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Reviews

A Certain Magical Index NT, Vol. 2

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By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “Shinyaku To Aru Majutsu no Index” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

I’ve talked before about how much I don’t like Kamachi trying to be funny. His idea of good humor for the books is very much in the “whoops, I just fell into your boobs and you hit me so hard I became a star in the sky” sort of humor. That doesn’t happen here, but we do get about ten different love interest attaching themselves to Touma like lampreys, Itsuwa beating her superior officer to death in order to help him save face, seemingly every single female character grading themselves on breast size, etc. That said, it didn’t grate on me quite as much as usual. Maybe I’ve gotten used to it, but I think it’s more that it was needed in this book for a greater purpose. No, not to balance anything depressing. But rather, to balance out Leivinia Birdway Explains It All For You. She’s got an exposition hammer and she’s gonna use it, and even Index can only go along with her and chime in. Oh, hey, it’s Index! Hi, Index.

Introduced in this volume: Maria Kumokawa, Mjolnir. And by the end of the volume we know the next major antagonist group will be GREMLIN, and so no doubt they’ll start popping up as we go along. This takes place immediately after the first book in NT. As for the plot, well, Touma’s back in Academy City, and all his love interests are very relieved, though not above biting his head. (To be fair, Touma asked for it.) Eventually, he, Accelerator, and Hamazura end up back at Touma’s dorm room, where, as I noted above, Birdway (with occasional interruptions from Index) explains the differences and similarities between magic and science, the goals of each side, how World War III started, and what happens next. What happens next is the plot with Kaori Kanzaki, who is trying to stop a Colony Drop in the making.

I will admit, I left out a bit of humor in the list above, mainly because it was not “this is a wacky anime” style humor and also because it was genuinely funny. I laughed out loud, but also cringed. Mugino introducing herself to Fremea by saying “Hi, I’m the one who killed your sister” is jaw-droppingly awful but also deeply in character, and it was glorious. That said, the rest of ITEM, as well as Accelerator’s double Misaka combo and Touma’s own original flavor Misaka, take a back seat. Again, though at least Mikoto is trying to stop it in regards to the next book. Instead we get our three heroes coming together to save Academy City, each using their own strengths. And if it’s badass action you want, Kaori has it covered, with a fight against a Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. She is quite badass. Shame no one sees it.

It appears the next volume will head over to America. Will Mikoto manage to succeed in getting Touma to take her along while he tries to save people “for his own sake”? Will the cast get even more unwieldy? We’ll see. Till then, enjoy the humor that is the spoonful of sugar to help Birdway’s exposition go down.

Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster, Vol. 6

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By Saki and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Albert-ke no Reijō wa Botsuraku o Goshomō Desu” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Ray Krycki.

Over the course of this series, we’ve had the original book, with the plot of the otome game, where Mary has to try to avoid… pardon me, create… her own doom. Then we had the second book which brings in the plot of the sequel, where she has to figure out how to interfere in a plotline that never involved her at all. And of course there is the anime adaptation, which ended up bringing in a THIRD woman trying to change things who runs up against the force of nature that is Mary. But most of those have been along the same lines. The heroine (really the antagonist) is defeated, and ends up, mostly, being won over by Mary. But what if we had a guy end up in the world of the game? A guy who is a minor son of a minor house in another country, not interacting with the plot at all. And he sees Mary defying her fate, and gets really pissed. Is the world of this otome game tough for a mob?

Mary is suspicious. Supposedly her brothers have revealed to her a necessary part of becoming the next head of the family, which involves touring other countries and showing that you have the right stuff to be a leader of the nobility. She’s suspicious because their supposed book looks an awful lot like a sweet and fun “take a vacation with our beloved sister” plan instead. Still, whatever. She’s happy to go to the nation of Feydella and meet her aunt and uncle. That said, she’s slightly less happy with the customs of the country, which is fine with men and women having multiple lovers, and thus everyone is hitting on her. Constantly. Worst of all, a minor noble accosts her and says that he knows her secret – she remembers this is a game and has been using her prior knowledge to manipulate things for her benefit.

The climax of this book is not unexpected, but it is rather clever, as it relies on something that I’d forgotten about this series. In general, for “I remembered my past life” sort of books, either characters remember almost from birth or at a very young age, or they remember right before the plot of whatever main plot they’re the villainess for has begun. And Mary is the latter – she only remembered her past life right before Alicia started school. She’s been worried about what everyone might think of her if she tells them the truth about her past life, mostly as the mob guy knows how to prey on insecurities. But, as Patrick points out, if she got her memories when she met Alicia, that means that all the time before that she was the ‘real” Mary Albert… and she’s always been like this. There was no change of personality whatsoever. Past life or no, Mary is ultimately a kind and clever (if daffy) heroine who attracts good people to her like flies. Which also means the antagonists of the other game and anime. But does NOT mean mob boy, who I suspect we won’t see again unless it’s in a comedy stinger.

