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Reviews

I’m Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness: I’ll Spoil Her with Delicacies and Style to Make Her the Happiest Woman in the World!, Vol. 3

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By Fukada Sametarou and Sakura Miwabe. Released in Japan as “Konyaku Haki Sareta Reijō o Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto o Oshiekomu -Oishi Mono o Tabesasete Oshare o Sasete, Sekai Ichi Shiawase na Shōjo ni Produce!-” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Yui Kajita.

Oh dear. I’d say “and it was going so well, too”, but to be honest I had a few issues with the first two volumes of this series as well. This third one, though, feels like an episode of that game show where you send contestants into a supermarket and they have to stuff as many groceries into a cart as they can in 60 seconds. Theoretically the final volume in the series (more on that later), this volume seemingly had one plot left to deal with: Charlotte’s family and her past as an abused child. Admittedly this is a tricky plot to write when you’re doing a sweet romcom that uses the word “naughty” as its main gag, but clearly that was going to be the thrust of it. We do get that, but it’s lost in an avalanche of “everything but the kitchen sink”.

Now that Allen and Charlotte have confessed to each other, they can only get closer. Unfortunately, Charlotte casually mentions that tomorrow is her birthday… a fact that literally everyone in the cast except for Allen seems to have known, and they’re all lining up to deliver the absolute best presents, while Allen flails and is pathetic. Finally settling on “a kiss once everyone is asleep”, he then runs into another problem: Charlotte’s body holds two souls, the second one being the former Saint of her country Lydilia, who has occasionally been taking charge of Charlotte’s body (that’s how she escaped so easily), but now wants Allen to kill her as she is tired of life. (Kill her soul, I hasten to add – Charlotte would be fine.) That’s still not good enough for Allen, and now he has to find naughty things to please a completely different noble lady.

I cannot begin to describe how the first third of this annoyed me. Suddenly this non-isekai series is filled with reincarnations from Japan, who are busy creating ramen cafes. Our mail carrier catgirl turns out to have been searching for her missing twin sister… who she finds within 2 pages of her explaining this. The “perfect birthday present” section is excruciating, with Allen suddenly becoming ten times more pathetic than he’s ever been. Lydilia’s plot works best, especially when the narrative turns serious, but it also feels like it was shoehorned in so that the same “sharing souls” concept could be used to explain part of the overcomplicated solution to Charlotte’s past abuse. Lastly, the final scene with Allen and Charlotte meeting as children actively made me snarl at the book in its obviousness.

Still, at least with this last volume, we’ve… End of Part One, you say? More books coming? Sigh. If you really enjoyed this, you might try more, but this third volume just annoyed me.

The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along!, Vol. 1

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By Almond and Yoshiro Ambe. Released in Japan as “Mujikaku Seijo wa Kyō mo Muishiki ni Chikara o Tare Nagasu: Imadai no Seijo wa Anede wa Naku, Imōto no Watashi Datta Mitai Desu” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Dawson Chen.

Sometimes a title can work against you. When I first saw this title, which (as with so many other light novel titles out these days) describes the plot, I focused on the words “oblivious” as a personality trait of the heroine, and was expecting something along the lines of Bakarina or Villainess Level 99. This is, however, definitely not that kind of book. It’s not on the level of I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again! (the gold standard of dark villainess tragedies), but this is definitely one of the more serious “disgraced noble” books, and the main obstacle through much of it is the heroine’s own self-loathing due to years and years of abuse and neglect. It ends up being… good. It’s very readable. It does, however, have quite a few problems, one of which is also directly linked to its title: this book gives away almost everything it’s going to do long before it does it.

Carolina Sanchez has had a rough life. Her mother died shortly after she was born, and her older sister has never forgiven her for this. Carolina has “good, but not great” grades, and no magic, whereas her older sister is the Saint, one with great magic potential who can heal people. Her father is remote. And now their kingdom has gotten into trouble with the far more powerful Empire, so they need to marry someone off to make amends. Marry someone off to the second prince, who ha a reputation of being a bloodthirsty psychopath. And we’re not going to marry off the very important Saint, are we? Enter Carolina, who is railroaded into this. Fortunately, this ends up being fantastic for her… well, mostly. There are multiple attempts on her life. But I mean, compared to where she started the book, it’s fantastic. It is, however, very bad for her older sister, who finds she is far, far less powerful now that her “magicless” sister is far away.

Carolina is a nice person who is dealing with having to have self-worth for the first time in her life, and I like her as a heroine. Certainly the supposedly bloodthirsty prince (who turns out to be a sweetie) falls in love with her almost instantly. That said… this book telegraphs its punches something awful. At the end of the first volume, none of the characters have figured out that the Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power, only the readers and the writer know. Which is honestly frustrating, not cool. I kept yelling “test her for magic again! Come on!” Instead we get hints, which… we know. Why are you hinting about something you literally told us in the title? (And yes, the Japanese says the same thing.) We also get told about the power struggle going on between the two princes, which is mainly because the prince who should rule is magically sick and will be dying soon. UNLESS… there’s an oblivious saint around! This is also not resolved or hinted at, but is obvious.

