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Reviews

Stuck in a Time Loop: When All Else Fails, Be a Villainess, Vol. 3

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By Sora Hinokage and Tsukasa Kiryu. Released in Japan as “Loop kara Nukedasenai Akuyaku Reijō wa, Akiramete Sukikatte Ikirukoto ni Kimemashita” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Andria McKnight.

At the end of the last volume I wondered where else the story could take us, and hoped that Selene had a “love epiphany”. Well, I got half my wish. She definitely has an epiphany. And while that is eventually good news for the future of the world this book takes place in, but it’s very bad news for every main and supporting character in this series. Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised. This has always been on the darker end of Villainess books, so wrapping up with a “now we can get married and live a happy, peaceful life” would have felt wrong somehow. We certainly don’t get that, as Selene gets some very bad news about where the last two demons are located, and realizes that, in order to really, *really* fix things, she will have to weaponize being a hated villainess and make it her own.

As Selene opens the book, things are very quiet, with the only worry being Euclis wanting someone to kill him. The other problem, of course, is that they’ve killed four of the six monsters that threaten the world, and the other two are proving very difficult to find… at least until Etoile gets a future vision that tell him the fifth monster is a lot closer to King Euclid than anyone is really comfortable with. Someone has to deal with it, and since Selene is, frankly, the most powerful of them, it’s up to her. Unfortunately, she then discovers the location of the last monster. What follows is inevitable but will also lead to her downfall, so she needs to come up with a solution that will resolve *all* of this – the guardians, the king, the powers, her time loops, and Dier’s immortality – once and for all. That that solution is… well, it’s a happy ending IN A WAY.

The main reason this book succeeds and does not become just depressing as hell is the ongoing dissonance between Selene’s deadpan narration (and, if I’m honest, deadpan personality) and her kindness, which only seems to come out at times when she is forced to make a horrible but necessary decision. The decision she makes, once it becomes clear that she does have to kill the king, is to fight fate. In fact, it’s to essentially slaughter fate and burn the corpse, in an effort to ensure that the cycle of this happening over and over, Dier being immortal but sad, and her being constantly killed and getting increasingly jaded. At least here she can weaponize that jadedness. I did appreciate that almost everyone gets that something is going on – no one, especially not Dier or her sister, believe she’s suddenly turned mad with power, and they all know she’s kind. It is a bit frustrating having her blow off telling them what she’s actually doing, but I get it.

So, in the end, it all ends in fire… minus a cute epilogue that is thematically appropriate but perhaps a bit too pat for my liking. This was a solid little tragedy in the end, a nice change of pace from other “you are NO LONGER my fiancee!” books.

Rising from Ashes: My Dear Emperor, You’re Putty in My Hands!, Vol. 2

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By Makino Maebaru and Yoko Matsurika. Released in Japan as “Torotoro ni Shite Sashiagemasu, Kōtei Heika. Moto Konyakusha ni Ie o Yakareta Tsuihō Miko wa, Ringoku Kōtei ni Chōai Sarete Sainō o Hanahirakaseru” on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Zihan Gao.

As with the first volume, this is a series that I find interesting for its darker elements more than the romance at its core (though I will admit to a fondness for Sai’s dorky maid, who at one point vows to defend her mistress by hitting a man with a broom over and over… and then we fond out he’s the king of a foreign nation. Luckily, he’s amused). Lilly, the Saint who has been busy destroying Sai’s home country since the start of the first book, is barely in this. When we do finally see her, at the very end, Sai is there to sacrifice her own life to send Lilly back to Japan… which is a shame, as Lilly would rather die than go back there. In fact, that’s her goal. She’s riveting, and I wish her fate was a bit less vague.

Everything’s been going well for Sai lately. The Wagtail Priestess is hideously popular… indeed, perhaps a bit TOO popular, as a visit to an island that’s also a penal colony proves. Indeed, she’s so popular that she’s getting a lot of marriage proposals… mostly as her daughter will, of course, have the same powers. But there’s a slight hiccup – Sai’s in love with the Emperor, and the Empress can’t be the Wagtail priestess because *she* has to give birth to the next God. And that’s not even getting into Sai’s terminally low self-image. With all this going on, honestly, a request from her old country, which is now being completely destroyed, to get rid of the Saint might be a welcome distraction.

A bit of a spoiler here, but it’s also my biggest issue with this series: given that so much of Sai’s personality and backstory revolves around her beloved parents dying in war and her abusive, Cinderella before the ball childhood, the revelation that her parents *are* still alive… and in fact that she has a sister… really reads like a rabbit out of the hat too many. Then again, it might have been the only way to possibly get the writer out of the hole they’d written themselves into. When you have various things that can only be done by sacrificing life, magic, or life AND magic, sometimes it helps to have a spare daughter who can take up the slack. The book ends rather abruptly in general, to be honest. The fate of Centoria, with a queen who was presented as being very sympathetic, is basically “eventually the country fell” with no other explanation. And Haruka and Sai’s wedding is confined to an “extra story”, not even wrapping up the main series. Ah well.

