesn’t she says the spirit of the saint possessed her and she can act as a fake saint? The crown prince and the pontiff seem to go along with this pretty easily. Honestly, a bit too easily. And because Fiona is an overly serious, bookish sort, she’s decided she is the Saint of Cost Performance, balancing the books so that we see a lot more fixed bridges and a lot fewer replacement wigs.

So yeah, not to spoil too much, but Fiona actually has no memories from before she was ten years old, where she was taken in by the pontiff and also when the crown prince started doting on her. It does not take a brain surgeon to figure out the big secret everyone is covering up. The best part of the book is how the writing keeps Fiona both likeable and powerful without having to back off on her not understanding why Linus is kissing her hair, going with her wherever she goes, and having her sleep in his lap when she’s exhausted. This is played for humor, mostly in the coments from everyone around them who cannot believe she doesn’t get it, and it really is funny. Everyone calls Linus a sexual harrasser, which is true in terms of the letter of the law, I suppose, but it’s not as if Fiona ever tells him to stop either. Basically, she’s unconsciously in love with him the entire book. We also do meet another saint from a different country, who manages to be an absolute terror and makes me very happy Fiona decidedly does NOT regain her memories at the end of the book.

It’s also only one volume long, so even the series is cost-effective! If you can put up with clueless but studious heroines and handsy, possessive (but not sadistic) princes, this is a must read. Also, it has Fiona solve a problem by slapping someone in the face over and over and over again, which was glorious and I now want that in every book I read.

Demons’ Crest, Vol. 2

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By Reki Kawahara and Yukiko Horiguchi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by James Balzer.

I’ve mentioned before that I am not a gamer, and what this means that most of what I know about MMORPGs and the like comes from these sorts of light novels. As you can imagine, what this has mostly ended up doing is filling me with a deep desire not to game. Because man, gaming can be boring. Or at least, gaming can be boring if it’s being written by Reki Kawahara. Usually I have no issues with his action scenes, but that’s mostly as they’re being taken care of by characters I’ve known for ten years. But this is a new series that unfortunately is not really doing as many different things as I’d like (he says in the afterword that this is basically the SAO game system but with character classes added), and so, like so many, other light novels of this type, it reads like the author wants us to read their weekly gaming log. There’s a plot in this, which may possibly be intriguing. But we get less of it this time.

Sawa has a secret to tell everyone, which is that she is, in fact, possessed by a demon. Unfortunately, the demon only has a few minutes to tell them what they have to do next: go back into the game itself and find their childhood friend Nagi, who is still inside it. When they do so, they find that the game is a lot more realistic than it had been when they were just playing it for fun, and also that Nagi may in fact be trapped by one of the big bads, which requires them to essentially sneak in and perform a series of near-impossible tasks to get anywhere near Nagi. And this doesn’t even get into the fact that there are various other bad guys trying to stop them. And even if they do find Nagi and get back to reality, reality still sucks at the moment. Fortunately, they do have the help of the handsome playboy (well, for a 12-year-old) Niki.

There is a rather interesting plot way at the back of this. Sawa is not the only one possessed by a demon – in fact, the entire cast may each have a demon inside of them, relating to Solomon’s Demons, a popular thing in games. And, of course, the demons are quite different from the kids they inhabit, which could possibly lead some of them into betraying their friends. I’m definitely more interested in this than I am in Sugamo, who is still trying to do his own little Lord of the Flies and establish that he’s the best and everyone else needs to be executed (we all know that’s where he’s headed). As for the game world, when they’re wandering around a town and interacting with suddenly interesting NPCs, it’s fine. But most of it, as I said, is battles that don’t advance the plot beyond “they win after struggling”.