I enjoyed reading the characters, though again even the backstory for her guard was predictable. Recommended for those who don’t mind reading something where you know everything that happens before it does.

Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden, Vol. 1

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

I appreciate a book that can subvert expectations right off the bat. The cover of this book features the titular heroine sitting on a throne, with blood spilled at her feet. The subtitle is “The Merciless Maiden”. The narrative explicitly says she’ll grow up to be absolutely terrifying. And the start of the book shows us her origin: in order to save his own skin, a disreputable mage, hired to save the life of a sickly young noble girl (who has, in fact, already died), transplants the soul of a fierce warrior who lives only for battle and desires a glorious death. Throughout the start of this book you get Nia Liston casually mentioning how strong she really is. But we very, very rarely see this. This book is, until near the end, the definition of a slow burn. Instead, what we get are Nia Liston’s adventures in livestreaming. And honestly, if it were “Nia Liston: The Impassive Presenter of a TV Show”, I might not have picked it up.

After being reincarnated into Nia’s 5-year-old body, the nameless warrior (who cannot remember much of anything about their past life aside from battle lust) has to spend much of her time making it so that the body does not immediately die. Fortunately, there’s chi and cultivation and all that stuff that I am thankful we don’t go into too much detail about, and eventually Nia gets healthy again, to the delight of her parents and older brother. She then proceeds to try to learn about the world she’s living in, as subtly as possible (i.e., not very) asking her maid about who the Liston family are and what they control. The answer, for the most part, is “magivision”, which is, of course, magic television. In order to show off their daughter’s miraculous recovery, they decide to have her host a show of her own. But… will she ever get to be merciless?

Yes, it does eventually happen, though I was going to wonder if it would be subverted. Nia goes on so much at the start about how much damage she could do to people with just her pinky finger that I thought the gag would be that she was a mere 5-year-old girl in reality. But no, when she spots her co-star (she ends up acting in a teleplay near the end) being accosted by thugs, we see her gleefully getting in a bit of the old ultraviolence. Nia is not training to do anything but make her body healthier – the martial arts skills are all innate, advanced, and extremely powerful. So, of course, the main reason to get this is to see other people’s reactions to a 5-year-old girl beating up over a hundred mafia goons, which range from terrified (the goons) to intrigued (the co-star, who asks “can I watch?”), to over the moon (her maid, a former adventurer, who basically says “PLEASE TRAIN ME”).

The next volume has Nia head off to boarding school, and I assume will focus more on the fighting than the livestreaming, though I could be wrong. In any case, if you want to know how to do slow burn plotting properly, this is a good example.

Loner Life in Another World, Vol. 8

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By Shoji Goji and Saku Enomaru. Released in Japan as “Hitoribocchi no Isekai Kouryaku” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Eric Margolis. Adapted by Lorin Christie.

It feels odd to call a book that is 100 pages longer than the previous books a breather volume but that’s exactly what this is. After all of the plot going on in the last three volumes, Loner Life is returning to its roots, which means get ready for a whole lot of dungeon crawling. As always, you not only need to translate this book to English (and the translation is fine, I hasten to add – a) even Japanese fans say this is incoherent, and b) Haruka is meant to sound like this), but you also need to translate subtext into text. As such, the fact that we’ve moved from “let’s clear out all the 50-floor dungeons” and have now become “hey, all these dungeons are now about 90 floors” is a cause for great concern, and even small, supposedly random things like “Haruka is asked to make sanitary pads for the girls” delves into a critique on isekai stories in general as well as a dark examination of why Angelica and Nefertiri are only concubines. There is meat on these bones, under all that narrative bullshit.

The cover has Vice Rep B, but she’s no more prominent here than any of the other classmates not named Class Rep; the artist clearly gave her a cover shot to show off her assets, so to speak. After the civil war of the last two books, everyone is back in Omui, and there’s now a passel of orphan children with them. Most of the spare time is spent dungeon crawling, partly to get spellstones so they can afford any of the many things Haruka is making, but also partly to see what the dungeons are like after they’ve already been cleared once before. The answer is that the monsters are not QUITE as strong, but they’re still very strong, and more worryingly, the dungeons are deeper now. Haruka implies that any dungeon with 100 floors is a Very Bad Thing. Meanwhile, the rest of the class is getting stronger and stronger… but they still can’t hold a candle to Haruka, Angelica, Nefertiri or even the Slime Emperor. How can they possibly protect him?