As with the first volume, this wasn’t terrible or anything, but it’s definitely in third place (of three) in terms of series by this author which have come out over here.

Making Jam in the Woods: My Relaxing Life Starts in Another World, Vol. 3

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By Kosuzu Kobato and Yuichi Murakami. Released in Japan as “Mori no Hotori de Jam wo Niru: Isekai de Hajimeru Slow Life” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jade Willis.

The author says in the afterword that the webnovel version of this series ended with the second book, and that this third volume was an “after story” written for the published books. That might be a bit of a surprise given that this book ends with Margaret and Mark’s wedding, which you would have expected to end the series proper, and also that it manages to (mostly) resolve the other open-ended romance in the series. But it also does explain some things, like the total lack of conflict in this volume. If this is a final volume, there’s no real resolution of the “Spirit Caller” plotline. Sure, Margaret does meet with the Spirit herself, and we learn a little bit about her that may have odd implications, but in the end if that scene wasn’t in this book nothing would change. This volume is pleasant little scenes that chug along until we get to the end. And honestly, that’s fine.

Margaret and Mark are together, and she’s living a happy life with Adelaide and Daniel, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more things to do. First of all, there’s jam making, as Rachel (who is very carriage sick, as Walter is too busy and couldn’t come) returns so they can hang out and talk about romance together. Then Margaret finally goes to the capital,,, not to meet the royal family, but so that she can sign off on the illustrations for her children’s book, which have an incognito artist. After this, Walter, who has been doing nothing but work for the past x months, finally collapses, and is forced to both take time off and have to face up to the fact that Rachel is in love with him… and also getting proposals from other men. And Margaret also finds that her total lack of mana makes her ideal in dealing with the children at the magic academy, all of whom suffer from too much of it.

I will admit by the end of the volume I was wondering if this series started off as one of those recipes you see online, the kind that can’t give you directions without a long story first. The jam making is detailed for pages on end, and I’d be interested in seeing if anyone tries it out using this volume. I will admit I was briefly worried when Rachel met the Spirit and got her voice back, but it turned out that this was something that could only happen when she was in Spirit Land, so when she returns she is still mute and her leg is still not quite healed. I appreciated this, as it underlines the actual plot revelation from Book 2: Margaret’s summoning was entirely by accident. In the last scene in this book, Margaret wonders to Mark if her life will continue to be troublesome due to her calling. I’m not sure, I suspect as her life goes on the crisis moments will continue to be small in number, and the jam making, trying on dresses, and being good with kids will take up far more.

In the end, this series is just NICE. I’m glad I read it.

Once Upon a Witch’s Death: The Tale of the One Thousand Tears of Joy

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By Saka and Chorefuji. Released in Japan as “Aru Majo ga Shinu Made: Owari no Kotoba to Hajimari no Namida” by DENGEKI no Shin Bungei. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Richard Tobin.

I rarely begin a review by noting whether the series is continuing in Japan or not, but it actually makes a difference in how we’re supposed to take this story in this case. Yen is releasing this as a one-shot, and Dengeki seems to have had no desire to release any more since this came out in Japan in December 2021. But if this is the only volume, then the plot sort of becomes irrelevant. It’s not a story of how a girl tries to gain powerful “tears” in order to avoid her impending death, because that plot, spoiling a bit, is not remotely resolved. Instead, it becomes a sort of slice-of-life book starring a very fun main character. And that’s great, don’t get me wrong, but it makes the ending seem like this was more of a parable than a novel, with a final revelation that kind of made me go “ergh”. Which is a shame, because Meg really *is* a great main character.

Meg Raspberry is an apprentice witch. When she was a young girl, her parents passed away, but she was taken in by a witch who saw her potential power. That witch was also the Eternal Witch, Faust, so Meg actually ends up in a pretty cushy position. Unfortunately, when the novel opens, we hear Faust tell Meg that she is cursed, and has a year to live. Unless she collects “one thousand tears of joy”, she will age 100 years within a day and pass away. Unfortunately, getting these tears is very difficult, and getting one thousand is next to impossible. Given that… why not just have Meg go about her normal life in Lapis, an English village? While trying to pick up these tears along the way, by helping people and having them cry with happiness?

Meg is, frankly, a hoot. The Japanese reviews of this book all say she “talks like a middle-aged man”, and there is a bit of that. She’s excessively tomboyish and casual, and is not above pretending to perv on her friends as a joke. She’s also a bundle of positivity (which she calls her one good trait), can get along with absolutely everyone, and has a knack for making people feel better. She’s also really good at magic, though she seems to think she’s still an amateur, mostly as she’s surrounded by the most powerful witches in the world. I really wanted to see how she would either succeed (if this is a heartwarming series) or fail (if this was a tearjerker). Unfortunately, the book ends a good 9 months before the deadline, with Faust hinting that what Meg was told may not be the entire truth after all, and that this might be for a totally different reason. Which… didn’t sit well with me.

