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Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden, Vol. 3

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By Umikaze Minamino and Katana Canata. Released in Japan as “Kyōran Reijō Nia Liston: Byōjaku Reijō ni Tenseishita Kami-goroshi no Bujin no Kareinaru Musō Roku” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by okaykei.

When I have a book where there are things I liked and things I didn’t like, I generally like to start with the bad stuff and work my way up to the good. And there’s definitely stuff I enjoyed here! But we have to address the elephant in the room, and it’s an elephant that every series starring an adorable six-year-old, past memories/abilities or no, seems to have to deal with. The author finds people creeping on Nia hilarious, and assumes the reader does as well. We’ve already had the first two volumes, where her maid is constantly trying to get into her bed. Here we get Reliared’s older sister (yes, another one) wants to paint Nia in the nude (she’s an artist, but it’s also framed deliberately as “this is a skeezy creep”. And the king essentially saying “you will be mine once you’re old enough.” It’s designed for a very specific light novel audience that isn’t me, and I hate it. Anyway, onward.

It’s summer vacation for Nia, but of course that means ENDLESS FILMING FOR MAGIVISION. Once that’s over with, fortunately, she can visit Reliared and her lovely family (and creepy sister), and then head off to the princess’ private royal island… which also has the king, who is also vacationing, and turns out to be not quite as royal as you’d like… or is that just a facade? As for those of you who follow Nia to see her punch things, well, here’s not as much as the previous two books, but she does discover a new dungeon. And what’s more, she assigns her protege (and maid) Lynokis to go out adventuring and hone her new techniques. And earn money. A lot, a WHOLE lot, of money. Which Nia will need in order to realize the next part of her grand plan.

The best part of this book, aside from the ending, showing Reliared for once winning against Nia, if only indirectly, is her discussion with the King. Aside from his creeper tendencies (again, see the rest of the book), he turns out to be one smart cookie. Indeed, he’s much smarter than Nia, who presents an idea of having an annual fighting tournament but can’t think of more than two reasons why it would benefit the kingdom. The king thinks of eight other reasons, tells her how mind-numbingly expensive it would be to do properly, and sets her a goal of two years to raise that ludicrous amount of money. In just two pages he shifts the entire goal of this book from “let’s watch Nia race puppies” to “let’s watch Nia finance a shonen manga”, and I think it’s a good pivot. More of smart king, less of lecherous king.

So yes, a big asterisk next to this title. Assuming you can get past it (and it’s always used for humor, not seriously), this is a good entry in the “overpowered elementary school girls beat up the world” genre.

The Troubles of Miss Nicola the Exorcist, Vol. 3

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By Ito Iino and Kinokohime. Released in Japan as “Haraiya Reijō Nicola no Komarigoto” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Joshua Douglass-Molloy.

It is somewhat interesting having a locked-room mystery (which this entire third and final volume is) in the universe of Miss Nicola the Exorcist, a universe that has, since the very beginning, dealt with supernatural threats to her love interest. It’s interesting because for once the initial thought CAN in fact be “hey, locked room is not an issue, because this world has demons and ghosts and cursed people”. And then of course it spends most of the book walking that back, because the author really is trying to do a locked-room mystery. That said, this is not exactly Agatha Christie. Once again, the culprit is obvious, though it helps that they are such a non-entity in the plot that we don’t even notice them till it’s time for the investigation. For the most part, the main reason to read this book is to see Sieghart threatened with execution, and to see what that does to Nicola. Oh. THAT’S what love feels like.

It’s time for the student ball, and this one is pretty important. It’s the last ball for third-years Sieghart and Alois, and they’re both planning to announce without actually announcing who they’re in love with by having the first dance with their respective partners. (OK, Emma is disguised as Charlotte, but it’ll work out.) I was expecting some sort of Villainess plotline where Nicola gets accused, but no, the dance goes off without a hitch. Unfortunately, Sieghart then goes off to do student council things, and when she next sees him he’s standing next to the dead body of a foreign prince, in a situation where there’s only one possible suspect, and it’s him. Now she’s got to try to prove him innocent despite all the evidence pointing towards his guilt, and also come to term with what will happen if she can’t by that evening – he’ll be a political nightmare, and executed without trial.

As with the second volume, the writer is very good at writing some chilling horror. In this volume, more concerned with the investigation (which is the weak po9int, alas, it’s pretty dull, especially the explanations towards the end), it’s the interstitial parts of the book from the point of view of, it becomes apparent, the culprit. They are a true sociopath, and each brief, page-long except of their thoughts features another murder. There’s a reason why there’s only one actual culprit being looked at – the villain is so evil and coated with bad things that, to everyone but the supernatural-blind Ernst, they are literally a CLOUD OF DARK CURSES. This actually makes it harder to figure things out, as they can’t look for facial tells and the like, as the face is masked. I did like the actual solution, which does rely on the supernatural, and is suitably mean.