There’s another reason Haruka’s doing all this dungeon exploration: he’s reached the limit of where he can go with just skills. Even though it’s very, very hard for him to accomplish, he’s going to have to start getting stronger and leveling up. Which means having to fight using actual COMMON SENSE, rather than fighting the chaotic Haruka way. It’s actually a bit heartwarming seeing him sparring with Angelica normally – though it leads the girls to assume, now that they can understand his moves, that they can defeat him. Hardly. Speaking of the girls, I’d mentioned the sanitary pads before (and Haruka observing that all the isekai books out there never bother to go into this sort of thing in their pre-industrial fantasy worlds), but it also brings up a melancholy subplot: Angelica and Nefertiri may look human and gorgeous now, and they’re both starting to communicate a lot better, but they’re still, at the end of the day, monsters. They don’t have periods, and they can’t get pregnant. This means that they want the girls to be Haruka’s wives while they remain his concubines… because the girls CAN get pregnant.

A somewhat sexist POV to have, but then this is a book that now uses sex like a comma (how in God’s name are the PG-rated manga and forthcoming anime going to handle this?). It remains not for everyone, but I still find nuggets of gold here. And I apologize for not mentioning the water park. Or the summer festival. Next time it looks like we start a new arc, as a (maybe?) good religious faction shows up near the end. Just… not 528 pages next time? Please?

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Vol. 17

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By Kumanano and 029. Released in Japan by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda. Adapted by Lorin Christie.

We all have things we’d like to read in our favorite series. Usually they’re things that aren’t going to happen until near the end, such as a romantic couple getting together. It could also be the climax of a series of subplots that is building far too slowly and meticulously. And I have these desires about Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, only I suspect that I’m never going to get what I want. I want to meet Yuna’s parents. I want to flash back to her life in Japan before this one. I know that her parents are going to be absolutely the worst – they are, after all, the ones who, after Yuna offered them a ton of money to get out of her life, took the money and got out of her life. But they’ve still clearly affected Yuna deeply, and I think a lot of her current attitude towards almost everyone in Crimonia and other areas is due to this. It can’t all be “LOL, she’s a NEET”, after all. Parental neglect is important too.

Still in the dwarf village, Yuna decides to go watch the trials and (naturally) ends up taking the trial herself, as she accidentally arrived about 8-9 hours too early. Unfortunately for the dwarves, the trials basically are designed to match the level of the person taking them, which means Yuna’s is insanely difficult – and also mentally wearing, as she’s forced into combat situations that are poor matches for her, then forced to face herself (see the cover art), and finally forced to rescue Fina from a deathtrap, something which causes her to flip out a bit. After doing this and getting the pots and pans she came there for, she returns to Crimonia – with Lilyka, who’s basically being told to stop being tsundere and go get her man, something she finds easier said than done. The rest of the book is basically “Yuna does cute things”, at least till the end, when she’s on the floating island and sees a remote ship. Are we finally getting to fantasy Japan?

As always, the most interesting scenes in the book are the ones where Yuna is thrown off her game. Facing a version of herself is less interesting, though I was amused at her realization that it’s annoying to fight someone who does this. More interesting was the last battle. I suspected that it wasn’t the real Fina (somethng which is later confirmed), but Yuna doesn’t know that, and seeing her caught in the old “water slowly filling a tank” trap causes her to completely panic – which is, of course, the point of the trials, which remind the person taking them that remaining cool in battle is what you need to do, even if your loved ones are in danger. Yuna here basically admits she sees Fina as her younger sister, which is fine by me, as Fina’s still ten. I do wish Yuna would stop insisting she’s not gay every volume, but that’s a separate issue, and it’s not unique to this author.

If you enjoy picking through “cute bears doing overpowered things” series to find the nugget or two of depth, this sure is that.

RVing My Way into Exile with My Beloved Cat: This Villainess Is Trippin’, Vol. 1

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By Punichan and Canarinu. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō wa Camping Car de Tabi ni Deru: Aibyō to Mankitsu Suru Self Kokugai Tsuihō ” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by sachi salehi.

Sometimes you can tell that a story is not written by a first-time writer. One of the best ways is when a story has a totally ridiculous premise (such as this one), but knows that it cannot merely coast on just that premise for the entire book. There’s some good thought given to the world building. There’s ‘level ups’, but they’re minimal, and mostly just serve to show us where things are in the vehicle. There’s bad people, but they’re just selfish idiots, not puppy-kickers. Sure enough, this author has a few (unlicensed) series under their belt, and seems to specialize in Villainess titles. That said, the villainess part is not really the reason to read this – our heroine’s exile happens in record time. No, this is for fans of Slow Life books, because our heroine loves outdoor camping, and now that she is freed from this awful otome game, she is going to CAMP SO HARD.

Mizarie Kraphtia, who has the best Obvious Villainess name since Yumiella Dolkness, is publicly shamed and has her engagement broken by her fiance the Prince within the first two paragraphs. This comes as a complete relief to her – her entire life she’s been abused for having a “dark” magic element and black hair, and even getting her family to feed her has been tough. She avoided the heroine of the game she was isekai’d into, but ended up getting railroaded into the plot regardless. So now that she has the opportunity to flee, she does so, using the secret skill she’s been hiding from everyone since she first discovered it. She summons… a camper van, which allows her to drive the hell out of the country and away from the startled Prince (who was already preparing to reduce her exile to “do all my work for me”) and finally live a real life. It’s time to start fires, cook chicken, and discover new kingdoms that won’t abuse her.