The third volume of this series comes out in Japan next week, so it will be a bit, and perhaps I will forget how much this bored me before it comes out. This sentence is here to jog my memory. Stick to Kawahara’s other series.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades: Side of Fire

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

This does not have a ‘1’ on the cover, and the book ends with the words “The End”. That said, I would not be remotely surprised if we get another volume of this prequel/side story. It’s a book that serves to show off some of the more popular supporting cast before the events of the main series, but it’s also there to remind us that Kimberly Academy did not begin when Nanao and Oliver arrived – and, in fact, the reason that they are able to do as well as they are is because the way was paved. It was paved by Alvin Godfrey, of course. And he has his own close-knit group of friends (though not, it has to be said, quite as close knit as our main cast), all of whom we have seen before, and some of whom are now dead. It’s also an opportunity to see the teachers as caring (to a point) educators, and not the next people Oliver has to kill.

Alvin Godfrey is having a bad time. His magic is rather pathetic, and his father resolves to disown him unless he gets into a magic academy. He proceeds to take 18 exams, and fail 17 of them. But it’s Kimberly, the most prestigious, that accepts him, as they see what he can’t – that he’s been taught wrong from an early age, and that he is, in reality, far more powerful than he’d ever expect. As we see his first and then second year, he realizes how much he hates the current student environment, and how he’s going to change it by the power of being really nice and helping people. Fortunately, he has his androgynous best friend Carlos, the always angry but also righteous Lesedi, temperamental and unhinged poison maker Tim, and abused and bullied Ophelia. Can they change the academy?

I admit I did wonder if this would take in everything we’d seen from the main books in its one volume, and thus was watching Ophelia carefully. But about halfway through I realized that it wasn’t going to end quite that far ahead, so I was pleased to have it read like… well, honestly, like the main series. Alvin and company are trained by Kevin Walker to survive in the Labyrinth, and they get help (but not too much) from Vera Miligan. And, frankly, the fact that in the main series Ophelia has become an antagonist is something that could still easily happen in the main series, given Katie’s subplot. Oliver may have his Great Cause, and I get that, but he’s not special – there are other protagonists in their own story. I also liked the climax, where we discover that sometimes you can’t assign meaning and definition to everything. It doesn’t quite say “shit happens”, but the thought is there, and it allows someone to be saved, if not to survive.

All this plus another reminder of how well-hung Leoncio is, in case you forgot which series you were reading. Fans of the books will definitely want to get this.

The World Bows Down Before My Flames: The Dark Lord’s Castle Goes Boom

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By Hiyoko Sumeragi, Mika Pikazo and mocha. Released in Japan as “Waga Homura ni Hirefuse Sekai: Mao Jo, Moyashitemita” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by James Balzer.

This advertises itself as a comedy, and that’s certainly true. If you’re the sort who loves to see teenage girls be horrible little gremlins, then this is right up your street. There’s funny situations, amusing banter, and a lot of hypocrisy. That said, I want to emphasize that this is a dark, cynical comedy, something that will be very obvious once you hit the end of the book. The world that our… “heroines” have been reincarnated into is absolutely terrible, and by the end of it we’ve seen a giant pile of death, some of it achieved by our main cast, because when I said that the girls would be horrible little gremlins, I meant along the lines of “committing atrocities”. Towards the end it turns serious for a bit, and I must admit I wavered. I’ll read the next one, but I hope it’s funny throughout – I don’t need each volume of this series ending with pure horror.

We start with the end of the series, with our five protagonists (as you’ll discover, heroines is absolutely the wrong word) having defeated the demon lord and burned his castle to the ground. Indeed, the fire is still burning as they bicker with each other. We then flash back to see them summoned before a goddess: POV character Homura, mad scientist Saiko… erm, Psycho, katana-wielding assassin Jin, alien robot girl Proto, and human experimentation victim Tsutsumi. They’ve been summoned to defeat the demon lord and save the world they’re now in. Unfortunately, the world they’re now in is kinda crappy, two of them look like monsters so have to hide their appearance, and the one normal girl in the cast may actually be the least normal one of all.