And then there’s a quick flash forward to Nicola’s kid. We don’t even get a wedding. Still, this was pretty decent, though I will remind the publisher that not everything has to be a series.

My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex: “You Wouldn’t Get It”

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By Kyosuke Kamishiro and TakayaKi. Released in Japan as “Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

I spent a lot of this volume wondering how seriously I should take the yuri pandering. There is, and I think this is the 4th or 5th time I’ve said this, a ludicrous amount of boob grabbing in this book, to the point where it’s almost every 4th or 5th page. This is partly a consequence of the plot, which is a class trip, meaning lots of scenes of the girls off by themselves, but still. But we also get a suggestion that a girl confessed to Mizuto because in reality she was in love with Yume (which is… not QUITE true) and a lot of bi panic in this book, which is sometimes played for comedy, but also sometimes meant to be taken seriously. Finally, near the end, we get… well, we get something that I am reluctant to spoil because this volume is a mystery, but it at least suggests that there are SOME actual lesbians in this series. And that Isana is absolutely bi. (We knew that already.)

It’s class trip time, and everyone’s off to Okinawa! Of course, there are a few hiccups. Mizuto and Yume have had their first time, and really want to have more, but “surrounded by our classmates” means that’s not gonna happen. Yume’s attempts to hide who she’s dating are spreading all sorts of rumors, and while she’s able to control and dissuade the guys confessing to her, Mizuto struggles a lot more when he’s confessed to… by Asuhain? On the trip itself, we get a gyaru group who seem to be wrapped up in SOMETHING, but it’s unclear how sinister it actually is. We get snorkeling, we get shopping. We get Yume realizing that Asuhain has been avoiding her ever since the last volume, and she can’t figure out why. And, perhaps worst of all, Isana’s breasts are now public knowledge, and everyone wants to grope them.

So yeah, as you guessed, this is still mostly a series for horny guys. That said, there is serious stuff here beneath all the boob jokes. The author tries to tell a mystery, and while the culprit is not a surprise, it is mildly interesting seeing Mizuto doing his detective work while also being smug about it. The subplot with Asuhain is handled seriously and works really well with her character – she’s always felt like “Yume only one year behind”, and this just reinforces the hell out of that. And then there’s Isana, who I think is finally giving up on the polycule. It’s framed as a joke in the end, in that she tried to see if seeing Yume and Mizuto being romantic and loving would give her heartache but she was too distracted by Yume’s sexiness, but that and the other surprise revelation makes me wonder if the author is, perhaps, going to give us a token nickel by the end of this series.

Probably not. Next volume we’re back with Akatsuki, so it will likely back off from Isana a bit. Still, under all the fanservice there’s still a nice little story. But man, you have to dig past a lot of fanservice.

BLADE & BASTARD: Dungeon Chronicle

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By Kumo Kagyu and so-bin. Released in Japan as “Blade & Bastard” by Dre Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

This was better than the last volume, possibly as it’s a short story collection disguised as a novel. The stories are vaguely interconnected, except for the first one, and are all related to the aftermath of the third book. Iarumas is in deep thought, so is not going into the dungeons, leading the rest of the cast to try to go in without him. They’re helped by some eccentric new cast members, of course, who may or may not stick around. (I’m sure the twins will, not so sure about the chuuni.) And of course, in case you’d forgotten, Aine is not doing anything at all in this book, as she lost both her arms in the last volume. That said, this turns out to be what Iarumas is in deep thought about, so hopefully we can do something about it. Mostly, though, this is a book that allows Orlaya to step up and show that she’s likely to be the second protagonist going forward.

As I said, this starts off looking like a short story collection, as we get a flashback showing how the All-Stars got together and what Sezmar was like when he first got to the city. After that, we follow Schumacher with a party of his own, including twins who “came back wrong” after resurrection and a ninja thief who seems to be really into her role but rapidly finds the dungeon is not a place where she can pretend to be Megumin. We then get a short comedic chapter from the POV of Garbage’s new sword, which is the funniest chapter in the book. Then Iarumas goes hunting in the dungeon for something, but doesn’t quite find it. The last two chapters are interconnected, as the main team, minus Iarumas and Aine but plus the twins (now slightly less wrong) and the ninja go hunting and find a pool with a rubber duck… which may be exactly what Iarumas wants.

As always, the new characters are a) interesting, and b) the author’s barely disguised fetish. In this case it is twins, Rahm-and-Sahm, who are now half and half each other thanks to a botched resurrection. They’re weird and stoic. Then, later in the book, they get a lot more vibrant… and a lot more annoying, having apparently come to terms with basically being each other and deciding they’re OK with it. The other new character is Shadowwind, who as I said sounded like a Crimson Demon when she first arrived, but the dangers of the dungeon shut her up fairly quickly, and by the end of the book she’s gored in the throat (which she survives) and blown up by an exploding trap (which she does not). She’ll be resurrected, but I’m not sure we’ll see her again. She’s just not as… interesting as twins who are each wearing the other half of their twin. And again, by “interesting” I mean “the author’s basely disguised fetish”.