So yes, good book, very satisfying. I think we have two more to go in the series, and there’s a limit to what new plots we can come up with. We’ll see what’s next.

Brunhild the Dragonslayer

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By Yuiko Agarizaki and Aoaso. Released in Japan as “Ryugoroshi no Brunhild” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

About a month ago I gave a rather savage review to a villainess-style novel about a lady getting her revenge because the revenge she got was beyond all possible reason. It made her loathsome. It defied the genre. That’s why I really hated it. That is not, though, to say that I inherently dislike tragedies with the death of innocents. They just need to be set up correctly. Everything about Brunhild the Dragonslayer, from the quote on the frontispiece of the book to the afterword, tells you that this is not going to be a happy book. But the genre is, essentially, opera. It’s Wagnerian, and everything about it, from the start to the end, tells you this will end in blood and gore. When a villainess “gets revenge”, at most it ends in a heroine having to be shut away in a hospital or a prince being exiled. When Brunhild gets revenge, the heavens cry and the city weeps. It’s that kind of book. It’s also really excellent.

A powerful silver dragon lives on an island of Eden, where everything is… well, much like the Garden of Eden. The dragon occasionally has to massacre the humans who come to the island to try to kill him and get the treasures and knowledge from the garden, a somewhat fruitless endeavor given that the moment the dragon dies the garden burns up. But one day a 3-year-old girl, mortally wounded, is found on the island, and she’s covered in the dragon’s blood, which is lethal to humans. Well, mostly. 1 out of 10,l000 humans survive. Guess what, the girl is one of those. For the next several years, the girl grows on the island, and eats the fruit of the island, is friends with the fauna, and loves her dragon dad. Then humans finally invent tanks and poison gas, and the dragon is killed. His final request of his daughter is not to seek revenge. Erm. Bad news there.

Getting the bad out of the way here, there is some weird incest subtext in this that I felt was unneeded, and it comes up a couple more times as the book goes on. IMO, it’s unneeded. (Probably down to the Wagner motifs.) The rest of the book, once we get to the girl (now called Brunhild) and her life in the human world, is riveting. Every time that she asks an innocent character who seems to like her where her father is (her human father, that is), you can hear the metaphorical tolling of a bell. It’s also terrifying how quickly she is able to manipulate the human heart, playing on the same emotions that other see in her in order to try to achieve her goals. There is one case where she actually seems to bond with someone – her human father’s other son, Sigurd, who is dealing with a bad case of parental disinterest and jealousy, genuinely bonds with her. But that bond is not enough. Revenge has to win.

After finishing the book, you will no doubt be as surprised as I am that there’s a second volume coming out soon. Judging by the synopsis, it features the same themes but a different cast. As a standalone, though, this is gloriously bleak, tragic, and upsetting. Recommended.

The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices, Vol. 5

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By Mamecyoro and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Gotsugou Shugi na Kaiketsu Tantou no Oujo de aru” by B’s-LOG Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Moon.

As the afterword says, this is very much a “wrapping up the arc stuff that began in the previous book” type of story. Romance, for the most part, takes a back seat till the end, with the one exception (and possibly the funniest part of the book) where Octavia asks, in a written note, if Guy wants to be her fake boyfriend. Guy, who seems to be the only person who can obviously see how jealous Klifford gets of anyone who gets near Octavia, is understandably terrified at the suggestion, and makes the obvious suggestion as to who the perfect fake boyfriend would be. But Octavia cannot bring herself to do that – for some reason she can’t quite work out. It’s fitting, therefore, that at the end of the book Klifford also decides that he has no idea how he feels about Octavia except she’s like a weapon. These two broken dumbasses are going to take 15 more books to kiss.

The book features Octavia’s brilliant plan to smoke out the traitor, which involves going on a jaunt around the city and leaving really obvious openings for a traitor to attack, then relying on the prince’s well-trained bodyguards and her own (suspected traitor) Klifford to solve the problem. Astute readers who read the fourth volume will see the flaw in this plan. On the bright side, she gets to have a nice lunch with her friends, only slightly marred by someone dosing it with truth serum, and she also has a slight detour in order to meet her grandparents (who are *very* unhappy to see her) and ask some pointed questions… though it’s the answers to what she doesn’t ask that may be more important. Why is there a sibling no one wants to talk about? And does it tie into Sirius’ busted memories?

