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Reviews

Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother, Vol. 1

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

First of all, because I know it’s the first question on everyone’s mind, there’s no incest subtext in this book. OK, there’s no sexual incest subtext. There’s tons of Brocon/siscon stuff, and the usual “I’m never marrying anyone I’ll just stay with you” nonsense, but there is zero sexual attraction between the two leads beyond Ekaterina thinking her brother is hot. Which he is. Secondly, in the afterword, the author says they got the idea for this series after reading another villainess book. They don’t say which one, but if it’s not My Next Life As a Villainess, I’ll be very surprised. This, like quite a few villainess books, reads like someone wanted to write the same series only with the main character being less of a complete dipshit. And this not only includes Ekaterina trying hard to avoid her doom, but also includes her befriending the heroine, who seems to fall deeply in love with her. That said, this will likely be about as canon as Bakarina as well.

Rina Yukimura is an OL in a Black Company-type job, who ends up dying of overwork and exhaustion while playing an otome game she loves. Now she wakes up as… the game’s villainess! Ekaterina Yulnova is the sister of a duke, and spends most of the game bullying the heroine until she eventually gets her comeuppance. So Rina has several things she has to do. First, she and Ekaterina start off as very different people, and meshing their personalities (well, more like Rina takes over) takes a lot of energy. Secondly, she has to work hard to not be the villainess, which means actually study hard and also read up on her family history, which was not gone into in the game, and turns out to be a lot darker than she expected. This is all before she gets to school, and meets Lady, Flora, a commoner who is now the adopted daughter of a baroness…

If that summary made you roll your eyes a bit, I don’t blame you. It’s a bit boilerplate, yes. Ekaterina is fun, though. Having died from overwork in her past life, she sees her brother running the entire dukedom and panics that he’ll do the same thing… while remaining blissfully obvious that she’s fallen into her own overwork habits from before. Flora is a shyer, more reserved Maria Campbell, but they even bond over good food – in this case, potato and bacon crepes rather than sweets – and seems to hero worship Ekaterina just as much, and some other ladies also look smitten by the end of this volume. That said, she’s also gaining male followers. In addition to her brother, who reads like Keith Claes only without all the creepy, there’s the Prince, who reads a lot like Jeord but without all the creepy. Oh yes, and there’s also monster attacks, which Bakarina doesn’t do as much but does allow Ekaterina to help save the day with her “common” Earth magic… which again, feels like a comment on Katarina Claes and her Earth Bump.

If you like villainess books, this isn’t bad. If you want Bakarina with the serial numbers filed off, it’s also not bad. Just… expect the yuri to go the same way it’s going to go in Bakarina.

The Invisible Wallflower Marries an Upstart Aristocrat After Getting Dumped for Her Sister!, Vol. 2

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By Makino Maebaru and Murasaki Shido. Released in Japan as “Kon’yaku Haki Sareta “Kūki” na Watashi, Nariagari no Dan’na-sama ni Totsugimashita” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

Last time I said that I enjoyed a romance with a few jagged edges, and this second volume provides. In fact, it provides a bit too much. This volume features sexual assault, threats of sexual assault, past histories of both sexual assault and murder, drug addiction, forced drug addition, kidnappings, and use of sexual language to degrade. And that’s all just Mikhail. It’s less “jagged edges” now and more “the floor is lava”. At its heart, though, like so many of this genre, the story is about examining the aristocracy, the power that they hold over the working class, and how it can be abused without anyone knowing or caring. Now, eventually they do care, trust me. But it takes a lot of evidence, and it also requires Iris to endure a large amount of the above, all for the sake of her husband, who people still don’t trust. It’s a lot.

When we last left Iris and Lucas, she had gotten a letter from her sister, who basically wrote (in nearly illiterate script), “come do everything for my engagement party because I demand it”, which causes Iris to briefly have a bit of a breakdown. After this, though, she resolves to not only return to her family to help with her sister’s engagement party, but to use this opportunity to cut things off with her family once and for all. Which, of course, is tricky because the first prince is still determined to ruin Lucas, and the easiest way to do that is through Lucas’ new wife. Iris also has her work cut out for her: her dad is drunk and gambling away all his money, her stepmother hates her, and her sister is a jealous spoiled brat who can’t even read or write well. Oh yes, and there’s her ex-fiancé, Mikhail. See above.

How much you like this volume may depend how much you can tolerate “I will stoically endure for the sake of my future happiness”. The scene at Mikhail’s mansion is harrowing, and this is even with Iris taking guards and maids just in case. Her family’s dissoluteness turns out to have been engineered, which does not make her sympathetic to them, but it does mean that at least we don’t long to see them die horribly like, say, we long to see happen to Mikhail. There’s also a fake ending, as I wondered if the main conflict would be wrapped up 3/4 of the way through the book and the series would end with a consummation at last. But no, this series turns out to be three volumes, not two, and the main villain escapes so he can once again kidnap, threaten, and exude his sexist fantasies at Iris. Worst of all, he’s not killed off (at least not on the page), so I suspect he’ll be back.