So yes, if this ever gets more books (the webnovel apparently continued to a conclusion), I’ll happily read more. As it is, though, for once we really do have a book that is lessened by being part of a “cancelled” series.

Haibara’s Teenage New Game+, Vol. 6

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By Kazuki Amamiya and Gin. Released in Japan as “Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Esther Sun.

There’s always been an element of drama to this series, which has sort of waffled between teen romcom and teen angst at times. But this volume pretty much jettisons the humor entirely, and any romance we get is of the tortured variety. This is also to be expected. Natsuki may have 7 extra years on the rest of the cast, but that does not make him any less of a dumbass when trying to see feelings that are so close to his nose that they’re invisible to him. We also not only get a nice round of high school bullying here, but also how how it ties in to elementary school bullying from the past, and that “conformity”, needless to say, is rewarded, while being an outcast gets you… well, even more outcasted. And then of course there is Miori, who has apparently decided that everything is her fault, that she’s the worst person alive, and that the only solution left to her is to fix the “alive” part. Fortunately, this isn’t quite THAT dark a high school romantic drama.

Nasty rumors are spreading throughout the school, helped along by a girl who really hates Miori (because of her relationship with Reita, of course), and Miori has actually been home from school for a week. Though honestly that’s more due to the fallout from realizing just how much she loves Natsuki and despairing about how it’s far too late to do anything about it. Natsuki, of course, is also not being helped here, given that he’s accused of cheating on his girlfriend with another girl. As for Hikari, everyone’s worried about how she takes this, but honestly we may need to be more worried about what she feels after she hears the actual truth. Unfortunately, Miori eventually snaps and decides to run away… and Natsuki worries she may take things even further.

So yes, word of warning, there is a suicide attempt in this book. That said, it’s resolved fairly quickly, and there are not many “real world” aftereffects, mostly as only Miori and Natsuki know what she was about to do. That said, honestly, the best scene in the book comes right before he rescues her, when he confronts Reita, who is determined to rescue her first and win over Natsuki. Natsuki, naturally, is livid, pointing out that Reita is only thinking of himself and not Miori at all. Accurate, and this leads to the cliffhanger of the book, where Reita apparently decides to solve his problems by becoming a delinquent and getting suspended. I think these teens need better coping mechanisms, honestly. I’m sure Reita will be the subject of the next book, though how his relationship with Miori will fall out (or fall apart) remains to be seen.

The next book is gonna be a bit, though – this volume only came out in December. So feel relief that Natsuki was able to defuse things, and hope that Hikari can get over her hangups about cooking. And Miori, please feel better soon.

A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires, Vol. 1

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By Hagure Metabo and masami. Released in Japan as “Buchigire Reijō wa Hōfuku wo Chikaimashita. Madōsho no Chikara de Sokoku wo Tataki Tsubushimasu” by HJ Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Rymane Tsouria.

I’ve read quite a few bad books in my day. Some are so boring or annoying I don’t even finish them, hence they don’t get reviewed. Some are so hilariously bad I can do a “funny” review of how bad the book is. But it’s rare that I’ve come across a book so bad it makes me angry. In fact, ironically, it makes me livid, which is something that we almost never see from Ellie, the antagonist of this book. She spends almost the entire book in a sort of stoic indifference, and we’re meant to know that she’s furious because she says so. I like to think she sounds like Marvin the Martian when she talks about how angry she is. That in itself is not enough to make me angry about this book. Hell, not even the “oh, bandits aren’t human, so it’s fine to murder them” or “let’s go buy a slave!” are quite enough. No, it’s the ending.

You can probably guess how this book opens. Yup. Elizabeth Leiston, the fiance to the crown prince of Haldoria, is accused in public of being mean to the prince’s true love, the daughter of a baron. She’s arrested by the prince’s knight Robert and taken to prison. She knows that the prince is only doing this because the king and the prime minister – her father – are away. However, when the two hear about this, they assume the hypercompetent Elizabeth will escape in no time, bop the crown prince on the nose like he’s a puppy who pooped on the rug, and go back to secretly running the kingdom on her own. Instead, she spends a month in prison, reading and getting more annoyed. When her maid (also hypercompetent – no one grows or learns in this book) confirms that the king and her father just laid back and assumed she’d fix things, she decides to escape, flee the country, and get her revenge. Little did I know her revenge would not be typical “villainess novel” revenge, or even Greek Tragedy revenge, but “15 year old fanfic writer who’s just discovered the “gore” tag on AO3″ revenge.

Again, the first three-quarters of this book are bad, but in a “normal” way. Elizabeth, now calling herself Ellie, has magic grimoires that essentially make her omnipotent. She hires a 10-year-old – for once, not an orphan – to work for her. She also buys a slave, but it’s OK, because this slave comes from the “good” slave dealer who treats his slaves well. Note this slave is not paid except for “some pocket money”. She runs a cosmetics business (again, like so many other villainess books) until her old kingdom, who have decided that the crown prince’s reputation is more important than hers so have labeled her a monster, decides to stage an invasion. This is just garden variety bad. It started to get worse when we ran across the village of amateur solders who decided to rape a few women. And then we get to the actual start of the revenge, which will no doubt take several volumes, possibly one for each person she’s wronged.