Last time I complained we didn’t really learn as much about Sirius as I wanted, but we’re definitely getting there. He seems to be fighting both deliberate brainwashing and a traumatic event in his past, and the dichotomy between the old Sirius and new Sirius is what actually ends up being the driving force behind the traitor, as well as the arc question “if you were given two conflicting orders, which would you obey?”. It’s pretty clear that the “good” Sirius is definitely on Octavia’s side, and would no doubt help her try to stop the way this kingdom runs, but the “bad” Sirius is being railroaded into the game plot, and Octavia interfering means that he distrusts and suspects her and everyone close to her. The scene at the very end between him and Klifford is the best scene in the book that isn’t funny, and really makes you want to read Book 6.

Fortunately, that book is out in a few months. This remains an entertaining thriller.

The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 11

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By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Every once in a while on television you get a season where a character doesn’t appear for a while, or only appears on a couch, because the actress is pregnant or the actor has broken a leg. Or in Doctor Who, you get “Doctor-lite” episodes where he’s busy filming something else, so you write something where he’s absent most of the time. Obviously a book does not need to do that, but you might be forgiven for thinking that this volume had to have Maomao and Jinshi be fairly sedentary for a while, and not involved in the action all that much. Instead, the entire climax to the book is one of the big payoffs we’ve been waiting for, but Maomao is completely absent from it. In her place, we get confirmation about a character”s true agenda (which we all guessed), and get another character’s tragic backstory, which turns out to be very, very relevant.

We’re still dealing with the aftermath of the grasshopper invasion, not helped by the occasional aftershock of grasshoppers passing through. They’re low on food, low on fuel, and low on medicines. Maomao is helping to make “not quite as good” medicine with the next best thing, while also taking the time to save the life of a little girl who finds that hair and persimmons don’t mix. That said, the Western Capital is doing it’s best,. and it’s all thanks to… no, not Jinshi. Well, yes, Jinshi, however, someone else is taking all the credit, and that someone is Gyoku-ou, who has an agenda, and it involves the rumors that he thinks he has completely figured out about Jinshi’s parentage and a fierce desire to go to war with another country. Can he be stopped from dragging Jinshi into a war he doesn’t want any part of? And what does coal have to do with all of this?

Having worried you all, fear not, Maomao is in the majority of this volume. She’s separated from Jinshi most of the time, which means he spends much of the book in a bad mood. This is not helped by the fact that Chue squealed to Jinshi about the fact that Rikuson asked if Maomao would marry him last volume. This leads to some amusing scenes of Jinshi being jealous and angry and Maomao mostly being annoyed, but as it turns out there’s a very good reason behind what both of those characters did. They know who the important people are in the Western Capital, and the most important is not Gyoku-ou. That said, I wished he’d be a good antagonist, and he absolutely is that, coming across as clever, brutal, and with grand ambitions that sadly are a bit beyond his means. He’s also deeply tied up with the backstory we’ve been chasing about the Yi Clan, and I’d love to talk about that, but it really is a good spoiler.

All this plus a brief cameo from Yao and En’en, and even more Chue. Still one of the top light novel series coming out over here.

Taking My Reincarnation One Step at a Time: No One Told Me There Would Be Monsters!, Vol. 5

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

It’s always interesting reading a final volume that isn’t. This is NOT the final volume in this series – the 6th book is running on the JNC chapter release schedule as we speak – but if you didn’t know that, and you finished this volume, which does not even have an afterword, I think you’d be pretty convinced that this was the ending. It wraps up almost all the plot points from the previous books – though I still say Sara is a monster attractor. She finally goes to the capital, she accepts the fact that she’s a celebrity and will have to deal with it, she, Allen, Nelly and Chris realize they’re all a family, and she not only gets the prime minister to reject Liam’s marriage proposal but rejects him personally. It does everything but say “our fight has only just begun”. Still, I’m glad there’s more of this, as I like the cast, and I like Sara. She’s just fun to head when she’s snarking.

Everyone is getting invited to the capital, it would seem. Sara has to go for multiple reasons – not only does she have to introduce herself to the King (and deal with Liam’s annoying marriage proposal), but the capital is asking for extra apothecaries due to the dragon migration currently going on – the same thing that tore Nelly away from Sara in the second book. Unfortunately, once Sara gets there she discovers similar problems to previous books – she’s only 14, and looks about 12, and she’s only been an apothecary for two months, though she’s already a prodigy. As such, she’s disregarded and belittled once she’s there, and paired off with the other rookie commoners. Fortunately, Sara is the heroine, so the plot comes to find her anyway.