This is a good series, and Iris and Lucas’ romance is very well done. But man, there’s a lot of stuff to endure here. Jagged edges are best in moderation.

By a Twist of Fate, I’m Attending the Royal Academy in Disguise, Vol. 1

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By Ringo and Tsukasa Satsuki. Released in Japan as “Wake Atte, Hensō Shite Gakuen ni Sennyū Shiteimasu” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Alex Castor.

I had talked about artifact titles only a couple of days ago, and this is an even better example: after the first forty pages, the title becomes totally incorrect, as this book does not take place at the academy at all beyond that point. Which makes sense: like the best LaLa titles, this started off as a complete in 40 pages short story, which was then expanded, and is now a volume, with a second one on the way. Despite that… yeah, she’s still not attending the royal academy. Oh well, I’ll happily read it anyway, because I like the main couple. We have a heroine (and yes, for once it’s not a villainess or fallen noble but is playing the cliche straight) who is straightforward and blunt and also perhaps doesn’t care enough about her well-being, and a royal prince who is far more similar to her than he’d like. But she’s a commoner, so they can’t marry. Certainly not with everything getting in her way this volume, at least…

As the title suggests, Cesia is at the Royal Academy pretending to be Selene Diane, a noble lady who is a bit of a bitch, and doesn’t want to deal with the bullying she’ll get from being engaged to the handsome lothario Lord Raymond Chaser, so Cesia has been there the last two years in her place. A pile of money awaits her at graduation… unless she’s working for evil nobles. Oh, no, she’s working for evil nobles! So, after escaping from her imprisonment, she resolves to attend graduation to try and get some revenge… even if she has no idea what it is. Then she runs into Marcus, the second :Prince, who not only is here to help her with her revenge but also seems very familiar… After this, the rest of the book plays out, which basically involves Cesia working for the government and ending up in constant life-threatening danger.

There are several interesting aspects of this book, but my favorite is probably Maria. Maria was an acquaintance of Cesia’s at the academy… and also turns out to be Prince Marcus, who can disguise himself to magic to be a woman. Despite discovering this, Cesia continues to see Maria and Marcus separately. Part of this is likely due to the fact that Marcus is royal and it’s easier to be more casual with Maria, but a lot of it is simply subconscious, Cesia is more comfortable with Maria. Which makes Marcus… feel a bit ambiguous. The rest of the book is not all that original (jealous younger sister who turns out to be a total sweetie pie, decadent nobility taking drugs, Cesia almost dying like 4 times…) and ends with a nasty cliffhanger, but Cesia is fun, and really needs some self-esteem. Marcus calls her a “stray cat”, never wanting to settle down, and he’s not far off, but he’s also ignoring his own lack of self-regard, as he’s not the heir.

The second volume is coming out relatively quickly, which is good. For those who like a bit of thriller in their commoner/noble romance.

The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor, Vol. 4

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By Sasara Nagase and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Yarinaoshi Reijō wa Ryūtei Heika o Kōryaku-chū” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

I feel confident in saying that very few readers of this series will have gone through the same thing that Jill has. Which is good, really, because yikes, Jill once again goes through some stuff in this book. We’ve been reading the series from her perspective, and of course we know it’s a villainess-style “back in time” story, so we’re expecting a lot of fighting fate and never giving up, etc. The problem is that everyone else in the world does NOT have Jill’s perspective. And to them, this is absolute lunacy, and the Dragon Emperor is going to go mad, start a war, and destroy everything. Why on earth would they let this 11-year-old (yup, still, just assume I talked about it already) do whatever the hell she wants just because she says that the two of them are in love? Especially when that love is tested – again – and Jill is forced to once again fight for everything she’s achieved to date or else everything will be set back to the original track.

Jill and Hadis are headed off to get permission to marry from her parents, which requires essentially going through days of traps and dangerous travel because, unsurprisingly, Jill’s entire family are all as eccentric as she is. (It turns out she did the wrong test, too, because Jill is still not the brightest bulb.) Unfortunately, Jill has assumed this will mostly involve her dad saying “you can’t date my daughter, you cur!” and other wacky light novel cliches, forgetting that her family are, in fact, part of the kingdom of Kratos, and that it would be much, much easier, instead of agreeing to Jill and Hadis getting married, to start a war to get Jill away from him. Something which, to Jill’s horror, Hadis is 100% okay with.