This book revels in its genre, but also revels in pointing out the flaws inherent in it. Mizarie is hated and abused for her dark magic and hair… but is still engaged to the Prince, for some reason. But as I said, the book drives away from its villainess origins at 200 MPH, preferring to dig into the nitty gritty of what it would be like to explore a fantasy world with what amounts to an all-terrain vehicle that’s also a camper van. (The title says “RV” in English and “Camping Car” in Japanese, but I call the series “Camper Van Villainess” in honor of the classic alternative band Camper Van Beethoven, author of Take the Skinheads Bowling and other light classics.) Eventually we do get to more traditional isekai tropes, like the guy left for dead by his selfish party, the adventurer’s guild handing out F-ranked missions, and a monster that prove almost too much for our heroine… at least until she uses the camper van to hit it off a cliff.

This isn’t deep, nor should it be. It’s fun, and relaxing, and its heroine is also fun and relaxing. The second volume is due out in Japan this month, so I hope we’ll see it before too long.

The Exiled Noble Rises as the Holy King: Befriending Fluffy Beasts and a Holy Maiden with My Ultimate Cheat Skill!, Vol. 1

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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.

Every once in a while I dip my toe back into the giant pool that is “light novels that don’t really sound interesting to me”, just in case I end up passing on a real winner. Sometimes I find myself completely, 100% wrong and it’s garbage. But far more often, it’s just frustrating, as the writer clearly has some ideas that might be good, or at least lead to interesting character development, but either they or the editor and publisher can never let go of “this has to be the same as every other title just like it”. I simply do not get why all these fantasy books star the same guy. He looks the same, he acts the same, he’s a “nice guy”, etc. It’s not like there aren’t great examples of light novels that succeed with far more interesting protagonists. Look at Kazuma. Or Subaru. You don’t need to have everyone be Player One.

The very first words of the book are our main character’s name, Noah Oliphage. The next words are him being exiled, just as the title says. Sounds pretty villainess-ey, yes. Noah has been found to have the Root Skill “Holy King”, and the Church – and the supposed actual Holy King – are frowning heavily on this. Noah, not wanting the church to wipe out his family, accepts exile with only a minor fuss… but ends up in the middle of the Purgatory Forest, filled with dangerous monsters. Fortunately, Noah… does NOT have awesome sword skills or powerful magic. Not good. He can form contracts with those who want his protection and who he wants to protect, though, and does so, first with a small kitten monster (that it is hinted will grow tiger sized), and then a small group of kobolds. Unfortunately, the Church wants to make sure Noah is dead, so send their biggest zealot to find and kill him.

Again, every good idea here is undercut by the need to make this book like so many other books of its kind. I was intrigued by the idea of someone getting a skill that’s basically “Jesus” but the start of the book drowns us, as usual, in stats, stats, stats. Japanese RPGs have so much to answer for. Noah is about as interesting as a sheet of white paper – actually, grey paper. The most interesting character is Aht, the aforementioned zealot. There’s a fantastic scene where we see everything about her previous few years be overwritten just by SEEING Noah and knowing he really is the messiah – it’s actually understated too, which I appreciated – but an interesting discussion about how mind-controlled she is by Noah’s contract (and, for that matter, how mind controlled she was by the Church before this) gets quietly brushed aside by her with a “I promise you it’s OK”, and she leaves at the end of the book – I suspect Book 2 will feature a different woman in the lead, this feels like that kind of series.

I may look at the 2nd volume, to see if it does anything with the concepts it’s got at the back of everything. But man, this is frontloaded with “potato-kun” fantasy stuff. He may not be isekai’d, but he might as well be. Recommended if you enjoy religious conversion or cute dogs and cats fighting monsters.

My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 12

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By Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka. Released in Japan as “Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei Shite Shimatta…” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Joshua Douglass-Molloy.

I get the sense that this was the first book written not only after the 2nd series of the anime had aired, but after the author had noticed fan opinion of that series. There’s a combination of things that worked really well in that season combined with an effort to move the plot along to its inevitable conclusion even more than it was in the previous volume. That said, that inevitable conclusion is becoming more and more a single route. My hope was that we might, at least, get an open ending with no romantic resolution, but the plot twists introduced here, while not technically resolving anything, very much say that Katarina is going to end this series married to Jeord and we are all going to have to lump it. Even Sophia and Maria get very little to do, though at least Mary gets an opening scene where she can pretend she and Katarina had a kid. That said, have faith, yuri fans, there is one bone thrown to you here.