I’m not sure if each of the books will focus on a different girl, but this one is definitely Homura’s book. For the most part, she’s a somewhat shy, normal girl who suffered a life of bullying and abuse (and be warned, her suicide in the previous world is shown). Pretty soon we figure out that “normal” not the case, and it’s not really a spoiler, since it’s both the title AND the cover art. Actually, what is a bit of a spoiler is that Homura already had her powers before she was reincarnated – which means that, well, they’re a bit overpowered and over the top. And they also seem to influence her mind, something we see near the end of the book when she uncovers her inner bad girl. Everyone in the cast is a terrible person, and it just takes till the end of the book to figure out Homura is the worst of them. Sure, they’ll save the world, but not because they want to help people – they just like to kill bad guys.

This series is not for everyone – the most horrifying thing in the book is done by Psycho, the mad scientist – but it’s certainly striking, and I can see why it won an award. I’ll try another.

Last Quarter Vol. 1 by Ai Yazawa

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Last Quarter Volume 1 by Ai Yazawa

Last Quarter is an appropriately spooky manga for October, but it begins with a familiar story of angsty love between a Japanese schoolgirl and a foreigner who likes to lurk around Shibuya playing the guitar. Mizuki is struggling with a change in her family’s circumstances and becomes entranced by Adam’s music. Adam latches on to Mizuki as though she’s a life preserver, they quickly grow close. This type of self-destructive romance is done much much better by Yazawa herself in her later series, so seeing a similar story compressed into a chapter with less time to become invested in the characters made me just want to yell at Mizuki “Run Away Girl!!!” rather than hoping for a happily ever after scenario.

Last Quarter Volume 1

Mizuki’s story is cut short and Last Quarter shifts to exploring the ghost investigations of Hotaru and her classmates. Hotaru meets a mysterious ghost girl in an abandoned mansion. The girl has few memories of who she is or why she’s tied to the mansion, except she keeps playing the same song over and over and has strong memories of a long-lost love. Hotaru starts to investigate, and pulls in some of her friends, who are quite startled when they see that the ghost that only Hotaru can communicated with is capable of influencing the physical environment of the abandoned house. Hotaru nicknames her ghost Eve and they strike up a warm if somewhat disconcerting friendship.

Yazawa’s character designs are as always on-point and stylish, and it is nice being able to read earlier works of hers and compare them to Paradise Kiss and Nana. There’s a real sense of emptiness and distance as Eve continues her diminished existence in the mansion with only half-remembered feelings tying her to Earth. The dynamics in Hotaru’s friend group are engaging as they throw themselves into figuring out what happened to Mizuki/Eve, but Adam very much remains a cypher. I’ll be curious to see how the story continues to develop.

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 12

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By Zappon and Yasumo. Released in Japan as “Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasaretanode, Henkyou de Slow Life Surukoto ni Shimashita” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

The good news is that there’s a lot more relaxing in the countryside in this volume. Oh, don’t get me wrong, everyone still gets a chance to kick ass, and we also get the start of the plot that will presumably form the 13th and 14th volumes (I am assuming that 15, already announced to be the final volume, will be Red and Rit’s wedding). But there’s also lots of showing off exactly why Red and Ruti settled down in Zoltan, and how they aren’t alone. Not everyone in this town has been banished from the hero’s party, but it does seem to be pretty full of people who used to be in a violent, adventure filled life, and then they decided to just… stop, and come live here and do whatever the hell they want. That said, sometimes what they want is to save people and protect them, because while it’s bad to be forced to be a hero against your will, being heroic is still OK.

Yaralandra has decided she wants to build herself a modern ship. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of shipwrights who can do what she wants locally, so she gets everyone to join her in revisiting the ship they sank in the last book. While there, they end up seeing ANOTHER ship that is clearly on its last legs, and therein they find a princess of the Jade Empire, near death, and her plucky ninja protector. They manage to get them back to Zoltan, where the princess, Torahime, can recover. This leaves the gang with no choice but to take in the ninja girl for the next few days. That said, the ninja girl seems to lack a lot of common sense, and in many ways seems a lot more childish than you’d expect from someone protecting a princess. What’s really going on here?