As I noted above, Robert is the crown prince’s guard knight. He also fell in love with the Maria Campbell of this book, who sadly does not have one ounce of Maria’s heroine charm. That said, when the crown prince decides to incite a war using another country as proxy, he begins to realize that this isn’t actually what a good ruler does. So when Ellie shows up with an army led of the Empire’s top adventurers, Robert basically switches sides and gives Ellie the information she needs to resolve the conflict (though the proxy kingdom, of course, is dissolved). He then goes back home with his platoon, and Ellie goes with him… and then she slaughters the platoon and does *something* to Robert. He is found, badly wounded, and returned home to his adorable sister, loving mother, and furious father who is nevertheless happy to see his son alive. And then he slaughters his mother and sister. And then goes outside and starts slaughtering everyone in the shopping district. Yes, we do indeed see adorable children getting cut in two. After all this happens, despite insisting that he wasn’t in charge of his own actions, he is, of course, executed. The revenge is LUDICROUSLY beyond all possible need. Especially given that, frankly, Ellie is not a likable person.

Oh yes, one more thing: why the hell is this a Heart title? There’s no romance in it at all. Is it just because it’s a villainess book? Look, let me break this down. If you want a woman who has given everything for her country betrayed and finding new life with a business in another country, go read A Young Lady Finds Her True Calling Living with the Enemy. If you want to read a badass woman accused of horrible crimes fighting back and salvaging her reputation, go read I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss. If you want to read this book only with actual humor, go read Prison Life Is Easy for a Villainess. But for Christ’s sake, don’t read this series, which should be buried at a crossroads with a stake in its heart. Fuck it.

Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 12

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By Nozomu Mochitsuki and Gilse. Released in Japan as “Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Madeleine Willette.

The cliffhanger ending to the last volume already told us that Bel had returned “from the dead”, so it’s not a surprise to see her on the cover, though it is a bit of a surprise to see her looking older. Mia is also stated to have grown, and for once the narrator, usually snarky, has to assure us that it’s height this time rather than the usual fat jokes. We are told that Mia is now sixteen, which is nice to hear, but also ominous, as it was when Mia turned eighteen that she was captured by the revolution in her first timeline. And it’s probably because we’ve come so far, and are theoretically closer to the end of this series, that Mia is allowing one big secret to come out. Not her own, of course – heaven forbid – although we see some signs in the future that Ludwig may figure it out. But with so many people having seen Bel shot in the neck with an arrow and killed, there’s no other way to explain her return than time travel.

Of course, Mia has bigger problems than just Bel’s resurrection and presence back in the past. Another young girl showed up behind Bel… and Bel has no idea who she is. So presumably not from the “good future”. What’s more, the girl’s name is Patricia… the same as Mia’s grandmother… and she claims to be from a family that Mia can’t quite remember but isn’t around anymore. (It’s hinted she’s suppressing the memory as what happened to the family terrified her.) Mia, who is more on the ball in this book than any other book, is 90% sure that this is her grandmother, somehow sent into the future, the opposite of Bel, but that’s even more terrifying, as it becomes clear that Patricia has been indoctrinated by the Chaos Serpents!

I think the most interesting part of this book is that we see Mia eating a giant pile of sweets throughout, but the narrator rarely chimes in to mention her weight. This is because the sweets help Mia to think and not get distracted, and Mia needs to do a giant pile of thinking in this book. Mia is sixteen, as mentioned earlier, and while still tending towards doing the right thing for the wrong reason, she has learned to not only trust her instincts but anticipate them. She knows she cannot just ignore the Patricia problem and hope it will go away, as (let’s be honest) she did with Bel. And there’s plenty of what we read Tearmoon for, as Mia accidentally comes up with kingdom-altering ideas that will reverberate for decades to come… only it’s getting less accidental. Mia still frames it as being selfish, but she’s not only getting the best results here, she’s getting it because of her words and actions. Her final speech is a fantastic example. It was a terrific lesson. I really love her.

That said, whoops, another nasty cliffhanger. Luckily, Book 13 should be out in late August. Can Mia rescue her own past as well as her own future? And can we still quietly ignore some of the May-December romances in this series? (Looking at you, Citrina.)

The Exiled Noble Rises as the Holy King: Befriending Fluffy Beasts and a Holy Maiden with My Ultimate Cheat Skill!, Vol. 2

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By Yu Okano and TAPIOCA. Released in Japan as “Tsuihō Kizoku wa Saikyō Skill “Seiō” de Henkyō kara Nariagaru: Haikyōsha ni Nintei Sareta Ore da kedo Cheat Skill de Mofumofu mo Seijo mo Nakama ni Shichaimashita” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alex Honton.