Probably the best part of this book (aside from the ending, where Jill once again proves there’s no problem that cannot be solved by extreme violence) is how it ties back to the rest of the series. It’s paying close attention to its backstory, and has not forgotten about the other taboo subject in the series, with is Gerald and his sister starting the whole plot off with their incest. First of all, everything we’ve seen about Gerald in this new timeline makes that seems puzzling, as he just doesn’t seem the type. Then his father, who is a real piece of work, explains what’s actually going on to Natalie, who appears to be taking the role of Jill in this new timeline since Jill has abdicated. It’s not completely explained, but it’s certainly ominous, and is not helped by Faris, who appears to be about to go full evil. I also really liked the look we got at the past Dragon Consorts, and how they all tried to have a wonderful relationship with the Emperor only for it to fall apart. It weighed the tragedy and fate just right.

Assuming you kept reading past the basic premise, this is an excellent volume in the series, from an author who really knows how to make everything feel that the words “BAD END” will appear on the very next page.

Third Loop: The Nameless Princess and the Cruel Emperor, Vol. 2

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By Iota AIUE and Misa Sazanami. Released in Japan as “Nanashi no Ōjo to Reikoku Kōtei: Shītagerareta Yōjo, Konse de wa Ryū to Mofumofu ni Dekiai Sarete Imasu” by M Novels f. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by JCT.

I always enjoy it when a series with an “artifact title” manages to find a way to work it into future volumes regardless. An artifact title is when you title a book or a show after something that happens at the start that gets fixed, and you’re then left with that title even though it really doesn’t make sense anymore. See, for example, The Ideal Sponger Life. Third Loop was an obvious candidate, as the Nameless Princess gets a name at the end of the book: Angelina. As such, well, how is she nameless? This ssecond volume, though, comes up with something quite clever: people are calling her “the Polaris Princess”, but are seeing her as her title or her power rather than as a four-year-old girl. (To be fair, she’s mentally a lot older… well, kind of.) So she once again has o deal with enforcing her identity upon those who would deny it. Luckily, she has friends.

We’re coming up on a ten-day celebration and ritual for her older brother Kyril. Naturally, having won over everyone in the first book, Angelina will have a large role, despite being four years old. Indeed, one of the main parts of the ritual HAS to be done by her, as the Emperor, um, sort of killed off every other women in his family to ascend to the throne. As one does. That’s not the only issue she’s facing. The goddess of the Heavenly Sovereign Temple has descended for the ceremony, and she does Not Like Angelina At All. There’s also the issue of some wells in the commoner part of the kingdom freezing up… in high summer. Could this be related to the demon tribe that their nation has been at war with, who have arrived seemingly just to be jerks? And can Angelina really solve everything by gumption and cuteness?

Well, nearly. As I alluded to above, this series is not really very good at making Angelina act her age. This is not an uncommon problem with time loop or reincarnation stories that start with them as a baby – technically they should act like they’re in their thirties, but the reader wants to see her be an adorable kid who lisps when she gets stressed. But maybe that’s the way to keep her from being too OP, as it’s clear that Angelina being adorable and forthright solves almost every problem in this book. It’s how she gets gods on her side. It’s how she deals with introverted royalty, insecure priestesses, and her bodyguard and best friend. She’s weaponized being cute as a button. (Perhaps too much – I could have done without the standard “overprotective dad” joke where he worries his four-year-old girl is running away to get married.)

So yes, flawed. But honestly, if you’re hear for the cute? You can put up with a lot of flaws. And the gumption and forthrightness is also excellent.

Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord, Vol. 5

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By Satori Tanabata and Tea. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō Level 99: Watashi wa Ura Boss Desu ga Maō dewa Arimasen” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

The anime has now finished, and it ended up being a fantastic advertisement… for the manga. Great news for that, but as for the light novel, I think anyone who enjoyed the anime and reads it is not going to be anything other than pissed off. That said, I think the author, now that they are aware that this won’t be a short series, is trying to do something beyond “Yumiella is wacky and dumb” over and over again. For the first, oh, 4/5 of this book, we get a deeper Yumiella, who actually thinks and makes realizations that are actually correct. Admittedly a lot of this is because she spends a great deal of the book depressed, but it’s still a positive development. She’s dragged into politics that have been simmering since the first book, and does OK… well, till the last fifth of the book, where Yumiella reminds us who she is. Sigh. It was nice while it lasted.

Yumiella is supervising (well, not really) the building of several new structures in her territory in preparation for her upcoming wedding when she is lured to the capitol, supposedly to build cool sentai armor, but in reality to be fitted for her wedding dress. The one-two punch of having to endure the fitting and discovering that anime giant robot physics don’t apply in this world sends her into a funk, which is not helped by Eleanora – spotted in the capitol – being dragged into a dispute between the radicals and the moderates… which she only just now realizes was framed to her by those who support the moderate side. Now both sides are grappling for power, and are trying to use Yumiella’s position to get it, reasoning she is sensible enough not to punch people to death. Which is true. That is the end of the sensibility.