The plot twist in this book is so obvious as to be visible from space, but that’s fine. The main purpose of this book is twofold: to introduce us to a fun, if somewhat annoying, new character in Habotan (who even speaks in overly polite speech just to make her extra grating), and to help Ruti realize that just because she is no longer the hero controlled by God does not mean that she can’t be a hero for someone else. There’s also a heaping helping of “sacrificing your own life to protect someone you care about may not, in fact, be the best solution” here, as this honestly is a world where everyone tends to be ludicrously self-sacrificing and we’re trying to get away from that. The last few pages are very much “building up to the final battle”, complete with an old enemy returning one last time.

That said, there’s still plenty of Red and Rit gazing softly into each other’s eyes. There may be less time for that in 13, though. Oh, and we get to see Mr. Crawly-Wawly wear tiny little spider sunglasses on top of his head.

The Reincarnator and the Goblin Maiden’s Happily Ever After: Using a Past Life to Keep a Joyful Wife, Vol. 1

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By Shinten-Shinchi and Tokima. Released in Japan as “Goblin Reijō to Tensei Kizoku ga Shiawase ni Naru Made: Konyakusha no Tame no Zense Chishiki no Jōzu na Tsukaikata” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Geirrlon Dunn.

Before we start, I really enjoyed one of the big twists in this book, and am going to have to discuss it, but I’ll put it after the cover image, so spoiler FYI.

And since I’m going to be talking about something I love as a spoiler, let’s start the review with something I loved less. This is, for the most part, a very good book, and I enjoyed both lead characters, their cool families, and their battle maids. But it does have a plot that I have always hated whenever I see it in both Eastern and Western books, TV< movies, manga, etc., which is the "if you're being bullied, the best thing to do is to get mentally stronger". Now, this isn't quite as bad as some – Ana's appearance is not, as of this first volume, something she can control, and we're given a real reason she doesn't simply tell an authority figure (in this case her mother). And the bullies do get theirs. But they only get theirs after Ana steps up and stops acting bullied. That leaves me conflicted.

Our protagonist is Ginorious, aka Gino. The fourth son of a viscount, he’s a commoner merchant due to being unable to inherit the title. Fortunately, he’s able to rely on his past memories from when he lived in Japan to help his business take off. Then one day his family get a marriage proposal from a duke’s family – i.e., they can’t turn this down. The family want him to marry their daughter Anastasia, who, due to a curse, has a lumpy forehead, long pointed ears, and green skin. She looks very much like a goblin, and has acquired a nasty nickname. Her other marriage partners were disgusted with her and treated her horribly the moment they were out of parental range. Fortunately for her, in his past life in Japan, Gino also had a terrible facial appearance, and spent his whole long life alone and unloved. So like hell he’ll let that happen to her.

So yeah. Let’s face it, when you hear “reincarnated from Japan”, you expect it to be, well, OUR Japan. And nothing in the first seventy pages or so says otherwise, except the occasional hint that Gino wears a mysterious ring. But as it turns out, the Japan he’s from is filled with magic, golems, etc. In fact, he was a golem engineer in Japan for most of his previous life. And what’s more, in Japan they knew a lot more about exactly what Ana’s curse is – it means she’s got far too much mana. Unfortunately, this isn’t Ehrenfest, and Ana cannot simply pour mana into various instruments until she’s better. Indeed, this world doesn’t really “get” mana that much. But it does mean that he knows a possible way forward. This was a great twist that helped distract me from “of course this will end with them curing her and she’ll be gorgeous”, which seems to be the actual long-term plot.

for the most part, this is really sweet and syrupy. It’s less good in the second half, not just from the bullying and more that I’m a bit sick to death of the school full of nobles by now. But it’s still a strong debut, and I will happily read a second volume.