Ugh.

…fine, I guess I have to go into more detail. Last time I was unimpressed with the writing and hero but there were enough interesting ideas that I would read a second volume. It became rapidly apparent as I got about 30 pages into this new volume that this was a mistake, as the book writes out its most interesting character and replaces her with another, less interesting blonde who gets to be there in order to give our hero whatever he wants. I decided to drop the book, but flicked to the afterword out of curiosity. There I saw that this was the final volume, something I had not realized. This made me more reluctant to just drop it, since it was almost over anyway, so I soldiered on. This would prove to be my second mistake. Never let it be said I’m not a sucker.

We pick up where we left off, with Aht leaving Noah to go back to the Holy Church and convince them she killed him, then return a year later. In the meantime, he rescues a noblewoman from a group of bandits, and as as reward he and his familiars are taken to their city, which is much better than the one Noah came from. The implication is supposed to be that the noblewoman is into him, but this series has so little interest in romance it just reads as a convenient plot device. He then learns about this city, in great detail, and registers as an adventurer, meaning we get all the stuff with guild cards and stats. Again, in great detail. In the second half of the book, he rids an abandoned town of skeleton warriors, and finds out the skeleton warriors are a plot by an evil cult religion. Then… everything ends so fast you’d think this was a Weekly Shonen Jump action manga.

For the most part this was incredibly boring and irritating. Noah remains a monumentally dull hero, and his tendency to worldbuild in his narration is intensely aggravating. The kobolds, decently developed in the first book, get nothing to do here. The overall plot is wrapped up ludicrously quickly, and the author’s “I meant it to be like that” afterword reads incredibly false given they also say “but the webnovel is ongoing, go read that”. The revelation about Noah’s status of Holy King, and what it really means, is literally “I will now tell you all about this oops I’m dead”. There was one bit that was so bad I actually started to laugh, where Aht (this book’s closest thing to a heroine) arrives back at the church, and the religious leader asks what became of the army of paladins that attacked her, and she says that she killed all of them “as a fun diversion”. The fact that Aht is still pretty sociopathic but now has a new master is absolutely not examined at all, just like the rest of this failure of a series.

Ugh.

Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, Vol. 6

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By Hiromu and raemz. Released in Japan as “Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

It does sometimes occur to me that my reviews are, of course, telling you my own opinions, which frequently do not match up with the opinions of other light novel fans. So let’s get this out of the way fast: I really loved this book, and was on the edge of my seat reading it. This is despite the fact that I can easily see about ten different reasons why it would piss off most readers who are not me. First of all, it’s 406 pages of nothing but teenage angst. You had better be ready for people to be sobbing, hating themselves, and talking about how they can never get those cherished days back ever again, everything is RUINED FOREVER. The book consists almost entirely of conversations by high school kids all trying to sound adult, and would be excruciating animated. This is especially true of our cover girl, who is trying her best to be the Tsubasa Hanekawa of this series. As for Chitose, oh my God, you want to punch him. That last one, at least, is deliberate.

We all knew this would be “the Yua book”, and indeed it is, and that’s her on the cover. While everyone else stays with a devastated Yuuka, Yua goes to comfort a broken Chitose, going back to his apartment and making sure that he does things like eat, bathe, sleep, and all the other things he would not do on his own because he wants to wallow in self-hatred. As this happens, we flash back to the start of their first year of high school, when we meet a Yua who is very good at putting on a mask of “normal girl who does not get close to others”, which she rationalizes as not wanting to make trouble for her family. Unfortunately for her, Chitose sees through this immediately, and proceeds to needle her out of that mask every chance he gets. And boy, does she hate him.

Yua’s backstory is very good, and explains a lot about her, but the bulk of the good stuff is in the back half. Chitose gradually starts seeing all his friends (bar Yuuko and Kaito) one by one, and attempts to awkwardly get back to some sort of equilibrium. This is helped by it being summer break. But this isn’t going to work unless he can address the elephant in the room, and Yua (who is MVP here, but I fear is far too similar to Chitose to end up with him by the end of this series) manages to literally blackmail both Chitose and Yuuko to meet up and rip all the bandaids off. Chitose learns that he is not responsible for the romantic feelings of every girl who likes him. Yuuko learns that perhaps kicking everything apart just because she was still being treated like “the best girl” really *was* a dumb idea. And Yua herself is told to try to be a little selfish, and manages to, slightly , succeed.

The upshot of these 400 pages of howling teenage grief and angst is that we’re back to status quo, sort of, except Yuuko has, of course, still confessed. The author says this is the end of the first half of the series, so I assume we have 6 volumes to go…. after the inevitable short story collection, which is what’s coming next. In my top tier of romdrams, but YMMV.

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement, Vol. 4

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By FUNA and Touzai. Released in Japan as “Rōgo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-Man-Mai no Kinka o Tamemasu” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by Kodansha Books. Translated by Luke Hutton.