Let’s get the terrible out of the way first. Everything about the final bit with Yumiella and her parents is pathetic and awful and unfunny, and it does not help that everyone in the story agrees with me. Ugh. Leaving that aside, I did enjoy this. Yumiella is more sensible until the denouement, something she even notices herself. She also is starting to examine her own habits and thought processes and find them wanting, especially when it comes to observing others. That said, Eleanora is easily the reason to read this. The running gag in the book is that Eleanora, the duke’s daughter, is not the same person as Eleanora, the girl everyone knows is living with Yumiella. But that’s also very true – Eleanora has grown up. She is using her own special talents to help businesses. She’s mature enough to criticize Prince Edwin and even say that his own morose moping makes her hate him now (though she later melts down after realizing what she did). She’s terrific. Yumiella… ends up backsliding, alas.

It was nice to see the book wade back into the politics of the first two again, and it’s still fun to read, provided you completely separate it from its adaptations.

A Surprisingly Happy Engagement for the Slime Duke and the Fallen Noble Lady, Vol. 1

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By Mashimesa Emoto and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Slime Taikō to Botsuraku Reijō no Angai Shiawase na Konyaku” by HJ Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Minna Lin.

Fallen Noble Lady series are getting to be a bit glutted in this market. We’ve already had to separate them from Villainess stories (note the Japanese does not say Akuyaku Reijō), but even after doing that it seems you cannot throw a shoe without hitting another young woman being publicly humiliated by her fiancee. As such, you need to make sure, when you write another such story, that you have a gimmick. And it’s got to be a really good gimmick. Slime Duke? Controls slimes? Not bad, but could be better. Slimes are also, honestly, a bit overdone. She bakes yummy treats? Boooooring, seen it. She secretly has multiple men in love with her but is totally clueless? Boooooring, seen it. No, this series needed something more. Something truly astounding to put it ahead of the pack. It needed a duck. An attack duck. An attack duck that goes with the heroine to her new domain and proceeds to wreak a reign of terror (on the male ducks). It’s glorious.

Technically our heroine, Francette, is the sister of the Fallen Noble Lady. But said sister rebounds fast, and ends up the Queen of a neighboring country. This is not her story. Francette, however, does lose the family house, money, and everything else. She ends up staying with her father because, well, after seeing that she is rather tired of nobility. Unfortunately, her dad tends to run around with other women. And one day the husband of one of those women goes to see Francette, saying she has to pay 200,000 in restitution or he’ll force her into a brothel. Even her attack duck can’t help her out of this. Fortunately, out from a bush (it makes sense in content, but only later on) steps the owner of the slime that she took in from off the street, and he’s there to… propose to her!?

So, first of all, the biggest minus for this volume: the duck should have been on the cover. Come on. Also, word of warning, but Gabriel, the Slime Duke (he’s a human, not a slime, it’s a title) is a bit of a creepy stalker, in the sort of “I am too pathetic to express my infatuation so I will instead follow her around secretly” kind of dweeb. Fortunately, once they’re actually forced to meet, they turn out to be the best things for each other, as she builds him up and praises him, while he gives her a ;purpose and a new family. There are identical maid triplets with different personalities here as well, which is a trope that is almost impossible to get wrong, and this does not. It does have villains who are super, duper, ooper evil, and multiple threats of being forced into sex work, but at heart this is a fluffy story with a cute couple, cute slimes, and a vicious duck who will cut you.

My favorite part is when Gabriel introduces the mansion residents (his histrionic mother, the triplet maids, and the head servant who is a woman but dresses as a butler) and says that Francette is the only normal one there. He says this to her as she is holding her duck under one arm. Normal is overrated.

A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life, Vol. 10

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By Yuu Tanaka and Nardack. Released in Japan as “Deokure Tamer no Sono Higurashi” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by A.M. Cola.

This book does so many things wrong and yet I still greatly enjoy each volume. Honestly, I think I’d enjoy it far less if I were a gamer. I’ve never gamed fighting games at all, so the concept of “oh look, its HP is down to 30% so it’s changing its attack pattern” is something I’ve only experienced through light novels, which generally speaking cannot shut up about being the author’s game log turned into prose. And yet. Somehow, Yuto and his cute li’l monsters fighting don’t really bother me (it helps that I know I can sort of read much faster when I get to this point). Likewise, the “we get Yuto’s POV, then switch to other POVs” can be very aggravating if it’s just repeating the same events, but this book doesn’t do that. Also, like Bofuri, the Forum Threads work well. Most of all, I love watching Yuto being the biggest dipshit ever when it comes to knowing how good he is at this game.