Sara admits in this book that she is very happy to be an apothecary, but honestly I think her true talents may lie in management. When they wrap things up in the capital, and Sara realizes they’re just going to do the same thing with the same problems next year, she gets very angry. And then it’s explained to her that none of the guilds collaborate with each other at all, or even help out unless asked, and thus no one has given any thought to anything but the immediate problem of that month. Long-term thinking doesn’t happen here, mostly as everyone’s competing for power and prestige. Fortunately, Sara is an Invited, and has some of the most powerful people in the company as her found family, so she is able to call everyone around to the royal table and cut through the bullshit. Though admittedly, she doesn’t recognize the King. As for marriage… there’s a minor hint that Allen is thinking about marriage, but for the most part this book is content on the two of them having a sibling bond, and for now that’s absolutely fine.

So, NOT the end, I guess. I look forward to seeing what happens in the next arc.

I Don’t Want To Be the Dragon Duke’s Maid! Serving My Ex-Fiancé From My Past Life, Vol. 2

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By Mashimesa Emoto and Masami. Released in Japan as “Ryū Taikō no Senzoku Jijo wa Goenryō Shitai! Tensei Saki no Okyūji Aite wa Zense no Moto Konyakusha Deshita” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Amanogawa Tenri.

I had assumed that this was going to be one of those artifact title type of books, sort of how The Ideal Sponger Life never actually manages to do anything remotely connected to that title after the first half of Book 1. But credit to the author, we actually do get a reasonable excuse for having Mille-Feuille once again disguise herself as the dragon duke’s maid and serving the ex-fiance from her past life. The problem, of course, is that just because she and Van are married does not mean that everyone automatically approved of the pairing. There was an assassination attempt on her last book, and there’s another one near the start of this book, to the point where she’s using body doubles most of the time. Fortunately, we have something that can take her mind off of things: tourism. Now that she’s solved the “donating mana puts women in a coma” issue, folks can actually see the sights. Erm… what sights do they have?

Mille-Feuille and Van are wracking their brains to try to come up with a way to stop having the one vacation destination be “the lake”, if only as the lake is starting to feel the effect of all those tourists. Mille-Feuille then draws on her memories as Charlotte and recalls that up north, in the snowy mountains of the kingdom, there are places where you could have a natural hot spring! And since Van and Mille-Feuille have not had their honeymoon yet, they decide to pay the place a visit, accompanied by his sister and knights and her best friend, battle maid, and squirrels. Unfortunately, when they get there they run into Fenetra, Van’s cousin and one of his fiance candidates from before. And she does not seem to like any of the woman in Van’s party. At all.

Not to spoil too much, but this series comes to a close with this volume, so we can’t exactly bring in too many subplots. Things are both helped and hindered by Mille-Feuille herself, whose dry, matter-of-fact narration works well in some places, but in others you can tell why they need to include a literal “she barely shows any emotion, she’s always been like this” hand wave. Opera, Van’s sister, turns out to be a lot more fun now that she’s no longer a jealous little sister, and the pairing up of her with Van’s chief bodyguard was so blatant and shoehorned in – both in universe and out of it – that I ended up laughing. There’s some nice near death experiences, a few mass brainwashings, and a villainess who turns out to tie back to our heroine’s previous life. Nothing is stunning, but like the first book, it reads well.

The volume (and series) ends with Mille-Feuille announcing she’s pregnant and then giving birth to a son, which might surprise folks who assumed they just never had sex ever. I liked this. And good news, the author has a new series out from J-Novel Club next week.

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Promised Garden

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By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian.

While it’s a light novel series, and therefore technically above genre distinctions, I don’t think anyone would argue with me if I said Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter falls under the shonen umbrella. As such, it feels inevitable that it would eventually fall prey to one of the big dangers of shonen battle series, “shonen creep”. You start off with a powerful villain, and our heroes hold on to defeat them. Then you get an even more powerful villain. And then, of course, an even MORE powerful villain. And this series just features a very exciting civil war arc with multiple antagonists, backstabbing, and lots of really cool battles. As such, this volume, ending the arc after it, can’t help but be a bit disappointing, as not only are the villains in this arc ludicrously powerful compared to the previous ones, but they all live to fight another day. We’ve hit the actual series villains, rather than arc villains. Which is great news for the series, but makes this book feel like a letdown.

Of course, just because there’s a desperate battle in which everyone might be horribly killed doesn’t mean that this series is not also a harem romcom. As such, the first half of this book has Allen and Lydia gradually getting back into fighting shape and coming up with plans, while all the while new Allen-lovers show up one on top of the other. This even happens during and *after* the battle itself, which actually makes it funnier. They tried to stop the war, but the Church really, really wants war, to the point where they’re murdering all the peace-loving leaders. And the main warmonger is being kept in place by his comatose wife, who they’re promising a cure for. Any day now. Really. And then there’s our bevy of villains, including the vampire who beat Allen and Lydia so badly last time, who’s pretending to be someone she’s not.