(A reminder that the English Vol. 4 is the equivalent of the Japanese Vol. 5.)

Folks, I’m gonna talk about it again. Just as I did with the last Potions volume. And MMAA as well. And, honestly, Kuma Bear, which is not by the same author but does the same thing and appeals to the same audience. What the hell is with all the child labor love in these books? Every series seems to bring a tragic tale of orphans who are suffering terribly until our heroine comes along to offer them a job where they can earn cold hard cash to live on, and the kids subsequently develop a messianic devotion. Not to the heroine, though yes, for her as well. To work. They will work all the overtime. They will work weekends and holidays. It’s ridiculous. You could argue it’s a good way to get a small army of cute moe kids for this series for moe kid lovers, but… there are other moe kids in this series who are not child labor! It drives me NUTS.

Mitsuha quickly decides that she does not want to do any more of her diplomacy tour, and so she takes the kids and simply runs away back to her kingdom, with a few stops in Japan to set up a new business and make sure all her tax documents are in working order. (Mitsuha is very, very dedicated to making sure she does not screw up her Japanese taxes, even as she exploits less developed countries for labor and real estate.) She also takes two mercs, who are upset they were sick for the dragon battle, to fight some monsters, and quickly realizes that actual monster hunting is not Safe And Fun. In the second half of the book, she heads to the country that had sent that warship to do reconnaissance… which in practice just means doing the same stuff she did in the first country, only with more money and more mistakes.

I can probably answer all my questions about this author by observing the monster hunting scene. Mitsuha actually has to try to find a place with real monsters, as they don’t hang around the capital. Then, when she goes with two mercs and the captain, her noble family friends insist on coming along as well… because they know monsters are freaking dangerous, and bullets, as it turns out, can’t stop them. Swords can, though. Mitsuha ends up teleporting everyone back, flees to Japan with her two girls, and is super depressed… for a page. She then gets over it. This is even lampshaded. I think the author does not want the reader to overanalyze things too much, this series is for fun. Unfortunately for the author, I have a word count to make up, so here I am. I did enjoy Mitsuha make a couple of really dumb “I assume I am mature and know everything, but am actually a naive little baby” mistakes, especially when she starts handing out priceless jewels like candy.

So yeah, (checks author) this series is still not good, or bad. It’s FUNA. That’s what it is.

Safe & Sound in the Arms of an Elite Knight, Vol. 3

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By Fuyu Aoki and Minori Aritani. Released in Japan as “Doinaka no Hakugai Reijо̄ wa О̄to Elite Kishi ni Dekiai Sareru” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Dawson Chen.

Yes, as you can see from the cover art showing a wedding, this is the final volume in the series. (The imprint has yet to let a light novel series go beyond Book 3, so that’s also not a surprise.) Actually, lack of surprise is a feature of this entire book. Every single plot point in this book can be seen coming from at least ten pages away. That said, this is perfectly fine. You really don’t want big surprises from this series. You want adorable romantic moments between two very pure people, getting past horribly abusive and traumatic pasts with the help of good communication, and yes, OK, you want our heroine to knock her evil mother unconscious and tie her up. You don’t read this for plot, you read it for emotional grandeur, and it has this in spades. When the long-lost one good maid from Chloe’s past shows up, I did not roll my eyes, I said “oh good, they can apologize to each other for pages on end.” Which they do.

Last time we saw Chloe and Lloyd confess to each other, but as you can imagine, that hardly solves anything. In fact, it actually makes their lives worse for a week or two – neither one have much experience with this feeling, and so they’re on eggshells around each other, and getting distracted. It takes several heartfelt talks to get it through their heads that repressing everything is a bad thing, particularly with Chloe, who has the self-confidence of an asthmatic whelk. After doing so, marriage seems an obvious step – even though they only confessed a week earlier, they’ve basically been behaving like an old married couple for a while. That said, there is the small matter of Lloyd’s tragic past he still hasn’t talked about, and, oh yes, Chloe’s mother, who is coming to visit, and she’s brought her knife.

As with the previous book, Chloe’s family is beyond evil. Her mother is horrified to find out that Lily’s action might have consequences for her, appalled to hear that this is actually going to a trial with a judge who will (gasp!) follow the law, and quickly decides that the best solution is to kill every single witness, starting with Chloe. (I feel bad for the terrorized household help back home, but honestly, they may feel relief to be out of a job.) The great thing is that the attack comes at a time when Lloyd can’t come to her rescue, so Chloe has to overcome her mother on her own, and has the realization that she’s younger, stronger, and smarter, so why is she so terrified? It’s a great empowering moment. As for Lloyd’s tragic past, we don’t see it, he just relates it to Chloe has guilt, so there’s not as much impact. But he gets to cry in her arms, which is also nice.

As with the previous two volumes, if you like to see abused young women recover and thrive after escaping from their situation, this is a great little romance series.