The focus of this volume is on Frey Randall, Katarina’s underclassman and currently on the Student Council at the academy. The fact that none of the princes have married is starting to be a THING, and Frey’s father, Marquis “I am 100% evil” Randall, is starting to throw rumors around that Prince Jeord has abandoned Katarina (the weak link of the fiancees) and is going to marry Frey. This is, of course bullshit, and Frey would surely say so, except she was called back home and has not appeared since, clearly held hostage. Katarina immediately… does NOT spring into action, instead realizing that rushing off to save Frey would be counterproductive without help. So instead she gathers all her powerful allies, with the exception of Jeord (who can’t make a move because politics) and, most importantly, Larna, who, of course, has a secret of her own.

If your favorite episode of the 2nd season of Bakarina was Episode 8, this book is like catnip. Starting off with a chapter devoted to showing off what Frey used to be like before she came to school and how she changed thanks to Katarina, it also references the talk she had with Nicol (which he owes her a great debt for), and also shows that she and Ginger are, shall we say, VERY close – like Katarina and Maria, they’re planning to work at the ministry together, and unlike Katarina, they don’t have men in their life. The author almost confirms the yuri in the afterword. The other big success in this book is Katarina herself, who, after a chapter that tries to get all the “I am unobservant” out of the way at once, shows she can, in fact, be VERY observant when it matters. She’s maturing, if not in terms of romance, then in terms of life skills, and her harem are all more surprised than they really should be.

The author does sometimes still tend to slide into “comfort zones” a bit too much to make this a lights out volume (it ends with the standard “Jeord tries to get a moment alone with his fiancee but everyone else interrupts), but after two years I was very glad to see our baka back in action and really achieving things. Hopefully it won’t be another two years before 13…

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 43

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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.

(This talks about the book’s surprise ending, but after the picture.)

If you’re still following a series 45 novels in (counting the two .5 volumes, as always), you’d better have some pretty damn good reasons. Especially given that they’re light novels, which, even with a smaller page count than a lot of other series, simply are not going to be read as fast as a manga would be. And there’s lots of places this story could have ended already. Where the anime did. Right before the arrival of Clan. The 29th volume, which even had a “final volume” style cover. But it’s still ongoing, and I still really enjoy every volume of it, because the writer does things I enjoy well. There’s a ton of likeable, distinct characters, who I mostly don’t have to look at a wiki to remember who they are. (Sorry, Darkness Rainbow, I still only know half of you by name.) There’s some good romance. There’s fantastic action sequences, which take up the 2nd half of this volume. And, yes, still the occasional shocking twist.

We pick up right where we left off. Ralgwin is being held prisoner in a hospital while he heals up from his near-fatal injuries. Fasta is still determined to rescue him, and while everyone sympathizes with her, they actually have to try to stop her doing that. More worryingly, Grevanas and the Gray Knight also are thinking of rescuing him – Grevanas so he can use Ralgwin’s body to resurrect Maxfern, and the Gray Knight for his usual “I’m not evil Koutarou from an alternate universe, I promise” reasons. Every single ally is gathered to help move Ralgwin to a more secure prison to await trials. Heck, even Fasta has brought along allies to help her, allies we really had not expected. Our heroes are stronger now, they can surely take on anything that the bad guys can dish out. Right?

Here’s where those spoilers are. I don’t think the Rokujouma?! series has ever ended an arc quite as viciously as this. This is a full on “the bad guys win” ending, I was surprised, as while I saw that Ralgwin had been captured by the enemy, I was expecting it to swing into another search and rescue arc. But honestly, we had a huge battle in this book, and following it up with one in the next book might risk repeating. (The author has straight up said to expect a short story volume next time, so that will be fun.) But we’ve spent so many volumes humanizing our villains. Hell, we were rooting hard for Fasta to succeed. We brought back Elexis and Maya after like 15 volumes for a surprise visit, and they’re more likeable as well. The villains have their own sensible motivations, and they can also fall in love. So to see the cartoon villain get his wish and parade around a resurrected Maxfern (who is a bit less of a cartoon villain, but only just) really, really feels like the book is punching you in the face.

Even the “Corona Convention” is downbeat this time around. An excellent volume of the series, but it hurts.

Making Jam in the Woods: My Relaxing Life Starts in Another World, Vol. 2

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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.

(Slight spoilers for the last part of this book are in the third paragraph, FYI.)

I have some good news for those who were concerned about the content of the first volume: there is a lot more actual making of jam in this book. Mostly that’s because everyone in the local town has embraced Margaret as one of the best things that’s ever happened to them, so she keeps getting presents of fruit that will go bad unless she does something about it. Or when she’s picking berries with Rachel, who of course comes back to visit as soon as humanly possible, and said berries also have to be eaten fairly quickly. The lack of really long-term fridges and freezers in this world means you can’t dilly dally about these things. That said, for those who require a bit more plot than just cooking and preserving, there’s some of that as well, including some sweet romance and a very surprising revelation about Margaret’s being called to this world.