The regulars do all get a lot to do, and Orlaya in particular shows off her skills as more than just “another love interest for Raraja”, so rest assured. And yeah, sorry to spoil, but Aine gets her arms back. I could see the author trying to decide between “battle-crazed nun with a sword” and “amputee nun” for hours before making the decision, and fortunately they made the right one. Next time, royal intrigue? More of Princess Garbage? We shall see.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 5: Avatar of a Goddess, Vol. 11

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

So yes, I have to apologize for my glib remarks in the last review. I joked that Rozemyne’s memory wasn’t affected at all, as she didn’t love anything more than books. But of course, the only reason she remembers Ferdinand is that he was pouring his mana into her (and oh, we have more to say on that later). And, of course, she loves her family more. No, not her adopted family – sorry, Charlotte, she does recall who you are. No, she can’t remember her birth family at all, and it bothers her. More disturbingly, she has also lost all her PTSD related to feystones – very convenient for the plot to actually occur, but also likely putting off a complete breakdown in the future. Fortunately, she does remember enough to know what’s important right now – she and Ferdinand being the most terrifying power couple in the history of the world, and bringing the hammer of justice on anyone who might say otherwise.

We pick up at the end of all the fighting, but we still have to deal with the royal family. Mostly as someone has to be the Zent, and both Ferdinand and Rozemyne are adamant it’s not going to be them. It can’t be Trauerqual, he’s too depressed. It can’t be Sigiswald, he’s too much of a massive dipshit. (Adolphine divorcing his ass the moment she gets the opportunity is a punch the air moment.) So it’s got to be Eglantine, who still hates war but now realizes that being Zent is the best way to prevent it. Unfortunately, Rozemyne is still very, very full of divine mana after the crowning, and it’s killing her. So they spend the rest of the book trying to drain off her mana without her starving to death… and it all comes back when she sleeps. It’s a race against time, where time is a literal hourglass filled with too much mana.

I do appreciate the book allowing asexual interpretations more than most series would. The comedy highlight of this volume is of Rozemyne finally having euphemisms explained to her, and realizing what “dye me with your mana” actually means. Which she’s still too young for, as everyone notes with more euphemisms. But Rozemyne says – again – that she’s never understood what’s so important about sex – not as Urano, and not here in this world. And Ferdinand, I think, is OK with that. I don’t know if a sequel years in the future will show her with children, but certainly the current Rozemyne is content to have Ferdinand merely be the most important person in her life. Which, given who she is, means she will destroy an entire country for him. But not because she’s horny.

There are several side stories as usual, including one with Hannelore that might be setting up the sequel due out next month that she stars in. But for the moment we’ll wait till the next volume, which is, at last, the end of Myne and Rozemyne’s story. I absolutely can’t wait.

Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire, Vol. 11

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By Hayaken and Nagu. Released in Japan as “Eiyu-oh, Bu wo Kiwameru tame Tensei su. Soshite, Sekai Saikyou no Minarai Kisi ♀” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mike Langwiser.

The author of this book, in the afterword, talks about being happy with this book to clarify plot points and tie a lot of things together, something they don’t really like to do, as leaving things vague allows them to change their mind later. As such, I wish that I was more excited by some of the “revelations” that we get here. More than anything, they remind me of shonen manga revelations, which makes sense because, light novel or no, this series is at heart a shonen battle manga. And indeed, half the volume is a fight followed more another fight. So it’s not a big surprise that most of the revelations are of the “Luke, I am your father” type, with surprise relatives and surprise heiral menaces… well, OK, not so much a surprise, we’ve known something was up with Yua almost since we met her. That said, if all you can recall from this is Inglis punching things, you’ll be fine.

First of all, congrats to those who were sick of Inglis looking like a child, she’s back to being 16 years old again. Well, in body, at least. At the end of the last book we got the start of a bad-guy-on-good-guy pileup, and we get the continuation of that here, which culminates in Inglis accidentally hurling herself into the sarcophagus where Eris ended up… which then sinks to the bottom of the sea. Fortunately, time moves much slower in the sarcophagus. Unfortunately, the bad guys are definitely winning with Inglis gone, and are determined to find out how much more mana they can grind up if they use Highlanders rather than regular people. They really need Inglis to come back and rescue them. And she will come… ten years later. Well, OK, ten years later for her. It’s about an hour later for the rest of the cast.