This is the end of the “Allen and Lydia Love Love” arc, though I’m sure nothing is genuinely resolved till we see a wedding. It’s got some really great payoff if you’re a fan of the couple, though, which I think most readers of this series are. (Seriously, if you ship, say, Tina, I assume you moved on long ago.) Indeed, there’s so much payoff that Lydia is starting to regard all the other love interests – including her own sister *and* her own cousin – flying around Allen like bees to be more cute and amusing rather than sparking jealousy. Well, to a point. Lily still makes her a little annoyed. And Alice doesn’t count, she’s evil. As for the climax of the book, not only do the villains get away, but it also undercuts some of the danger. The kidnapped victims turn out to be fine, and the badass who valiantly sacrificed her life in the prologue turns out to also not be dead. Given the villains got away, I suppose killing off anyone we care about would have felt mean, but again, disappointing.

Next time we get a new arc, and I look forward to seeing how Allen once again does not get a title and gets to avoid getting engaged. Till then, OK but not great book in the series.

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 3

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By Shigeru Sagazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga Ore o Hōttekurenai Ken” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

This series leans a little lighter on it than some others I can think of, but it has to be said that this is a harem series that adds new girls every volume. As such, sometimes it feels like the new character acts the way she does not because of their backstory or because of how they’ll fit into the overall story, but because of which “anime girl stereotype” boxes they tick. We have the blond, quick-to-jealousy but cool knight commander, the “I am Yotsuba Nakano with the serial numbers filed off” strong knight, the fiery redhead adventurer, the cool magic users, the adopted daughter, and the “I look ten but I’m really a hundred years old” character, who in this particular case is not a vampire but a mage. And now we have the “ara ara” girl, and I admit I like that type, but I feel she really doesn’t fit her character arc.

Beryl is recovering from the events of the second book, doing things like having a duel with Allusia (which he wins, though he has to cheat) and enrolling Mui in the local magic academy (and meeting her teacher, who, like most other women in this series, seems to fall for Beryl at first sight). That said, there’s trouble on the horizon. The prince of Sphenedyardvania is visiting, a yearly tradition, and will be touring the city with Liberis’ third princess, and Allusia – and, of course, Beryl – are being asked to guard them. And it’s a good thing, too, as assassins are out to ruin things. Fortunately, they have help in the form of guards from Sphenedyardvania, including Rose, who is – you guessed it – another old student of Beryl’s with a crush on him.

A bit of a spoiler for the end of this book, but only a bit, as the identity of the “traitor” is pretty obvious from the get go. Given the sheer number of former students meeting up with Beryl in this series, it was inevitable that one of them would turn out to be an antagonist. That said, we’re not reading the sort of series that would genuinely have a woman Beryl taught using her talents for evil, so of course we get a backstory to show that this is being forced on her and it’s really desperate idealism rather than a desire for power or chaos. I suppose the fact that Rose is an “ara ara” personality ties in with her attachment to children, as they tend to be the motherly sort – she has a long side braid, and does nearly die, so the stereotype fits, I guess. It just feels odd to me. That said, the main draw of this harem series is that I couldn’t care less about the harem, and I think the author agrees with me. The politics is proving more interesting, along with “will Beryl ever accept praise?”.

This continues to be “mid”, but it’s a very pleasant mid, and I think fans of harems who don’t mind an “old dude” as the lead will enjoy it, even with its cliches.

The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain, Vol. 2

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

Sometimes you know that the worst case scenario is not going to happen. Not because this series wouldn’t kill anyone off – there are one or two deaths in this book, and I expect that trend to continue – but more because sometimes the author hits on a new character who is so good that they cannot bear to pull the trigger and have them die, even if they happen to be the evil mastermind. Yes, that’s right, the major weakness of the first book was the “heroine” being a terrible character, and the author has gone above and beyond to fix it, to the point where, when Claudia manages to save the day, I went “thank God”. Sometimes you just want people to stick around. Well, OK, I mostly want them to stick around. More on that later. But it does make this volume stronger than the previous one.