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 8

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By Sarasa Nagase and Mai Murasaki. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijo Nanode Rasubosu o Katte Mimashita” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

Despite the fact that there are still three volumes to go after this, according to the author, this is the end of the main series. And it’s a real corker of an ending, giving us one last crisis for the road, where Aileen is not under threat of execution (it’s hard to do that now that she’s the Empress), but the world is still in danger, and more importantly, her family is in danger. This is when Aileen “rampages”, as Claude puts it, and she certainly does so here, kicking people in the face, doing all sorts of Holy Sword tricks, and otherwise being the badassest badass to ever badass. What’s more, the series continues to hammer on its themes: fate is something to rebel against, no one is irredeemable, and your love can indeed save the world. Indeed, it had better. Aileen literally says at the climax that saving Claude is her only goal. If she saves the world too, that’s just a bonus.

Covers always spoil, huh? So yes, everything is peachy keen with our heroes, although Aileen is worried about whether she’ll be able to bear children for Claude. Suddenly a mysterious but incredibly powerful teenage boy arrives, who looks like Claude. With an eyepatch and an emo streak a mile wide. He immediately puts the entire nation (almost) to sleep, puts a barrier over it, and heads over to Ashmael, where Roxane is about to give birth. He’s not the only mysterious stranger to arrive, however, as a young woman follows, who seems to know who this mysterious teen is… and also looks an awful lot like Baal. If you guessed this was a “kids from the future” plot, you get no prize, as it’s obvious. But the kids aren’t the threat.

Most of the secondary cast play a smaller role in this volume, but there’s one big exception to that, and of course it’s Lilia. We had to somehow do something with her before the end of the series, as she’s the only one who is deliberately trying not to grow and change. That finally ends here, however. Yes, there are not one but *two* new otome games that came out in Japan that this book is based on (Aileen died right after the 5th came out), but Aileen has broken the plot of the previous games so much that they don’t mesh anymore. I think that, more than her fiance Cedric, might be what causes Lilia to stop being a “player” and become a true heroine. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s still a massive asshole to everyone around her, but at least she’s no longer wishing for chaos to descend. Hell, she even hints in the final chapter that she, by “removing the all ages rating” (i.e., consummating with Cedric), allows Aileen to get pregnant. Aileen is the badass, but Lilia is still my favorite.

So we’re done! Good end! That said, as I noted, there’s more books coming. The next one is an after story, apparently. As always, in the top 5 villainess series out there.

High School DxD: Issei SOS

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By Ichiei Ishibumi and Miyama-Zero. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

Humor is always subjective, and what is funny to one person won’t be funny to someone else. So, as you can imagine, this review is even more my personal opinion than most of them are. This isn’t helped by this volume being the second short story volume, meaning that it almost by necessity consists of funny stories, as any drama needs to be saved for the main series. I I will note that my enjoyment of these stories was in inverse to how much Issue was screaming like a tsukkomi in them. Issei can be a great character in the shonen hero mode, and he can also be fun when he’s being a pervert. But being a straight man shouting in disbelief just doesn’t suit him well, at least in the “humor” mode. The first two short stories have, as their main source of humor, Issei essentially saying “Are you kidding me?”, in variations, over and over again. It makes him more annoying than he usually is. Which is amazing, given Issei can be pretty annoying.

There’s no interconnecting plot, so the stories are: 1) Demon King Leviathan is making a movie with herself as a magical girl, and wants Issei, Asia, Gaspar and Xenovia to play the villains; 2) the title story, where Kiyome (the tennis club captain) asks Issei to pretend to be her boyfriend, which ends up meaning he has to fight a monster tamer battle; 3) Issei gets a combination of a demon cold and a dragon cold that puts him in hospital, and the cast nurse him back to health; 4) Ravel comes to Rias’ peerage and asks them to help her brother Riser, who has become a shut-in after his loss to Issei; 5) The angels, fallen angels and demons all have a three-way athletic competition, which is very heavily based on the standard Japanese high school sports festival; and 6) in the one original for the volume story, Rias’ nephew Millicas comes to visit the group so that he can experience human life… and maybe get in a good fight or two.

As I’ve observed in prior volumes, it’s become pretty clear that there is not going to be a “best girl” in this series, at least not in the sense that there will be a loser. Issei is going to have his harem. As such, it’s not too much of a surprise that he might be thinking more about that future, and about being a parent. This takes place in the final story, which is also the best one (though I was also amused at the nurse competition to make Issei well, which was hitting all the essential cliches but also gives us… drumroll please… sex-changed Kiba!). As I said, Issei doesn’t make a good tsukkomi, but there are things he is very good at, and being a mentor/big brother figure is one of them. This presumably will also translate into being a good dad, and certainly Akeno is ready and willing to start right away, though sex, as you’d expect, continues to not happen. But we’re closer.

So this is a short story collection that starts weak and gets stronger as it goes along, which is better than the alternative. Next volume I hear… Irina gets to do something? Nah, can’t be right.

Sabikui Bisco, Vol. 7

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By Shinji Cobkubo and K Akagishi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jake Humphrey.