OK, word of warning: This volume ends its main story about page 130, and there’s the an extended story that talks about Eris’ past before she became a hieral menace. First of all, this story has sexual assault. Secondly, this story is SO dark that I basically started reading as fast as possible to get through it. This is even worse than the “oh my god, it’s made of people!” from the previous book, and essentially serves as an object lesson for Inglis about how she’s had it really nice since she was reincarnated, what with the loving family, most of whom are alive, and the monstrous superpowers. I kind of hated that whole story, and the one big revelation in it will I’m sure come up again in the main story, so feel free to skip it entirely. Other than that, this is the same old same old, though I think readers will be happy it ends up back at the academy, with this arc now over.

So yeah, because that story finished up the book, I ended up more annoyed than happy. Inglis continuing to be an overprotective dad type to Rafinha doesn’t help. Still, it’s got some really nice fights.

Too Many Losing Heroines!, Vol. 1

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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.

Hoo boy. This is one of those books where I have to issue a warning to the newbie reader who knows nothing about it: keep at it, plow through the first half. I get it. The second half has a good payoff. But oh, that first half. When I started to read it, I felt like I was reading an author who had gotten really mad about Nisekoi and The Quintessential Quintuplets and decided to write the romcom equivalent of “guy gets revenge on his high school bullies”. But no, with only one exception, the actual “winning” couples barely get any focus in this series. It’s all about the girls who, while seemingly popular and/or cute, end up on the wrong end of a love triangle. Fortunately, they all have our protagonist, a friendless guy who likes to read bad light novels and snark at his little sister. Surely he can be there to heal their wounded hearts. … Or not, because this whole book is here to get really mad at him too.

Nukumizu is the aforementioned protagonist. One day, while at a family restaurant, he overhears two classmates. The cute, popular girl Anna is telling her friend Sousuke to go chase after the new transfer student, Karen, who he has feelings for. Except, of course, Anna clearly also likes him. And once he takes off, she goes into an anger (and junk food) filled binge… then sees that Nukumizu overheard everything. About a week later, another of his classmates, the dumb-but-athletic and popular Lemon, confesses to the smart, studious guy she likes… but he just got together with his cram school partner. Then Nukumizu is reminded that he needs to actually attend the literature club that he joined… and finds a love triangle there as well, with the small, squirrel-like Chika clearly crushing on the club president, who also clearly is… in love with someone else. Why is he surrounded by losers?

Sometimes I go looking at the novel-updates site to see what comments are on a new license, and I saw a lot of “beta male” chatter from the usual sort who use that term like they would a comma. They’re full of it, of course, but it really is remarkable how much our hero kneecaps himself in this book. He’s terrible, being filled with snark and a grotesque determination to not get involved, despite clearly being the shoulder to cry on that some of these girls need. The “surprise” in the book is that, so far, it’s not actually a romcom – none of the so-called losing heroines have gotten over their first love, and they’re not looking for a rebound but just simple empathy. This comes out much better in the second half, in which the literature club goes on a field trip that turns into another romantic mess, and Nukumizu can’t even realize when someone is asking for a sympathetic hug.

The payoff comes in the last fifth of the book, when everyone makes their own decisions about what is best for the others, and Nukumizu snaps and actually has empathy for another person. Even if it’s accidental. But yeah, this is a guy with an idea of himself that’s so set in stone he has to be told that he’s already friends with someone. Who thinks in light novel cliches, but, unlike, say, Hachiman (and boy, I bet the author loved that series too), does not throw himself at problems like a bomb to sort them out, but actively runs away from them. As for the three “losing heroines”, the book makes it very clear why they got rejected. Each one has a bundle of eccentricities and neuroses, which would make for a terrible girlfriend but which make for good comedy. The main reason you can get through the first half of the book is that they’re goofy and silly, and yet still MUCH better at life than the “losing hero”.

This is currently 6 volumes and counting, so probably will eventually get some rom in its com. For the moment, though, the girls need to have time to recover from their heartbreak, and the guy needs to understand how to interact with others without it being a trope. I was going to recommend this reluctantly, but by the end it had won me over. Provided we keep up the character development. Also, totally abstaining from the “Makeine vs. Roshidere” social media wars, thanks.

The Inconvenient Life of an Arousing Priestess, Vol. 2

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By Makino Maebaru and Hachi Uehara. Released in Japan as “Konyaku Hakida, Hatsujō Seijo” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Kashi Kamitoma.

I’ve said this before about books based on webnovels, but it applies especially to this volume: this book is simply too long. The digital edition is 338 pages, which is about 130 too many. Especially as a lot of this is merely going over the same ground. Monica blesses things and does spells, and they arouse her, though as the book goes on it’s becoming apparent that this is starting to only happen around Richard. She continues to assume Richard has no romantic or sexual interest in her, despite his saying “I adore you” to her face (admittedly, he is wearing a magical chastity belt for most of this volume, so it’s not entirely her being dense… just mostly). And since this volume takes place in Monica’s old country, there is a whole lot of slut shaming, evil princes, evil clergy, and the usual light novel cliches. That said, this is perfectly readable, and Monica and Richard are good characters. It’s just long.