The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain, Vol. 3

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By Bakufu Narayama and Ebisushi. Released in Japan as “Danzaisareta Akuyaku Reijō wa, Gyakkō-shite Kanpekina Akujo o Mezasu” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Alyssa Niioka. Adapted by Vida Cruz-Borja.

The general premise of “heroine goes back in time to her earlier self” stories, which Japan calls Yarinaoshi Loop, is that our protagonist tries to change things in order to change the future and in the end ends up changing everyone else’s lives for the better as well. Sometimes this ends up being the entire kingdom, where we see her do things like unite various kingdoms and solve famine (looking at you, Mia). But occasionally our heroine has a narrower focus. Claudia, in her first lifetime, ended up being sold into a brothel, and had firsthand experience of what a wretched life it is, as well as how, for so many women, there may be no other choice. We’ve already seen her rescue Helen from that life in the first book, and in the second book disguise herself to invest in the brothel she used to work in. But she’s not done. Here we see she wants to make sex work legal. Light novels rarely venture into this area.

(As a side note, if your villainess does not look at least as hot as Claudia does in that suit and hat on the front cover, try harder.)

There’s another foreign prince arriving in town, this one from fantasy… Britain? Denmark? One of those. Prince Seraphim is there to visit Sylvester. They have a Church problem – Seraphim’s nation is not monotheistic, and therefore the church which rules over Sylvester’s nation, as well as most of the others, dislikes them and won’t trade with them at normal prices. Seraphim is looking for allies. Meanwhile, Claudia accidentally murmuring about business when she’s thinking about ways to save the sex workers means her father gifts her a business to run – actually, more accurately an entire shopping center. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s in Seraphim’s home country! Now they’re all traveling to try to do various things, the most important of which may be to stop the evil church guy that always pops up in Japanese light novels.

The most interesting part of this book, aside from its putting the plight of sex workers front and center, is the addition of the cardinal, Nigel. Towards the end of the volume, the book felt it was moving far too fast, and I briefly wondered if it was a two-parter. That’s not the case, but I get the feeling that the author realized as they were writing Nigel that he made a great antagonist for Claudia now that Fermina is out of the picture. Nigel fills a lot of villain tropes – besides being a churchman who loves luxury and will happily kill women and children to get minions to obey him, he’s also dreadfully bored and regards Claudia, an unexpected element, as a challenge. Clearly we’ll be seeing more of him.

This isn’t fantastic, but is on the high side of very good, and Claudia is a great lead character. I’m happy to read more.

Too Many Losing Heroines!, Vol. 2

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By Takibi Amamori and Imigimuru. Released in Japan as “Make Heroine ga Ōsugiru!” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Acro.

I had better get used to these books being backloaded in the second half, because I had the exact same experience with this volume that I had with the first. The start of this volume is packed with scenes designed to make the main characters annoying in a funny way, but I mostly found them annoying in an annoying way, particularly our narrator, who may be trying to contrast with the usual light novel romance narrators, but not by much, because like all of them he’s emotionally sensitive to everything but his own mind. As the book goes on, and it delves into the ongoing issues of Losing Heroine #2, and the way that sometimes even after you’ve been rejected you still have to see the guy you like every day, it gets a lot better. When he’s dealing with other people’s love lives, Nukumizu excels. When he’s dealing with his own inability to know what love feels like, you find yourself rooting for Anna. And I hate rooting for Anna.

As mentioned, our three losing heroines have all been rejected, but life still goes on. Anna attends a reunion and is horrified to discover her childhood friend and his new girlfriend acting like they’re already married. Chika is still in the same literature club with the girl who is now dating her crush, and is still being very smug about it. And then there’s Lemon, who seems to be… walking around town with Ayano? What? Is he cheating on his new girlfriend? Is Lemon trying to horn in on a brand new relationship? Nukumizu absolutely does not want to get involved, but he and Anna are forced to when they run into Ayano’s actual girlfriend, Chihaya, who also worries that something is going on between them, and decides to solve the problem by planting tracking devices on her boyfriend and following him around. This is a bad idea, FYI for new couples.