Margaret is still living with Adelaide, making delicious food, helping out in town with the kids, and trying to heal up from her injuries… though her leg unfortunately seems to have plateaued. There are important new discoveries, though: when she bonks heads with a small toddler, the toddler can hear her thoughts! It turns out that she can also do this with others, though with adults it has to be people she’s very close to. Meanwhile, she’s still not really well enough to go to the Royal Capital and visit the Spirit, but Walter is being called to the Spirit instead, and while there he ends up learning something that will possibly stun Margaret and her friends. Oh yes, and, most importantly, Mark basically proposes to Margaret… though there’s a bit of “huh, I was unaware this custom of receiving an expensive hairpins from the man I want to spend my life with is a thing” to it.

So yes, the big news here is that Margaret’s calling was premature and also not intended, which is one big reason why her leg isn’t going to heal and she’s still mute. I’ve seen the “we didn’t mean to isekai you to our world” plotline before, but it’s honestly usually pretty malevolent, involving “so therefore we will either try to kill you or toss you out with nothing but your clothing”, so seeing something like this where everyone is desperately worried about Margaret is nice. Fortunately for all involved, Margaret is a big sweetie, and is even more grateful she’s hear at all and living with such wonderful people. She’s making jam, she has a fiancee (possibly… she really isn’t quite comfortable with saying that out loud just yet), and she’s even writing children’s books based on old fairy tales from back in her previous life. The fact that she’s not the Chosen One is honestly a relief.

I think the next volume may be the last one, but am not sure. In any case, this remains a very fun, if not terribly action-packed, slow life romance series.

The Abandoned Heiress Gets Rich with Alchemy and Scores an Enemy General!, Vol. 2

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By Miyako Tsukahara and Satsuki Sheena. Released in Japan as “Suterare Reijō wa Renkinjutsu-shi ni Narimashita. Kaseida Okane de moto Tekikoku no Shō o Kōnyū Shimasu” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

It feels a bit odd to be saying that the theme of this second volume is the “well, that escalated quickly” meme. After all, the first volume was not exactly a Slow Life sort of book, featuring dead parents, demonic possession, forced slavery, etc. And yet this second volume definitely feels like it’s upping the ante, as we get all those things again, with an added dose of “creepy eugenics experiments on flora and fauna”, and the inevitable “wanted for a crime against the state and hunted down like a dog”. Fortunately, it’s a different state – though I get the sense that this will be happening to Chloe and Julius with every country they go to. Fortunately, now that they’re admitting their feelings for each other, the relationship between the two has become a highlight, and Chloe’s annoying habit of praising herself has become both a beloved running gag and a necessary evil. It’s how she copes.

After a few brief scenes at Chloe’s shop, which include making an artificial hand for the very apologetic King Cyril, Chloe and Julius are off to the Kingdom of Rasheed. There they not only might be able to find a dragon to mate with Julius’ beloved Helios, but they also may have a Seal Master who can do something about Julius’ slave marker. Unfortunately, there are a few signs that this is not going to go as smoothly as possible. Eliza, one of the antagonists of the first book, has escaped from prison and fled the country, and it doesn’t take a crystal ball for the reader to guess where she’ll be. More to the point, Rasheed has its own little “a demon has possessed someone and is working to cause chaos and destruction” issue, only this time with the full support of the royal family… well, part of the royal family. What’s more, the angels and demons have a far closer tie to Chloe than expected.

Chloe is a lot easier to take in this book than the first one, and her “beautiful young maiden” mantra is used even more than before. You could argue that she could also say that she’s a complete angel, but after the events of this book, that might hit a bit too close to home. I enjoy that Chloe and Julius have a nice, realistic falling in love relationship, which lacks the sudden realization of other stories in the genre but simply develops naturally and calmly, as Chloe realizes and accepts her feelings. There’s also a few hints dropped here about Julius’ own past, and I get the sense that may be the next arc. That is, once we finish off this arc. The book ends mid-battle with a big cliffhanger,

I enjoyed this a great deal. It’s got some nice romance bits, a plucky young heroine who does badass things and can hold her own with the hero, and some good action and drama. I wonder when Book 3 will hit…

Looks Are All You Need: Tatsuki’s Breakbeats

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By Ghost Mikawa and necomi. Released in Japan as “Kao Sae Yokereba Ii Kyōshitsu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

One thing that I’m really enjoying about this series is how it’s not really any of the two types of books we see these days. Generally speaking the largest category of light novel can be categorized as “fantasy” in some way or another, be it isekai, reincarnation, military books with magic, etc. There’s some sort of supernatural thing or power involved. The other genre is “romance” in some way, shape or form, with the romance of the lead character being one of the main plots. But Looks Are All You Need isn’t either of those. Shiika’s talents are partly due (we’re told) to her synesthesia, but that is a genuine condition, not a made up cool power. Same with Erio and her huge range. Here we meet dance prodigy Tatsuki, and we learn that it’s really just hard work and a desire to change something that drive her. It may be told in an overdramatic, shonen-esque manner, but the most unrealistic part of the series is probably Gakuto’s ability to beat people up. As for the romance, there may be a few crushes here and there, but it’s not remotely the focus of the book. Fame is the focus of the book.