Monica and Richard are back in Kophe. for Monica it’s a chance to help her old nation, under horrific monster attacks, and hopefully try to change their minds about the way they use priestesses. for Richard it’s mostly about crushing all those who dared to attempt to crush Monica, and he has absolutely zero desire to help anyone in the country at all… except Monica wants him to, so FINE. Unfortunately, various things get in the way. As noted, the Church want to destroy and murder Monica, and they also want to replace the King, who is not doing what they want, with the more malleable prince. The prince is still furious with Monica. And there’s a merchant, seen in the first volume but an actual character here, whose job is to make Monica doubt her relationship with Richard and remind her that he’s a prince and she’s a commoner. Can they work things out? And can Monica save the world without… well, embarrassing arousal?

My favorite part of the book may have been one of the minor villains, the unfortunately named Keunt (I wonder if the ‘e’ was added by editorial fiat), who is an aide to the evil prince and has a habit of composing the biography that will inevitably be written about him in his head. This is wonderful, especially because he is pathetic in the extreme, and any biography he gets is going to be written in crayon on a placemat. The other interesting thing in this book is Richard, who turns out to be a bit more sociopathic than some readers may be comfortable with. It’s clear that if it weren’t for his love of the pure and virtuous Monica, this book would be awash in blood. He’s also wearing, as I noted, a magical chastity belt because he wants Monica to see him as a friend rather than someone who lusts after her like all the others. This despite the fact that he really, really does lust after her. (Do they have their first time at the end of the boo? It’s ambiguous.)

I had thought this was the final volume, but the author implies there’s a third, and certainly they’re not married yet. For fans of the author.

Lovestruck Prince! I’ll Fight the Heroine for my Villainous Fiancée!, Vol. 3

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By Shakushineko and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Betabore no Kon’yakusha ga Akuyaku Reijō ni Saresō nanode Heroine gawa ni wa Sore Sōō no Mukui o Ukete Morau” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Mittt Liu.

It makes sense that a series which I would describe in general as ‘okay, I guess” has a final volume that also can be described that way. We get a number of plotlines that can be described as “clearing up the worrying loose ends”, such as Vincent’s mother and her checkered past, as well as the facade that Vincent has been putting on around Elizabeth. There are also a few plotlines that made me smack my head and say “OK, really?”. But for the most part this book has a goal, which is getting these two shy kids married, and it proceeds to get to that goal. We even get a flash forward showing they have at least two children, which is good because I like them and they’re sweet, but also a bit annoying as it means that most of them getting over their crippling adoration of each other happens offscreen. I wanted to see the walls come down more.

We start off with one of the most cliched plots of all. Due to a magical accident brought on by an old… enemy?… of Vincent’s mother, he has lost all his memories of Elizabeth – though it’s notable that despite this, he still falls in love with her the moment he sees her. This is relatively quickly resolved, mostly as I suspect the author did not want to rebuild the wheel, but instead Vincent has the knowledge of his kingdom that he’s been learning for the past few years wiped from his memory. This is bad timing, as arriving at the kingdom as this happens is King Ricardo from the neighboring nation, who was in love with Vincent’s mother as a young man but now appears to be there to try to judge in Vincent is a good enough potential ruler. Can Vincent manage to get all his memories back and still marry Elizabeth?

There are a couple other things I want to talk about. The first is that this reminded me a bit of Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, in that we get discussion of Vincent’s mother’s backstory, which sounds incredibly cool. Unfortunately, unlike Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, we appear unlikely to get that story anytime soon, meaning it makes the main plot feel a bit wanting. The other thing is Raphael and Yulisse. I mentioned at the end of the first review that I found his treatment of her by the end of the book a bit creepy, and that stayed the same in the second book. Here we find that this is apparently a family trait, and that his mother is also essentially a “yandere”, with his father essentially having been bullied into the relationship. Honestly, I find this relationship more uncomfor4table than romantic. Thank goodness it’s not the main pairing.

So yes, if you got through all three of these as I did, well done. Now move on to another Cross Infinite World series and forget all about this.

Soup Forest: The Story of the Woman Who Speaks with Animals and the Former Mercenary, Vol. 1

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By Syuu and Muni. Released in Japan as “Soup no Mori: Doubutsu to Kaiwa Suru Olivia to Moto Youhei Arthur no Monogatari” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

Every so often these days, especially with light novel titles for a female readership, we see “this was popular, let’s license everything else they ever wrote”. Indeed, sometimes there’s a feeding frenzy – the same author’s Victoria of Many Faces comes out later this year from Yen. But we already saw A Young Lady Finds Her True Calling Living with the Enemy, a title I enjoyed more than I expected, so I was quite happy to give this new title from the same author a shot. Despite the Soup Forest title, which makes me think of the old Stone Soup children’s magazine from my childhood. But after reading in their previous work about a determined young woman who makes her own destiny and takes no prisoners, this book is far more relaxed and passive in tone, as fits it very broken romantic leads.