Lemon, frankly, has always given off the impression that she’s supposed to be the dumb one in our cast, but that’s mostly because the characters are all varieties of trope because this book is trying to be a deconstruction (which it succeeds at roughly 1/3 of the time). In reality, she studied hard with her childhood friend and crush so they could go to school together, and concentrates so hard at track because her family are all known for their brains and she doesn’t want to disappoint them, so plays to her strengths. She’s pretty emotionally mature here once she stops literally running away from her problem. As for Anna, who is clearly the secondary protagonist in these books, she kinda likes Nukumizu, and would be amenable to dating him, but she’s still too hurt by her previous relationship. so she needs him to do the job of asking her – and he’s NOT emotionally mature, so that’s not happening. I expect it won’t be happening anytime soon.

All this plus a very funny parody of Villainess isekai which, frankly, could easily be one – Chika should take that to a publisher ASAP. A combination of really irritating and quite heartwarming. In that order.

Loner Life in Another World, Vol. 10

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By Shoji Goji and Saku Enomaru. Released in Japan as “Hitoribocchi no Isekai Kouryaku” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Andrew Schubauer.

First off, we have a change of creative team in the copyright. To Eric Margolis: thank you for your service, please have a rest now. To Lorin Christie: I see you got a promotion, please continue to help us enjoy this as editor. To Andrew Schubauer: Welcome to our new Meat Shield Translator!

I’ve mentioned before that this series does have a real meaning and moral behind “let’s watch Haruka bang his gorgeous monster concubines”. This volume in particular hits it hard at the end of the volume. If you are in power, if you enjoy the largesse of the people, then you have a responsibility to care for those people and make sure they are happy and content. If you do not do this, if you ignore the people saying it’s too hard to help them, or if you actively say that suffering is a good thing, then you are scum and deserve everything you get. When everyone arrives at the Beast Kingdom, the reader is briefly puzzled why Haruka and the girls are so utterly furious, but then it becomes clear – to get there, they had to pass through the devastated beast villages filled with dead people that the rulers didn’t bother to save. As for the Church? Well, using religion to genuinely make everyone’s lives better is still approved of. But the bulk of the Church isn’t doing that. And as for God, no one is impressed.

The last book implied this one would have the visit to the Beast Kingdom and then the attack on the Pope, but you know Loner Life is never going to do things quickly. No, this one is 463 pages, and you feel every one of those pages as Haruka decides to try to level up (remember, something damn near impossible for him to do) by sneaking into dungeons, fighting dungeon bosses, and getting killed/revived over and over till he’s a bloody mess. Needless to say, he does not win any friends by doing this. In his spare time, he rescues some adventurers who had heard about how awesome life was on the frontier, came to test their skills, and then discovered why the frontier is still terrifying. Finally, Haruka ends up setting off for the Beast Kingdom/Battle against the Church, and yes, everyone does come with him – much as he wants to protect them, he can’t put the girls off this time.

One thing that happens at the start of the book is that the Jocks (or Meatheads, as even Class Rep is calling them now) reveal that they’ve gotten engaged to five of the First Division’s warrior women, and, while pretending to be embarrassed, seem pretty happy about it. What’s more, we hear again that the Nerds have gotten into relationships with four of the Beast Girls in their kingdom. Despite all this, Haruka is still talking about searching the Theocracy to try to find something that can get everyone home. Class Rep is already aware that he means “everyone but him”, and that’s just not acceptable. It’s become pretty clear that, much as they miss Japan, the cast have decided that this is their home which they love. The reason Haruka has not cottoned on to this, of course, is because he is determined to distance himself from everyone he cares about and therefore he cannot understand why anyone would want to be around him unless he’s literally enslaved them. And even then, with the Mean Girls, he still doesn’t get it. Class Rep ALMOST confesses to him at the end of this book, but not quite, and it looks like he barely notices.