We’re up to the next major goal for our brother-sister team and their friends. It’s time for the final exam, which is done in groups with the points being allotted as the group sees fit. The music department has to post a video of a performance. Easy enough. But it has to combine music AND DANCE, and Shiika’s got the stamina and athletic ability of a sloth. That’s a big problem. Fortunately, one of the hottest first-years in the dance department, Tatsuki, is delighted to help them out – provided she gets a song from one of the group’s fantastic composers in return. There are just a couple of issues. First of all, is a really good song and dance going to be enough? And secondly, Tatsuki has her own issues, which are causing her to put up a facade when she really should be speaking out…

The core of the second book, and of Tatsuki’s issues, is hip-hop culture in Japan. Hip-hop as a genre tends to get defined as just “what rap was in the 70s and 80s” by some folks, but there’s a lot more to it than that, including dancing, beatboxing, graffiti, etc. It’s also, as the book notes, a scene that is not what it used to be. At its core, though, this explores a fairly familiar story from earnest school books like this – how to stop a friend from going to the bad side and becoming a delinquent. Which is hard when everyone has spent your whole life thinking YOU’RE the delinquent. I also really enjoy Gakuto, who is somewhat self-aware that he’s in a light novel but he doesn’t let it drive what he does. I love his stunned shock at the reminder that – gasp! – if you want to be successful you have to actually network and make good contacts. The solution to the fashion problem was also very clever, and reminds us that competitions in real life are about winning by working around the rules but not breaking them.

This remains really enjoyable to me, though to be fair I come from a drama background. Unfortunately, it’s a brand new series, and I think we’re caught up to Japan. Time to wait.

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, Vol. 6

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By Saekisan and Hanekoto. Released in Japan as “Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsu no Ma ni ka Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nicole Wilder.

Sometimes all it takes is a little validation. For this entire series we’ve been watching Amane struggle to imagine anyone thinking of him in any positive way whatsoever, and we also got little flashes back to his past to show what happened to make him think this way. But now Mahiru is his girlfriend, and the two of them are a lovey-dovey couple, and all of a sudden he’s become a really amazing boyfriend, to an almost jaw-dropping degree. His tendency towards logically thinking things out and never being impulsive now allows him to, both consciously and unconsciously, seduce Mahiru completely. And frankly, thank God, because it was my main complaint with this series (and many others – a lot of these ‘sweet couple’ series have self-loathing as the guy’s main flaw). That said, that’s still one side of the equation. Mahiru’s past, of course, is arguably even worse, but – despite the last chapter in this particular volume – we have a ways to go before those demons are banished.

The first half of this book continues Amane and Mahiru’s visit to stay with his parents over summer break, and it’s basically a cavalcade of sweet moments, including looking at cute childhood moments, going shopping and buying cute outfits… and also settling things with one of his old best friends, who ended up abandoning him when everything went town in Amane’s past. (Amane’s response is, frankly, a bit logical and cold, but also very in character.) They then go back home and have summer homework… which everyone has done but Chitose, so it’s mostly an excuse to watch her suffer for humor purposes. And then it’s off to a festival, which is mostly there to have everyone realize that Amane is fully invested in Boyfriend Mode, and it can be terrifying. That said, family matters crop up at the end, as Mahiru’s father wants to meet… with Amane.

We do get suggestions of the ongoing plot with this series’ secondary couple, though the series is assuming you read the short story volume that came out right before this. It feels appropriate given this is a sweet love story between couples in high school that a lot of the conflict arises from parents, be it mild (too much teasing from Amane’s mother) to serious (everything about Mahiru’s childhood). Chitose’s issue falls somewhere in between the two, and is also easily the most relatable. She’s in love with her boyfriend and wants to make a life with him, but his father thinks she’s not good enough for him. I expect we may see more of that later on. As for Mahiru’s dad, there’s a lot of “I’m trying, but it’s a bit too late and I know it will make no difference” to this. Which, um, also feels very, very real to me. I wonder if the next major arc will involve Mahiru managing to come to terms with things?

There’s a whole lot of syrupy sweetness I just skipped over, because why review that? But trust me, it’s there. For those who enjoy “I got the perfect girlfriend” series.