As a child, Olivia was able to hear the thoughts and emotions of animals – and humans, though this was harder. She assumed everyone could do this, but just ended up being “the weird one” to the point where her noble grandfather demanded she be taken to an Orphanage of Evil (TM). Being able to sense this future from her caretaker, she decides to escape to the forest, where she is fortunately found by a loving elderly couple. Twenty years later, they’ve passed away but Olivia has grown up to be a beautiful but very guarded young woman, more comfortable with animals than people, who runs a restaurant in the woods, The Soup Forest. (It sells soup.) The story really starts one day with the arrival of a mercenary who just retired from his work after fourteen years as he had grown weary and despairing of killing anyone else. He is also a very private, guarded person. The book’s plot is these two realizing they’re perfect for each other.

This is a relaxed story about two wounded adults finding each other, but I was surprised to find it had a very active subplot, and that subplot is our old favorite “nobles suck (except that one good noble)”. Olivia and Arthur rescue a loud, boisterous noble who turns out to have an equally extroverted sister, who immediately decides Arthur will be her new beau. This goes very badly – for her.n And there’s also Olivia’s parents, who pop up towards the end of the book and end up being the seemingly happy to see their child alive types that of course end up being “we just hope you’re NORMAL” now types. This is the main reason why Olivia thinks of herself almost as much of an animal as a person, and why her adoptive grandparents did their best to try to make sure she still remembered her humanity. The relationship between her and Arthur, in contrast to their tragic pasts, is sweet and wonderful.

This is another story that feels very complete in one volume but also has a big ‘1’ on the cover, so we’ll see what comes next. Recommended for introverts and animal lovers.

Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, Vol. 7

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By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn.

For the most part, the idea of romance has been about 4th or 5th on the list of reasons to read this series. We know that Reirin is loved by more than one man, but honestly until recently Gyoumei has not really had enough focus to make us care about him enough. But (perhaps because they realized that the readers were starting to wonder if this was going to be a yuri series given the relationship between Reirin and Keigetsu) this volume starts to concentrate a bit more on the romantic chemistry between some of the potential couples – indeed, we get new potential couples here. The other major aspect of this volume, which has again been touched on but not overused in previous books but they’re usually too serious to do it for long, is farce. The entire plot is that our party is split up and slowly converge at once place, and when they get there they all open doors at the same time. All it needed was a plate of sardines.

After the events of the last two books, Reirin and Keigetsu need to switch back to their own bodies. Unfortunately, the Emperor is apparently searching for evidence of magic practitioners, who are supposed to be dealt with with great prejudice. The main characters suspect the Emperor is just doing this for show, but they decide it’s safer to do the switch out in the outside world, so they all agree to leave the inner court, go to a restaurant, and switch there. They split up to avoid being obvious. Reirin, with Leelee (and Gyoumei trailing them) comes across a girl trying to find her mistress, who was sold to pay off debt. Keigetsu and Keishou walk around looking at jewelry, with Keigetsu in full “every word out of my mouth is full of spite and anger” mode, but find illicit goods. Tousetsu and Keikou hide out at a restaurant that turns out to be in the process of a shakedown by thugs. And Shin-u, joined by Unran, goes to a teahouse which they find is actually a brothel. All of this ties into one gambling house.

In case that lengthy description did not clue you in, this is a caper book, and decidedly lighter in tone than the previous six, though there is an ominous cliffhanger at the end that suggests the party is over. It reads a bit like a short story volume, and as such there are some that are better than others. the highlight of the book for me was the incredible fight/flirting/takedown of bad guys by Keikou and Tousetsu, as she realizes that he does not, like every other man she’s ever dealt with, hate women who can fight, and he realizes that she’s able to keep up with him. It’s also a hilarious scene. Speaking of which, as always Reirin is a hoot, ending up in a gambling den where she immediately disquiets everyone by throwing a knife at an erotic piece of art that penetrates the member of the rapist portrayed, causing every man there to feel… uncomfortable. She also has terrific chemistry with Gyoumei, though, much to Leelee’s horror, they don’t balance each other out but instead are like a gasoline fire and a bigger gasoline fire combining.

If you aren’t already reading this, I don’t know what more I can do to convince you. Every single volume is magical.

Raven of the Inner Palace, Vol. 6

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By Kouko Shirakawa and Ayuko. Released in Japan as “Kōkyū no Karasu” by Shueisha Orange Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Amelia Mason.