As I write this, the anime based on the manga is airing, but it really does seem like a completely different series. There’s still a lot to love about this series once you get past everything to hate about this series.

Babel: Condemned by the Magic Kingdom

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By Kuji Furumiya and Haruyuki Morisawa. Released in Japan as “Babel II: Mahou Taikoku Kara no Danzai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Amelia Imogen Mason.

Being transported to another world is, in many ways, far more difficult than being reincarnated. For one thing, if you’re reincarnated you at least grew up learning basic things like how to walk, talk, etc. in the same way as everyone else in your fantasy world. Whereas the average isekai’d Japanese person is thrown into a town and expected to immediately be able to cope with the Adventurer’s Guild and what exactly mana is. Usually the book simply decides not to bother to deal with it at all, but occasionally you get a handwave that this is a different language, and the handwave usually involves asking whoever is responsible for transporting them to this world (god, usually) to give them the ability to understand everyone. And thank goodness for that, right? As such, it’s only right at the end of this volume, almost halfway through the series itself, that Shizuka realizes, to her horror, what that actually means. And that the title of this series may have more actual impact than expected.

The book is largely divided into two stories, one small and one large. In the first story, Erik and Shizuku, after briefly helping a girl with tremendous magical power who’s spent her life at the top of a tower and her new fiancee, who is named Oscar, find themselves caught up in a revenge wedding ceremony from hell… one where Shizuku is being forced to play the bride. After this, they finally arrive at the Kingdom of Farsas and meet its royal family. (Who are NOT the aforementioned Oscar and young girl, lest readers of Unnamed Memory who haven’t read this get confused.) Unfortunately, the king takes one look at Shizuku and immediately tries to murder her. Apparently there are outsiders who are trying to infiltrate the country, and he decides the best way to make sure Shizuku isn’t one is to kill her and see if she shows her true colors. This test may sound familiar to those who know the history of witches…

Despite the fact that “Shizuku is kidnapped/brainwashed/etc.” being the plot of almost this entire book in one way or another, I greatly enjoyed this volume. Shizuku has the usual self-hatred that so many other light novel protagonists have, but we’re given reasons for it as we go along, and she also doesn’t let it turn her mopey. Some of the best scenes in the book are of her and the king, who reluctantly decides not to kill her right now, snarking back and forth at each other. As with the first book (and let’s face it, it’s the theme of the series), the inability to communicate and get concepts across is what drives this. Shizuku is not able to prove a negative, so everyone views her with suspicion. Erik insists on being guilty, and his own confession means that’s going to happen even when it’s not the entire truth. This all leads up to the revelation at the end, which rocks Shizuku’s world, and possibly makes her return to Japan father away than ever before.

All this and a nasty cliffhanger. Definitely recommended for fans of isekais that don’t use the usual “RPG” tropes, and essential reading for Unnamed Memory fans.

Secrets of the Silent Witch, Vol. 5

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By Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Silent Witch” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

This volume definitely has the feel of the author realizing that they can take their time and add the subplots that they were going to skip if this ended up being just 5 volumes long. As a result, we get more ominous foreshadowing as to what Felix’s goal is, and how it ties into what Duke Clockford wants for him… or rather wants to do to him. This ends up being connected to Monica’s own past as well, in a very sinister way. I remains convinced, especially after this volume’s backstories, that this is gonna end with a Felix/Monica pairing, but man, at the moment it would be the worst thing ever and we’d hate it, and I think the author knows that as well. Felix is trying to maniplulate those trying to manipulate him, and the only thing that gives him happiness is his fanboyish obsession with the Silent Witch, who he’d dearly love to meet so he could gush.at her. And hey, good news, Felix!