Claudia has successfully managed to avoid her fate from her previous life, and her younger sister has been quietly sent off (and, thankfully, does not reappear here). Now she’s free to welcome a delegation from the nearby nation of Bari, which is having a bit of political upheaval at the moment, and has exiled the King’s younger brother, Raul, to Harland for the duration. Unfortunately, the political intrigue has gone away from Bari and come to Harland – Sylvester has to leave for several weeks to deal with a situation in a remote part of their nation, Raul’s faction are plotting to put him on the throne despite his own wishes, and his handsome and clever aide is clearly plotting something clever and dreadful. Worst of all, Claudia recognizes Raul from her past life, when he came to her brothel.

I really hate using the word “yuribait”, which these days has been loosely defined as anything that doesn’t end with a confession and a kiss. But if I *did* use it, this series would probably fall under the category. Claudia and Sylvester are still both in love, and the series, which has several opportunities to do so, never even comes close to admitting that lesbians exist. But in addition to the close relationship between Claudia and Helen, her maid, and her rival and best friend Louise, we also get Charlotte, a timid and large-breasted young woman whose parents are trying to get her to use her boobs to get her man, when this is the last thing she wants to do. By giving her incredibly good advice and also being, well, beautiful and cool, Charlotte falls deeply for Claudia, calling her “oneesama” (OK, yes, it’s translated). And then there’s Lestea, who goes from “evil lesbian stereotype” to “obsessive lesbian stereotype” over the course of the book. That was the one part of her arc I was unhappy with. Oh yes, and Claudia also dresses in a suit to secretly visit her old brothel, and manages to not only seduce all her old sex worker friends within thirty seconds but also agrees to fund it. This isn’t going to be yuri, but boy howdy it is an Akogare Festival.

Still, on the whole this was better than the first volume, and I look forward to seeing what happens next, and also hope it is shorter than 406 pages.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 5: Avatar of a Goddess, Vol. 10

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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.

It’s honestly been a long, long time since we’ve seen the main raison d’etre of this entire series, which is one girl’s complete and utter obsession with books. Back when Rozemyne was just Myne, she could afford to be a one-note samba, but since she’s been adopted into nobility, the sheer weight of the politics of this world has conspired to keep her from obsessing about reading QUITE as much. As such, I was highly amused by what is supposed to be a dramatic highlight of this book, where we have three contenders for the throne facing off, and maybe killing each other, get utterly defused by a Goddess offering her a chance to read some cool books provided she can borrow Rosemyne’s body. and of course she says “OMG, yes!”. It’s even funnier as the goddess says she’ll forget everything more important to her than books… and as far as I can tell her memory is 100% fine. LOL. Pure comedy.

After the lull of the last book, we’re back to all battle all the time, as Raublat and Gervasio’s plot to overthrow the country has reached its zenith, and it’s going to take the cooperation – willing or otherwise – of a lot of the cast in order to stop that from happening. Detlinde is useless, of course, so most of the traitorous bits from Ahrensbach have actually come from her sister, who does what Mother tells her to and is honestly terrified of Rozemyne and Ferdinand when they’re both really, really mad. I also feel bad for Anastasius, who is at least making an effort (unlike his brother) but I think is going to find that he really should have tried to befriend Rozemyne after all. As noted above, it all ends up coming down to a talk with the gods, who decide to put the matter to a test. A test which Ferdinand, of course, rigs.

As with the last two books, the last third of the volume is devoted to “what everyone else was doing”. We meet Immanuel, who gives us a very good idea of what Hartmut would be like if he were evil (yes, yes, let’s ignore the obvious joke). We also see how this universe is really unforgiving towards honest and innocent people who are tricked into doing bad things – I suspect life is not going to be fun for Hildebrand after all this. We then get Anastasius’ POV, which shows him trying to be proactive but mostly caught up in events and offended with not being treated like a royal. Magdalena, the king’s third wife, shows us what’s going on with the king himself, who was always pretty spineless but is being helped along by some drugs this time around, and also enjoys showing Magdalena kicking ass. We get Gervasio’s POV, which tries to be sympathetic, and then we get Ferdinand’s POV, which reminds us that sympathetic or no, one of the first things Gervasio would do on getting the throne would be to kill Ferdinand. As always, there’s too much going on to talk about.

So yes, two books to go. This was another strong entry, with some excellent illustrations as well. If I had time (which I don’t), I’d want to do a massive reread of the whole series once it ends.

Sakura, Saku Vols 1 and 2

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Sakkura, Saku Volumes 1 and 2 by Io Sakisaka

I feel like Io Sakisaka is a great go-to author for heartfelt shoujo stories that reaffirm one’s faith in humanity and young love. Sakura, Saku might not be terribly surprising, but it delivers all the feels that one would want from a shoujo romance. Saku Fujigaya was rescued on a train when she was feeling faint by a mysterious stranger, and she is so inspired by this kindly act that she decides to devote herself to helping others. She rescues dropped train passes, shares umbrellas, carries extra pencils in case someone needs to borrow one, and takes on extra chores at school. When people comment on her being a “goody-two-shoes” she is delighted that she is succeeding in her new life mission.