Yeah, sorry, the days of solving ghost crimes are officially history, unless you mean the overall plot, which is more like God vs. God. Though we do get to see everyone trying to solve the mystery of Jusetsu’s ghost, sort of, and Shiki still has the arm of his dead sister, who actually ends up saving the day. But really, this is the first part of a two-part finale, and as such it’s taking all the political drama and intrigue and fantasy deity stuff from the past five books and setting off all the guns at once. Honestly, it’s hard to put down, as it barrels along till it gets to the final chapter, which slows way down but has more of a devastating impact because of that. In general, if you really enjoyed previous volumes of this series, you will enjoy this volume, and the wait for the final volume will likely prove quite difficult.

There is, frankly, too much for Koshun to deal with right now. After the events of the last volume, everyone knows that there’s a member of the Ran family, who were supposed to be completely wiped out, in the Inner Palace. Jusetsu is no longer in her body, which is now possessed by the Raven, who is only partly helpful after having been betrayed for so long. And there are any number of political allies and enemies looking to take advantage of this. Fortunately, he’s able to calm things down a bit with a few well-placed cabinet meetings, as well as one of our main characters finally having to bite the bullet and admit that he’s a lot closer to Jusetsu than anyone thought. Meanwhile, Jusetsu herself is in limbo, depicted here as a river (the cover shows this), but has to deal with Kosho, the one who started all this, who has been trapped there forever by the gods and really wants someone else to join her in despair.

The last half of the book continues to deal with the main plot, but away from the two leads. We get Senri and Shiki acting as a sort of Holmes and Watson as they try to work out how much of the volcano story is actual history in order to try to get the other half of the Raven’s body back. This is particularly difficult for Shiki as he runs into the man he wants revenge on, the very revenge that his sister is trying to stop him getting. This was very good. The last chapter returns us to the family drama of the Saname family, which, and for once I mean this in a GOOD way, reads a lot like a Sam Shepard play. In fact, it reads like Buried Child. Shin suffers very well, as every around him tries to convince him to get the hell away from there, only in the most awkward and counter-intuitive way. This is excellent, and possibly the highlight of the book, provided you don’t mind awfulness.

Everyone’s arrived at the volcano site by the end of this book, and it’s going off again for the cliffhanger. Can’t wait to see how this wraps up.

Earl and Fairy: The Changeling Princess

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By Mizue Tani and Asako Takaboshi. Released in Japan as “Hakushaku to Yōsei” by Shueisha Cobalt Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

This feels like it was inevitable. Throughout the series we’ve seen our two leads struggle with everything about their love affair, mostly the fact that it exists at all, but also Edgar’s attempts to be a better person (he keeps failing, but he’s making an attempt, and makes it far more often this book) and Lydia’s self-doubt in regards to not only everything Edgar does but also his past and her own life. Her confession halfway through the book that she worries that she’s a changeling feels a bit out of nowhere at first, but gradually the reader comes to realize that it’s informed a lot of her actions in this series. If Lydia can’t trust her own self, can’t even believe that she’s human, then there’s no way she can trust Edgar, and no amount of reassurances and reenactments of the Orpheus legend are going to change that. This leads to a cliffhanger ending that sure feels like, if this series was not a runaway success (which it was), would lead to the 7th book being the last.

Some more of Edgar’s past is catching up with him – this time a pirate crew, which includes Lotte and Pino, two young people who were with him in America. They watched him toy with Betty, another young woman in their group, who apparently turned out to be a long-lost princess, but more importantly, is also missing, and allegedly kidnapped. This also ties in with a request form one of Edgar’s holdings to look into a baby kidnapping which might be down to fairies. Edgar and Lydia, with Raven and Ermine in tow, thus head off to the village, where they find that Ulysses had not only been there before, but was much better at pretending to be the heir than Edgar is – particularly when it comes to getting the village to commit atrocities in the name of “prosperity”. Now Edgar and Lydia have to rescue Betty, defeat a giant dragon wyrm, and also somehow resolve their tortured courtship. Two of those things end up happening.

I appreciated that Ermine got more to do here, and I also appreciate that she’s still not 100% trustworthy. Leaving aside Lydia’s belief that Edgar/Ermine is the real OTP, which has more to do with her own self-image than anything else, there’s the scene with her and Kelpie, shown to the reader but very pointedly not revealed to either Edgar or Lydia. There’s something else going on with her, and I hope it doesn’t lead to her dying – again. Her own fluid identity between selkie and human, and the fact that she doesn’t see herself as anything other than human unless forced, also serves as a mirror to Lydia, whose every move in this book seems to be about resolving what she believes – that she’s a fraud, a fake, and that once she returns to the fairy world everything will be fine and happily ever after. Lotte may set off the cliffhanger in this volume, but honestly I think she did both Lydia AND Edgar a great service. These two need a break.

This was one of the stronger volumes in the series, really showing off the reasoning behind both leads being basket cases. I really want to see what happens next.

An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me!, Vol. 7

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By Yuishi and Kagachisaku. Released in Japan as “Inkya no Boku ni Batsu Game de Kokuhaku Shitekita Hazu no Gal ga, Dō Mitemo Boku ni Beta Bore Des” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Satoko Kakihara.