It’s Winter Break at school, and Monica is hoping to go home, spend some time with her stepmom, spend some time with Isabelle, and dread the upcoming New Year’s event she’ll be forced to attend. Unfortunately, to her horror, she gets a new assignment. Felix is going to Farfolia for some diplomatic work, trying to convince the local lords to set up a military base that is there in case of dragon attack and definitely not in case they decide to go to war with the Empire. Felix needs bodyguards, but Louis is needed on dragon-watching duty, as there’s been prophecy of a dragon attack. So we get Glenn instead… as well as the Silent Witch, who is supposed to guard Felix. Monica is going to have to be extra silent, wear a hood and veil, and hide her identity as hard as possible, lest Felix discover all. Fortunately, she’s already used to wearing a hood and not speaking…

The main plot is excellent, and promises that future books are going to get even darker as Monica tries to redeem her father’s reputation and Felix tries… well, to survive as himself. That said, there’s lots of stuff on the fringes that’s just as interesting in terms of what’s going to happen. Cyril continues to be featured enough that I’m not 100% sold on Felix/Monica being endgame (just 90%), and the scene with him and his mother ended up being the most heartwarming moment in the book. The demise of this book’s bad guy was very reminiscent of the climax of the Sherlock Holmes story “The Speckled Band”, which was nicely gruesome. And we continue to get the threat that Bridget might one day be important, without that actually happening. At this point I wonder if she’s secretly the last boss. (Probably not, it looks more likely she’s just a more serious “jealous girl”.)

The sixth volume promises to follow up on the consequences of this one, and Monica’s identity looks less secure than ever. Can she survive attempts at killing her? Can she survive Felix trying to get her to annotate his thesis some more?

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 14

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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.

I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t know when I say that this series entirely revolves around its star. Maple is why people read this series, and for the most part Maple is omnipresent throughout this series. Even the PVP events have been heavily Maple-centric, and several books have mostly just featured her and Sally taking over the narrative for 2/3 of the pages. So it was something of a surprise to see that this is easily the most balanced book in the entire series when it comes to the increasingly huge cast. Oh, don’t get me wrong, Maple is here throughout, and gets several things to do that cause people’s jaws to drop. But she’s hanging out with a bunch of other people who also have ridiculous moves, and not just the folks from Maple Tree. This is a book that spotlights its cast so much that even Frederica, who has made her entire name in this series by being second-best to Sally and whining, gets to be cool and powerful.

We’ve started the new PvP event. On one side: Maple Tree and the Order of the Holy Sword, plus a lot of other guilds who, honestly, are there to be cannon fodder. On the opposite side, we have Flame Empire, Rapid Fire, and Thunder Storm. Oddly, Maple is the one on the fire side, with all the monsters, while fire expert Mii is on the human side. What follows is a series of battles, usually featuring our main cast taking care of business pretty easily, followed by a back half of a big battle royale, where our main cast have a much harder time, and the correct answer may be “when is the correct time to run away without getting killed?”. And worst of all, this is a two-parter, so we don’t even get the closure of knowing who won in this book.

So yes, there’s less Maple in this book, but that’s not to say she doesn’t get her usual moments. For those who want “cool Maple”, the shot of her, with both white angel wins and black demon wings, wearing her halo and standing on a ledge looking like the wrath of God, is a treat. For those who love funny Maple, combining the Sheep Mode with Mai and Yui to give hapless players a rapid transit system is well worth the money. Speaking of Mai and Yui, it’s become pretty clear that after Maple and Sally, they’re the most dangerous ones in the party, and they too get “oh my GOD!” moments here that are both awesome and yet still kind of funny. (Every Mai and Yui joke is a variation on “when all you have is a hammer”.) This is a 100% game book, with not a Kaede or Risa to be found anywhere, and it moves at a fast pace. Even Pain manages to be interesting!… OK, that’s a lie. The author isn’t *that* good.

So yes, very Maple, much fight. Bring on the conclusion.