Sakura, Saku

One of Saku’s biggest regrets is that she wasn’t able to thank her rescuer. She had a note with his name on it, but when she tried to contact him she wasn’t able to locate him. She’s surprised when she hears a familiar last name – Sakura. Her classmate Haruki Sakura’s older brother is potentially her original rescuer who changed the direction of her life. She asks Haruki to deliver a letter to his brother for her, and he immediately refuses. As they cross paths more often he begins to see that she’s not the typical girl that tries to go through him to confess to his brother, and Saku begins to form more ties with her classmates.

Saku’s tendency to throw herself into helping people, and Haruki’s somewhat diffident but forthright personality make them unusual allies in navigating the emotional currents of high school even while they try to figure out their own feelings for each other. Saku’s habit of contemplating Haruki’s shoulders at inopportune times is a great example of the awkwardness that comes with a first crush. Sakisaka’s art is attractive and expressive, and the while first couple of volumes so far step through some typical plot points and situations, the characters are engaging and it fills a niche for anyone wanting some relatively angst-free contemporary shoujo.

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 44

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

It has to be said, Rokujouma!? is a very methodical series. We’ve gotten so used to seeing series derived from webnovels where the author is clearly making up each chapter… and sometimes each page… as they go along. So it’s refreshing seeing a series that really feels plotted down to its bones. I suspect the author has outlines and spreadsheets up the wazoo to keep track of all this. A “Pantser” they are not. And sometimes this can be a drawback. There are a few conversations in this short story volume between the heroines where you sort of want one of them to snap and turn evil just for the variety – everyone is polite, pragmatic, and thinks things through – even Theia, who gives the appearance of being impulsive. On the other hand, given what happened in Volume 43, I’m honestly OK with everyone being pleasant and casually discussing their polycule. It’s a lot less sad and downbeat than what I expect the start of the 45th volume will be like.

As with previous short story volumes, this consists of three short stories from HJ Bunko’s online website and a longer story at the end. In the first story, Elfaria, Theia, Ruth, and Ceileshu are ordered to take a day off after the civil war (and despite Ceileshu’s guilt about her part in said civil war), and play various board games from Japan (the Game of Life, etc.). In the second story, with Maki unavailable, Harumi and Shizuka are chosen to try to teach our resident Power Ranger knockoffs how to fight against someone who has magic. In the third story Kotori and Kiriha meet with the student council to discuss how the alien transfer students are fitting in, and then discuss Koutarou’s childhood. In the story written for the book, we see Koutarou going out on dates with all nine of his current polycule… and it becomes clear that it’s going to be expanding to more than nine.

It’s been about fifteen books since the first supposed “ending” of this series, which pretty much cemented that the nine main heroines were all quite friendly with each other and would be happy to share Koutarou in a polyamorous relationship whenever he got over his hangups. He’s mostly done that now, at least in terms of no longer thinking “if I admit I love someone they will die”, but he still feels that choosing just one girl will destroy everything. And, well, he’s not wrong. The second half of this book goes into great detail about how his marriage is now a political decision, and there is no way that he will be allowed to NOT marry someone from Forthorthe. Which… could be Theia. Or Clan. But it could also be Elfaria, who is single, the Empress, still young (for an alien race), and in love with Koutarou, something she is reluctant to admit in front of her daughter. The one thing that none of the heroines are allowed to do in Rokujouma!? is bury their feelings of love. And that’s true if you’re the Empress, or if you’re a god in disguise, or even if you’re the little sister of his best friend, who is starting to realize that maybe he isn’t just a “big brother”.

Of course, that assumes they all survive the next book. The author promises it’s back to the main plot next time. Till then, enjoy a staid and somewhat boring but also warm and comforting light novel volume.

I Guess This Dragon Who Lost Her Egg to Disaster Is My Mom Now, Vol. 2

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By Suzume Kirisaki and Cosmic. Released in Japan as “Saigai de Tamago o Ushinatta Dragon ga Nazeka Ore o Sodate Hajimeta” by M Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

The first volume of this series had the past of Lushera hold my interest more than her present with her dragon mom, so it’s ironic that in this second volume it’s the bonding with dragon mom that is the better part of the book. Of course, some of that is due to the fact that, although names are not really clear still due to the nature of the resurrection, everyone now knows who Lushera is. As such, we’re allowed to concentrate, especially in the first half of the book, on Lushera and her mother growing closer, figuring out how to be parent and child as dragons, and parent and child as humans. Unfortunately, that leaves the second half of this book, which features one of my least favorite light novel cliches, a villain who is 100% evil, irredeemable, and sadistic. I was amazed he didn’t do a maniacal laugh. And he also tortured an abused child. This was a lot less fun to read.