I had wondered in previous reviews why Sabikui Bisco wasn’t simply in Shonen Jump, given its sensibilities, its dialogue, and its homoeroticism, but I think after this volume I’ve figured it out. Jump is a title where, if the author said “hey, I’ve decided that for the next 26 weeks I want this series to be a samurai drama starring a bunch of cats”, editorial would say, “No, you will not be doing that”. But this isn’t a Jump manga, it’s a light novel series, and the sky’s the limit. So we not only get a samurai drama starring cats, but it is as ridiculously overblown as everything else in Bisco. That said, fear not, because despite the samurai cats, this absolutely feels like a Sabikui Bisco title, it has some hilarious and fantastic dialogue, and its homoeroticism is higher than ever, despite, as always, a strong finish for heteronormativity. The two will simply have to exist. It’s a good thing they’re related.

Bisco is not having a good time at the start of this book. He’s dragged away from a rakugo performance he was enjoying by Pawoo, who did not appreciate that the performance was in fact attacking her. Despite being, supposedly, in wedded bliss, he’s feeling bored and full of wanderlust. And, oh yes, everyone suddenly starts growing cat ears and tails and behaving like cats. Including, of course, Pawoo ad Tirol. The answer lies in the underground nation of Byoma, which is inhabited by intelligent cats, who were affected by the disaster that led to the world of Sabikui Bisco just like everyone else. Their world and Bisco’s are now connected thanks to that reality-bending arrow he and Milo used last time, so they’ve got to go fix it… assuming that they can avoid becoming cats themselves!

This is a particularly hilarious volume, with a lot of choice lines I don’t want to spoil, and features a lot of cat-related puns and cool action scenes. But it does have a serious core at its heart, one that ties the cat samurai stuff in with Bisco’s ongoing plot. The world of Byoma is suffering because, years ago, a samurai and his true love could not separate love and duty, and everything went to hell as a result. Now she is back, ready to destroy the world and remake it in her own image (well, in the image of monster mushrooms, because this is Sabikui Bisco, and everything is mushrooms, let’s face it). But this conflict, and also seeing it literally from the villainess’ point of view (which leads to the funniest line in the book) allows Bisco to resolve his own angst. He’s been trying to be understanding to Pawoo, who is governor and has a lot of responsibility. That’s why he’s not wandering around with Milo being slightly gay. Only… are those his only two choices?

It remains to be seen whether this series, which is very fond of literally hurling Pawoo away from the book for the majority of the pages, will feature her heavily in the next volume. Till then, this was a hell of a lot of fun.

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 12

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By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

I’ve said before that I think the Bofuri series works best when it’s just Maple and Sally taking on a fresh new challenge, and the author agrees. Actually, the author may be starting to agree a bit TOO much. This is the 3rd book in a row that’s been about 75% Maple and Sally, 25% rest of the cast. I joked on social media that the extended scene with Kanade was inserted at the request of the editor, as the author had forgotten who Kanade was. (Actually, Kanade gets more to do here than he has since he got his clone, mostly as a lot of the challenges involve translating ancient runes.) Likewise, Kasumi and Iz get one scene to show off, Mai and Yui get one scene to show off, and Chrome exists. Sorry, Chrome. That said, if you ARE here to read this series for Maple and Sally, you should have a lot of fun with this book, which has them both doing what they do best… for now.

Velvet is on the cover, possibly to draw in Fate fans who think there’s a Saber crossover, but she only really appears near the end, to help set up the next volume. Most of this book deals with the 8th level, which is set mostly underwater. Fortunately for non-swimmers like Maple, Mai and Yui, there are diving suits with oxygen tanks, and the more materials you find the better you can upgrade the suits so you can go deeper. It’s the sort of level that works best in small groups, so naturally Maple and Sally team up, rarely having problems with monsters due to their insane builds, but sometimes having trouble working out exactly what it is the game wants them to do. On the bright side, both Maple *and* Sally get new transformations, sort of. And then there’s the 9th level, which may make Sally’s dream come true.

We see Kaede and Risa for only about three pages, but they’re very important pages. I’m not sure if the author has an end to this series in mind (from what I understand, the webnovel is huge, and Vol. 17 came out in Japan last month), but time *is* passing in the real world, and the 12th book takes place about 18 months after the first book. This means that Kaede and Risa have started their second year of high school… which means soon studying will take precedence over games. Kaede’s grades are good, Risa’s are… okay… but it’s clear that Risa’s mother, at least, is not going to let her game her third year away. That’s why the next couple books may be very important, as they’re a PvP event where players can choose one of two sides. We know that Sally’s big wish is to fight Maple one-on-one, but she’s been putting it off, mostly as fighting a friend is just not Maple’s thing. But this might be a way to achieve it.

And, of course, there’s also the other guilds. Will they stick together? I realize that I just made this volume seem like a brief downtime while we wait for the next really exciting floor, but it was very good. And Maple and Sally held hands a lot.