We’re still in that weird combination of prehistoric monsters and island beach adventure. Yuto is ready to start searching for pirate gold… well, no, he’s just trying to follow the clues to the pirate shi0p that’s in an underwater cove, which leads to a lot of dead pirate skeletons. He then meets up with some of his friends, who are streaming, and once again accidentally reveals one of the most important parts of the event without knowing it’s important or realizing he’s doing it, which forces the mods to have to alter the entire big finale. The finale is pretty big, though, with lots of top line players, including Holland, the top player in the game. Will he ;pull it off and kill the Big Bad? Or will Yuto accidentally back into being awesome again?

I mean, the title of the book should give the answer to that question. If you enjoy Yuto being nice, generous, and deeply clueless, this is a fantastic book. Even when he’s spending his entire winnings at the end of the book to trick out his Japanese house into becoming a mansion that would cost upwards of 10 million dollars to buy in the real world, he’s framing it as “oh, hey, cool thing here, I bet everyone else is doing this”. Yuto’s isolation is the reason this all works so well. Yes, he has lots of casual friends in the game, and talks to them about stuff. He also occasionally buys information. But he never searches forums to solve problems, or reads them at all, really, except in very rare cases. As such, he has no idea how other people are normally spending their time or their money. His idea of “this is obvious, everyone else must do it” is everyone else’s idea of “WHAAAAAAAAAAT???”.

So yeah, arc over. I have a feeling the next book may be a slow life sort of break. We shall see. In the meantime, please enjoy the male Bofuri.

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 18

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

So if the last volume was a soft reboot, then this volume is a return to basics. That’s good news for the newbie reader, who may be unfamiliar with our cast of characters, but it’s very bad news for ongoing readers who really don’t need Mile’s Greatest Hits Vol. 18. To make matters worse, when we switch to the Wonder Trio they do the exact same thing that the Crimson Vow did in the previous book, meaning we’re repeating stuff that we saw Mile and company literally doing last time. Things do pick up towards the end, when we meet a new character who manages to be slightly different from everything we’ve seen before… but the main cast think she’s annoying (to be fair, she is) and are trying to get rid of her as quickly as possible. Again, this has the feel of a series where the author has run out of things to say, but can’t end it because it’s too popular.

The Crimson Vow have started over as lowly F-rankers… which doesn’t even last ten pages before they are promoted to C-rank so they do not immediately destroy the town, guild, and everything else by being themselves. They immediately take an inactive mission that’s been sitting there, going to a village to try to kill the wolves that have been murdering their livestock. Except the wolves are basically puppies. And the livestock isn’t eaten or dragged into the forest. Yeah, something suspicious is going on here. Meanwhile, the Wonder Trio are also in this new land, and discovering the exact same things Mile did last time – the monsters are much smarter here. Finally, the Crimson Vow meet a merchant Girl who is desperate to make her name, and will be incredibly annoying till they help her.

So yes, Arli the merchant girl was who interested me most in this book, though it appears most of what’s interesting about her will be left to the 19th volume. She’s refreshingly rude and blunt, but it turns out that this is just a front, and that she’s far more depressed and exhausted than she makes herself out to be. I’m intrigued. I am less intrigued by Mile absuing the elder dragons to solve problems – again – or the Crimson Vow utterly destroying a group of village elders who wanted to take advantage of them – again. As for the Wonder Trio, they’re more irritating here, as they’re going over old ground almost to the point of saying the same lines, and they’re being unthinkingly arrogant in a way that’s not funny to the reader. On the bright side, the Crimson Vow taking a group of old fisherman on one last sea hunt was pretty heartwarming.

So yeah, another FUNA book down, and it didn’t even have the decency to have atrocities committed, like I can get from Potion Girl. Disappointing.

Guillotine Bride: I’m Just a Dragon Girl Who’ll Destroy the World

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By Daigo Murasaki and Kayahara. Released in Japan as “Dantōdai no Hanayome: Sekai o Horobosu Futsutsukana Tatsuki Desu ga” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kiki Piatkowski.

I almost wish this was worse. If there was something offensive about it, something that made me want to scream in rage (still looking at you, Livid Lady), I’d have no issues writing this review at all. Unfortunately, this has the misfortune of being bad in a bland, flavorless way, and so I’m reduced to looking down at my word count and see I still have 400 words to go. I joked on Twitter that this was a novelization of a harem anime from 2002, and it really felt like one… in all the worst ways. And, of course, it ended up being a cancelled series, so we’re not even getting any more of it. The author apparently also wrote Demon Lord 2099… which I didn’t even start to read. We get three love interests here (plus the childhood friend, who I fear suffered most from the cancellation as she’s barely in this), but none of them have the personality or pizzazz to carry a series. It’s just so… meh.