We open by learning a bit more about the past of Kaphal, who turns out to be the equivalent of a teenager who eloped and ran away from home and whose husband then died. Now she’s back, and she has a daughter who is this odd human-dragon hybrid. Her dad is not amused, and insists that Lushera have a test to see whether… well, mostly whether she can survive the test. Meanwhile, the kingdom is having to deal with the fact that the big, scary dragon on their mountain is now walking around the capital in human form, doing things like learning about cooking, going for a swim, etc. Lushera also ends up rescuing a Very Important Person from a golem attack, and discovers she is Monica, the disgraced and scapegoated princess of the royal family, who lives under house arrest with a group of revolving servants and her self-hatred. Meanwhile, the kingdom next door, who got most of their knights and their ruler killed off in Book 1, decide to leave things to their new psychopathic manchild of a ruler.

So yeah, getting the bad out of the way first, everything about Julian in this book sucks, which unfortunately also affects Monica’s plotline, as she is reduced to an object of peril for the entire book. It’s so bad that it actually affected my enjoyment of another very good plot twist, which is briefly hinted at much earlier in the book but then allowed to be forgotten about till the reveal. Fortunately, given that CIW deliberately put this volume out on Mother’s Day, everything that does involve the dragon family part of the book is great. I especially like how clever see see Lushera being, given that her nature and general attitude really lend itself well to “dumb muscle” and it’s great to see she isn’t. Her mom is also really trying hard, and comes a long way in this book.

Which is, I think, the final book in the series. That’s fine with me. It was long enough that I really enjoyed the dragon and her mom, the transgender subplots, and a few of the twists. Just… please, stop making all your villains puppy-kickers.

True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends: One Star in the Night Sky, Vol. 1

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By Kosuzu Kobato and Fumi Takamura. Released in Japan as “Unmei no Koibito wa Kigen Tsuki” by Maple Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Julie Goniwich. Adapted by Max Machiavelli.

Yes, I will admit that adding a Vol. 1 to the review title is optimistic. The book itself lacks a volume number, and there’s no sign of a Book 2 in Japan over a year after the first book. But the series has the equivalent of five books as a web novel, and this book certainly does not come to a definitive close, so I’ll include it just in case. I also realize that whenever I talk about series that are unfinished in Japan, a lot of people resolve to never read the title, showing a disdain for “abandoned” works getting a license in the first place. But this got licensed, in my opinion, because the author’s works have been coming out over here from other publishers, and they’re all quite good. And this is also quite good. It’s a normal romance novel, with a heroine who doesn’t quite realize how amazing she is, even if everyone around her does.

Fiona is a young woman who is enjoying her job as a secretary/administrator at the country’s art gallery, and wants to travel to other countries. Unfortunately, her father has decided enough is enough, she needs to be married. Which, in this very patriarchal society, means no job, and no travel. And she’s to be married off to her childhood friend Norman… who’s nice enough, but Fiona has no romantic feelings for him. Then at a party where she heads out to a remote garden to dwell on her problem, she accidentally overhears Giles, heir to an Earldom, who is also desperately trying to avoid getting married. After they meet again due to various circumstances involving a missing cuff-link, Giles’ friend Richard suggests the two of them get engaged to solve each other’s problem – after the fuss dies down, they can call it off. Unfortunately, Fiona is falling in love with Giles without realizing it, and Giles is falling for Fiona and definitely DOES realize it.

This book doesn’t really take off until about a third of the way in, when Giles’ sister talks about getting a new painting from a famous reclusive artist. Fiona takes one look at the painting – a fake – and absolutely destroys the man selling it to her, incandescent with rage. As it turns out, she has a very personal reason to be extremely angry. In fact, most of this book is made up of reasons like that – it turns out that Fiona has accidentally become a beloved contact and ally of most of the truly important people in the kingdom, and they love her all the more because she never uses her contacts for any personal gain. As a result, Giles suddenly finds everyone giving him the stink-eye, telling him he’d better treat her like the wonderful creature she is. And rivals suddenly find that this plain lady from a backwater barony can somehow get an appointment for a dress fitting in two days at the ritziest place in the city, where the wait time is normally months.

In other words, it’s an “unpolished diamond” romance novel, and quite fun to read, if unoriginal. But you don’t necessarily want originality in romance novels. I hope we get more of it.