My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer, Vol. 11

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By MOJIKAKIYA and toi8. Released in Japan as “Boukensha ni Naritai to Miyako ni Deteitta Musume ga S-Rank ni Natteta” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

Last time I said that Book 10 felt like an epilogue, and technically this one should as well. The first 3/4 of it or so is basically everyone being chill. Ange and the others in her party are in the city, but they’re coming to visit in the fall at last, after trying several times. Meanwhile, Belgrieve has settled down with Satie and is busy trying to learn how to start a new dungeon and become a guildmaster, leaving the caring of his many adopted children to Charlotte and Byaku, the oldest of said children. There’s lots of loving descriptions of the seasons, or people watching, or reflecting on the passing of time, which we’re used to. There is one slight issue. Ishmael shows up again to greet Angeline, and unfortunately the reader is the only one who knows who he really is. So really this entire volume is being a little frustrated at all the chill and wanting to shout “hey, he’s the bad guy!” at the characters.

So yeah, Angeline is fine until she meets Ishmael, who is carrying around, for some reason, a small part of a branch from an apple tree. Touching this starts to give Ange terrible nightmares which she can’t remember afterward, but which we see some of: they’re showing how awful life was for Percival, Kasim and Satie after their party broke up, and also the occasional flashback to the same scene we’ve seen since the start of the series, a demon eating Belgrieve’s leg and destroying his adventuring career. All these nightmares are causing Ange to be exhausted when awake, and her skills are suffering. So, at the suggestion of not-at-all-secretly-evil Ishmael, they all pile in and head off to Turnera for the fall festival. Unfortunately, when there, Ishmael throws off his (very good) Scooby Doo disguise to reveal he’s Schwartz, and that all this is part of his master plan, which requires Ange to be completely, 100% broken.

Despite begging from some folks, I’m not going to reveal the big twist in this book which made me swear on Twitter. I will note that it’s not Bunny Drop, it’s a normal twist that fits in well with the book as a whole, and Ange and Bel remain daddy-daughter in the good way. But I like how it made sense. We know Ange is a demonic creation, as does she and the rest of her party, but since she’s human presenting and also a really good kid, no one really stops to think when she begins to be sick, get depressed or have nightmares “hhhrrrm, I wonder if this is due to our missing bad guy?”. And why should they? Last volume was an epilogue with a wedding! But it makes the surprise hit harder, and gives Ange and Bel an even stronger connection – for good and ill, obviously. As for the actual end of the series, it’s pretty open-ended, and we could see more if sales permit, but finally ALL the main plot points are wrapped up, so ending here is just fine.

In the end, this is a very enjoyable, fun series with a bit of dark drama in the middle and end to keep things interesting, and I also appreciate that it gives us a series with an adopted daughter being raised by her father figure that STAYS that way. Fantasy fans, or anyone who liked the anime, should read this.

I Shall Survive Using Potions!, Vol. 9

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By FUNA and Sukima. Released in Japan as “Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu!” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hiroya Watanabe.

Again, I am trying to figure out the ideal audience for this series. First and foremost, it needs to be someone who is there for overpowered girls doing whatever the hell they want however the hell they want it, with money and powers being no problem. This is the core of all three FUNA light novel series. Secondly, you need to be really tolerant of underaged girls being cute. There’s no real fanservice in these books (which there has been in MMAA), mostly as the art style is so cartooney and abstract, but but it’s pretty clear we’re meant to go “aaaaaw, cute girls” for 200 pages. And, of course, the core audience has to enjoy seeing men get completely humiliated. This is especially true of Potions, where entire arcs consist of nothing but “completely destroy that guy who did me wrong until he cries and passes out”. If you are all three of these… well, you should also be reading Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, but yes, Potion Girl is right up your alley.

We pick up where we left off, with KKR trying to organize the downfall of that one scummy merchant guy. Which they proceed to do, and then they go after someone else who Kyoko hired to manage her store while she was away but who turned out to be sneaking a peek at her stock to try to replicate it. And then they go after the guy who hired the guy to do that. And then they go after the guy who employs THAT guy. It is a TAD ridiculous. More annoyingly, at least for the KR part of KKR, Kaoru disguises herself as the new girl she’s trying to make into a holy saint, does ludicrously impossible things while saying “I’m not suspicious”, and then assumes no one will say anything. This is said to be because of her soft nature, and fair (she was upset an innocent guard had his tendons cut), but overkill. Which, admittedly, is what the plot of this book is.

Pardon me if I get back onto a high horse I have gotten on before, but the orphans in this book drive me ding dong up the wall. It’s possible that they’re meant to be a parody of this trope – Potion Girl is so bonkers most of the time it’s hard to tell what it wants us to take vaguely seriously – But man, I hate the way this series, and FUNA’s other series, and, yes, Kuma Bear, treat orphans as “yay, child workforce!”. The implication is that with wages and benefits, they’re much better off than they were before. But the side story here shows the kids genuinely traumatized by the very idea of not working every hour of every day for their “savior”, and going so far as to frame work activities as “playtime” to slip through a loophole in Kaoru’s rules. This is meant to be amusing, but all I could think is: these kids need a therapist.

No FUNA series goes quite as hard as Potion Girl in terms of making you grab your head and shake back and forth. Recommended for those who know.