We open on a kangaroo court condemning a teenage girl, whose dragon powers can apparently destroy the world, to be executed, despite the efforts of the girl’s one friend. We then cut to a typical high school student council, where our hero Ryuunosuke is the vice president, and tends to do all the work. He has an assistant, a beautiful girl who’s in love with him. He has a cute childhood friend. The president is a cool beauty. Then he walks home, and a dragon girl, who had been blown out of the sky from the helicopter taking her to the execution, lands in front of him. Now he not only finds himself drawn to the girl, as he has the power to control her “destroy the world” shenanigans, but also his student council are far less normal than he expected.

So. Rinne is the dragon girl, and… she doesn’t have much of a personality beyond “loves Ryuunosuke and argues with Mari”. Mari is Ryuunosuke’s assistant in the student council, a vampire, and doesn’t have much more of a personality than Rinne, though I will grant it is a little more. Ranko is the student council president, cool scientist type, and mistress of exposition, and she doesn’t get much to do here except get shot and have a last minute surprise that doesn’t matter as there isn’t a second volume. And it’s not much of a surprise. As for Ryuunosuke… he’s Touma. He’s Tenchi. He’s Keitaro. He’s the sort of hero that Araragi and Hachiman are there to deconstruct. He is also boring as hell, and naturally when Rinne tries to strip and seduce him, his reaction is more “Whaaaaaaaaat?” than anything else. Even the final fight is kinda boring.

So yeah. Dunno why this was licensed. Anime coming? It might actually work better as an anime. It’s mind-numbing in print.

Durarara!! Side Stories?!

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By Ryohgo Narita and Suzuhito Yasuda. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

Even more than the Index SS volumes, I’m surprised that this is coming out over here at all. With Index, at least, you can argue that the SS books genuinely affect the plot of future novels. This one is a collection mostly of stories that ran in one or more of Dengeki’s 87 million tie-in magazines, and half the book is a tie-in to either a Japanese video service or a Narita series that has not been licensed over here and likely will never be unless it gets an anime. That said… it’s still a fun volume, because this is Durarara!!, and it’s ridiculous, and I’m just happy to spend more time with these idiots. There are no short stories in here that made me annoyed, though I will note that two of them do accidentally feature the same sort of thing. As for Vamp!… yeah, can’t do anything about that. Hope that Vamp! gets an anime.

The stories: 1) While eating the hot pot as seen in the main novels, we get “what were Mikado and Masaomi like as kids?”, “how did Anri and Mika become twisted friends?”, and “how did Shizuo and Tom meet?”. 2) A goon decides to impersonate Shizuo, a decision so hilariously awful that the rest of the story coasts by on “watch him suffer”. 3) Some quick hit short-shorts starring Celty. 4) We hear about the coming-of-age ceremony of Shizuo, Izaya, Kadota and Shinra. You can imagine how well it goes. 5) A desperate Erika tries to get Celty to become a Niconico streaming star, as Erika is in a war with a rival streamer. The identity of this rival may surprise you. Or not. 6) In a crossover with Vamp!, an unnamed succubus comes to Japan to feed off the desires of victims, but quickly realizes that everyone in this series is dangerously unhinged.

There are, honestly, two short stories here that are head and shoulders above the others, and unsurprisingly they’re the two that feature information that we really should have gotten in the main series. Mika and Anri’s meeting and subsequent friendship is not only driven by Mika’s supposed “need to have someone around to make her look better”, but also the culture of high school bullying in Japan, and she’s fantastic in it. (Speaking of Mika, the succubus chapter points out that while she’s obsessed with Seiji, there is zero sexual desire involved.) The other really good story is Shizuo meeting Tom, who right away is absolutely the best thing that’s ever happened to him. Elsewhere, the fake Shizuo story was very silly and dumb, though I liked seeing Vorona again. The succubus story (I don’t think she’s a cast regular in Vamp!) mostly serves to show off how bonkers Walker is. And there’s honestly too much Erika here. Finally, the book’s surrounding interstitial material is basically “Shinra and Celty are adorable”, which we already know.

DRRR!! fans should feel happy reading this, and are now doubt asking Yen about Vamp! as we speak. It’s a nice look back.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Astrea Record, Vol. 2

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By Fujino Omori and Kakage. Released in Japan as “Astrea Record Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jake Humphrey.