The ‘horny’ parts of this series are becoming increasingly hilarious, as it has become apparent the author’s goal is to get the reader as mad as possible at everyone else who is trying to stop Yoshin and Nanami from going further. Which, my guess is, also includes editorial at Hobby Japan, who want this series to go on for a very long time and possibly get an anime while continuing to have them occasionally kiss each other and sometimes sleep next to each other. That said, even Yoshin and Nanami are starting to lose patience with the author. Nanami at one point invites Yoshin to touch her breasts, which he does not. There is a “could you put suntan lotion on me” scene that is filled with erotic tension, including moans. I appreciate that this is meant to be sweet and fluffy, and I enjoy that greatly. But please let these sweet, fluffy teenagers bang each other like drums.

Yoshin and Nanami have a lot going on. The class rep appears to be the one who left the note about the dare, and they’re trying to figure out what she actually wants. Yoshin has started a new part-time job which has a hot college-age gyaru waitress who is very extroverted and quick to get in your personal space. And the combination of both of those sets Nanami into a spiral, as she worries that if Yoshin meets any other girl who likes him, she might be dumped. This despite the fact that everyone who sees her talks about how amazingly hot she is. It just goes to show that self-image does not have to match outer appearance. Most importantly, it’s Nanami’s birthday, and she wants to spend the ENTIRE day with him, from midnight to midnight. Will they be able to resist temptation? (See first paragraph for answer.)

The afterword talks about how easily the tense drama in this series is defused, but that’s good, because you don’t want tense drama from a series like this. With the co-worker it’s a really easy defusion – she’s in college, not interested in 16-year-old Yoshin, and is mostly just bad about personal space. The class rep is harder, mostly as she’s bringing her own bad past into Yoshin and Nanami’s own relationship and laying it over, thus she can’t understand why the two of them are so happy when she’s so miserable. Yoshin lays out the theme of the books to date – we constantly communicate, and don’t let things simmer and fester. (There actually is a brief 2-day fester in this volume, which feels like a month to the two of them, but even in that period everyone around them talks about how they can’t stop flirting.) The resolution to class rep’s issues feels a tad forced for fictional purposes, but I’ll give it a pass, as long as Nanami’s worries can eventually calm down.

These two are basically married, so the rest of the series is going to probably be high school events (Book 8 looks like it’s school festival time) and watching these sweet kids not screw each other till the cows come home. Can’t wait to be frustrated more.

I Could Never Be a Succubus!, Vol. 3

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By Nora Kohigashi and Wasabi. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Succubus Ja Arimasen” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

Sometimes this series can be heartwarming, and sometimes it can be horny. But the one thing it cannot be for more than two pages is serious. The prologue to this volume suggests that the demons are ready to make their comeback, and we anticipate a serious, gripping battle. What we get it… well, it’s a battle. But this series is also dedicated to being funny as well as heartwarming and horny, and I will admit, to its credit, it did much better at cracking jokes than a lot of its light novel contemporaries. You could argue the final battle was a bit TOO ridiculous, but the basic premise of this series, as well as every single chapter that begins “Then”, is just as bad if not worse. There may very well be a serious final battle, but I doubt it will be till then end of the series. Which this isn’t. So please enjoy +20 Squeaky Mallet Of Doom.

The hero’s party are doing their best to include a rather puzzled and exasperated Liz in their party and their training, and if this means that she has to train while wearing a bunny girl outfit, well, technically that’s her own fault. One of the demon lord’s minions has started attending school, which worries her, though it’s a different transfer student who she should be concerned with. And she also goes to a drag bar which turns out to be a secret information bureau for top secret missions, which… is handled much better than I was expecting when I saw it was a drag bar. Unfortunately, the demon lord sends the hero a challenge to duel at the demon castle, and the hero’s party can’t just ignore it. That said, of course Liz is staying behind… except she’s not allowed to.

There are fewer and fewer chapters set in the past as this series goes on, mostly as we’ve now met all the main cast. But it does help to not only show off what a shameless pervert Liz was back when she had her memories, but also why she was so beloved by the party anyway, and why they’re desperate to get her healed. After the final battle in this book she gets to have her old self back for the rest of the day/evening, and while she ends up making a big thing about turning it into roleplay (helped out by Sylphie, whose masochistic depths we have not begun to plumb, though this volume helps a lot in that regard), she ends up spending the night making love to Cain, because they DO love each other, and not having her around to get exasperated by but also be at her side is killing him. The others may tease him the next day (next to a baffled, re-amnesia’d Liz) about his nighttime activities, but they’re all really happy for him. This was not just getting his rocks off, there was more to it.

If it sounds like I’m making this silly series too serious, well, probably. One of the “good” horny light novel series.