I hate to break it to the author of this series, but the core readership are not 15-year-olds. They, I think, would get the most out of Lyu’s angsty rage and Erebus’ ridiculous trolley problems. The core audience of this series are the ones who have followed it since it began, which means my guess is most are in their thirties. And those folks might find Lyu’s emo teen phase just a little annoying. Or indeed a lot annoying. It’s very true to teenage life, I will admit, but I mean, having Lyu throw a shitfit is baked into her backstory already, do we really need for it to happen again, especially in a novel based on a game story that cannot actually affect canon? Fortunately, there are good parts to this book, including several rousing speeches. But honestly, if you want a light novel version of the “yet you participate in society! Curious. I am very intelligent!” cartoon by Matt Bors, you’re in the right place.

The cover shows Lyu looking down at the ground, despondent and despairing. Behind her is Ardee, who is smiling broadly, possibly as she’s dead and therefore doesn’t have to be in this book. Ardee’s death weighs heavily on a lot of people in this book, and she’s not the only one who’s died. The Evils are on the loose, and their goal is to make the adventurers give up. Lyu, being one of the shiniest and most idealistic of them, is the perfect breaking point, so Erebus is determined to break her. In the meantime there’s tons of fights, deaths,. gore and despair, but also some really cool life-saving, desperately never giving up, and some strong speeches by Finn, who has either been reading Churchill or Henry V. Who will win? (This is a prequel taking place 7 years before the series begins. We know who will win. And yet.)

There is one point in this volume that is easily the best by far, and it’s when Lyu, who is acting like a child, runs into 9-year-old Ais, a literal child, and the two of them have what is basically the sword version of a slapfight. I especially love Riveria, who stops the fight not by yelling at them, or by getting in between them, but by bonking Ais on the top of the head like she’s in Yotsuba&!. It was a lovely break from the rest of the volume, which is made up of half “Become vengeance, Lyu. Become wrath.” and half “I know you’re still in there so fight, damn you!” Astrea Familia gets a lot of time on the page, but I’d argue that the stronger moments go to the characters we know from the main series. There’s nothing wrong with Astrea’s folks, they’re just don’t have the raw impact of, say, Syr cheering them up while also handing out soup to everyone (a moment that works even better after the events of Book 18).

There’s one more to go, and hopefully we’ll get some answers about the Zeus and Hera bad guys, because let me tell you, I do not give two shits about any of the other villains. Still worth it for Danmachi fans, but prepare to be frustrated.

Spy Classroom: A Glint in Monika’s Eye

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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 Thrasher.

Generally speaking a large chunk of fiction, especially fiction written for drama and starring teenagers, revolves around one major problem: the entire plot would not happen if only the characters would communicate with each other. Talking solves the problem, so we have to prevent that, either by character flaw or by authorial fiat. Fortunately, this new volume of Spy Classroom does not have that problem. Oh, sure, things are very bad and Monika is very much not talking about it. But, as the volume goes on, we come to realize that, at least if Monika is going to act in a way that’s true to herself, she cannot talk about this. As it would involve sacrificing a friend. Or a team. Or a country. Unfortunately, that’s very bad news for literally everyone else in the cast. Including most of the bad guys. And Monika, who by the end of the book is not quite suicidal, but close. Wacky fun times are absent here.

We pick up right at the cliffhanger ending of Book 6, with Monika betraying Lamplight. She breaks Thea’s arm, beats up Erna, puts Annette in the hospital, and kidnaps Grete. She’s teamed up with Green Butterfly, who is, of course, blackmailing her something fierce. Monika, being very clever, quickly realizes that “fake traitor” is not going to work in this case – though that’s not to say that she just completely turns evil – there are plans within plans, as is always the case in these books. Meanwhile, the rest of Lamplight are devastated and upset, but also still dealing with the fallout of the last two books. Can they manage to find out why Monika has betrayed them? And does it even make a difference?

I try to avoid giving away the major surprises in these volumes, and I will in this review as well. But we gotta talk about one, as it’s been around almost since the start, and it goes from subtext to text: Monika is gay, and unfortunately in the suspicious, Cold War-esque world that this takes place in, homosexuality is illegal. And while we’ve been told before that she’s in love with one of the members of Lamplight, here we find out who it is. It’s not too much of a surprise, and of course the enemy uses her as a threat against Monika – which works very well, as the seemingly cold and emotionless Monika has far less experience with feelings of love than anyone else in the group. If you enjoy old-school lesbian angst, with sturm und drang, unwillingness to confess because they’re sure the other party doesn’t love them, and a last-minute “I love you” before Monika gets sent to Super Hell cliffhanger ending’d on us, this is right up your alley.

So the next book should, theoretically, wrap up this arc. Unfortunately, most of the cast is in prison, in the hospital, or presumed dead. The good news is that if you love Lily, Sybilla or Sara, you’re going to have a ball. Sara gets the cover at last, and for once we don’t have a SS volume breaking up up. That said… how are they gonna resolve this?

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 11

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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.

I did not intentionally line up two books in a row where the plot is “the author tries to write a light and fluffy vacation volume, but cannot help hammering on the more serious plot”, it just turned out that way. So yes, if you read Seven Spellblades and this series, you may want to stick something else in between them. As for the book itself, it’s quite good, continuing to hammer on the main themes of this series (destiny vs. free will, fighting god, etc.) while also trying to let our heroes get in some swimming and beach volleyball. That said, when you have to remind yourself to make happy memories, there’s something going wrong, and it’s arrived in the form of the latest antagonist, who is (what a surprise) on a mission from God. The end of the series has been announced in Japan, but I think that Red and Rit will be battling till the end.

It’s the height of summer, and Zoltan is far too hot, meaning no one is shopping for apothecary items. Perfect time to take a vacation, right? They can also invite along Tanta, who we just discovered has the blessing of the Cardinal, which definitely gets in the way of following in his parents’ footsteps. Heading out to a remote island, they get in some swimming (and fighting sharks), some boat building, some fishing, and some barbecue. Unfortunately, also on the island is an ascetic woman who has blinded herself to better serve her faith for God, and she’s clearly very suspicious, and very eager to talk to Tanta. Can he really achieve his dream of being a carpenter? Or is he going to have to be indoctrinated by the Church, (and, it’s implied, have to fight Ruti and Red)?

There’s a lot of good stuff here. The series themes are handled very well, with some good discussion of how to work with your blessing without letting it control you, and Eremite is seen as someone whose family couldn’t do that, and she is course correcting far too much in the other direction. She makes a very good one-book antagonist, though she may come back. Tanta is the real winner here, being forced to use his skill points for healing (which puts him on the fast track to the Church, not the house building), but his response about what he thought when he saw the family in that collapsed house is wonderful. As for the “little things” in the series, Red and Rit are cute and flirty, Ruti is badass, Mister Crawly Wawly is fantastic, and there is, thankfully, zero incest subtext this time around.

There’s a prologue I skipped over, and now that we know we’re in the final third I’m sure it will be relevant in future books. For now, though, I’m still quite pleased with this slow life series that, like most of them, struggles for every relaxing moment.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Vol. 11

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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.

Even when the author is trying to write a light, fluffy heartwarming volume to balance out the trauma and awfulness in Book 10, they can’t quite pull it off. Oh, there’s lots of fun stuff in here, especially at the start. Seeing the main six in the cast, with plus ones Marco and Teresa, going on boat journeys, getting completely hammered in a “fun drunk” way, seeing Katie’s family home, meeting Chela’s mother… this is all great stuff. There’s a scene with Katie forcing everyone into a deeply Nordic sauna experience that’s both heartwarming and hilarious. And yet at the same time there is the undercurrent of “how long until Katie finally turns and has to be put down like a dog”, as well as “I am already not going to live much longer than five years so I might as well continue to help you”. And that’s not even getting into the faculty trying to find their killers. That, said, this is genuinely fluffy compared to last time, I promise.

So we’re now three teachers down, and in the faculty meeting discussing things the voice of reason, new faculty member and Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams points out that there must be something they have in common, and it’s probably related to Chloe Halford. As for the students, well, it’s end of term, and for once everyone is actually going home. This includes Marco, who is coming with Katie to meet her folks and the local trolls, and Teresa, who Oliver has invited along so that she can experience the world outside of Kimberly. They’re beset by pirates (who are defeated ludicrously easily,), and then they meet Katie’s parents, who are very nice but also have some very pointed questions for Oliver Horn. They then meet Chela’s mother, the elf Mishakua, who wants to see how they measure up in terms of a potential match for Chela. (Oliver fails badly.) Sadly, the ongoing Tir incursion ruins our peaceful fluff of a book.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – this series is fantastic at showing a truly wonderful polycule, with six people who are all wonderful in their own way, while also making you understand that there is no way the series ends with them all graduating and moving into a big house to start their own detective agency or something. I especially appreciated Guy, who gets a bit more to do here, and is starting to shape up as the emotional center of the group, along with Chela. I especially liked his relationship with Katie, where he’s there to be her comfort hug for a while because she can’t bear being near Oliver when he and Nanao are, well, CLOSE, but he draws a line and says she has to actually confront him about it. (Which she… doesn’t quite do.) But, I mean, this series started as a grand revenge story, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to go out that way too, and grand revenge stories do not end well for the revenger. That said, he may live longer than Katie, who even has her parents thinking she’s going to need to be killed by her friends to prevent her turning towards the Tir side.

I’m not sure if we’ll continue the grand tour of everyone’s home in Book 12 or just cut back to the next year at school, but it doesn’t matter, because next up is a Side Story. We’re going to get a good look at the past of Alvin Godfrey, who just graduated in the main series. Till then, this is fluffy fun. Ish.