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Death’s Daughter and the Ebony Blade, Vol. 7: Exordium

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By Maito Ayamine and Cierra. Released in Japan as “Shinigami ni Sodaterareta Shoujo wa Shikkoku no Tsurugi wo Mune ni Idaku” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sylvia Gallagher.

Always lovely when I have to eat my words. You may remember at the end of the last review I did, where I said that Ashton’s death likely wasn’t permanent, as this was not that kind of series. Well. Um. Guess it is now? I feel a bit guilty, given I recently dropped a series (The Mythical Hero’s Otherworld Chronicles) for getting too dark and cynical, but in this volume Death’s Daughter also doubles down on the dark. The good news is that it’s not nearly as cynical, and gives us some hope that the series will not end with everyone slaughtered (the flashforwards to how various dead commanders will be remembered helps). the bad news is that Ashton’s death does not seem to be the sort that can be undone by magical means, and also lots of other regulars die here as well. The very bad news is that the author couldn’t cram all the plot into this book, so the 2nd part of Vol. 7 is still to come.

The final battle between the Asvelt Empire and the Kingdom of Fernest ends up being completely upended by the arrival of ghouls controlled by the new emperor, who is not remotely evil at all, of course. This has always been a “war is bad” series, but the ghouls also help to remind you that even though war is bad, there are still ways that it should be fought, and these corpses do not do any of that. This is also bad news for the United City States of Sutherland, who get a “become my vassals or be destroyed” message from the empire, with one of the states serving as an example of what will happen. Even the Holy Land of Mekia can’t deal with this, and the Seraph finds that the ghouls are not a product of mage tactics. As for Fernest, well, let’s just say a lot of the cast who’ve been around since Book 1 gets one last battle. And, um… where’s Olivia, anyway?

The reason I spoil that Ashton is found dead in this volume is that it happens right at the start of this book. We then spend almost the ENTIRE book waiting for Claudia and Olivia to find out about it. We don’t even see Claudia till 4/5 of the way through the novel, and Olivia, after a brief scene showing her happily training with Z, is also absent for the bulk of it. There’s two reasons for this. First, I get the sense that if Olivia and Claudia were actually present throughout this volume, there’s no way that the series couldn’t avoid killing them off too, which would make the end a bit bleaker than I think even the author wants. The other reason is, of course, to show their devastated reactions at the book’s climax, because otherwise this would feel a bit too much like “the book was just cut in half arbitrarily”. The counterattack needs to start next time, even if the romantic resolution isn’t going to happen anymore.

So what’s next? There’s certainly a lot more cast we can kill off, but I suspect the last book will have a bit less of that. Till then, oof. This was a punch to the gut.

Raven of the Inner Palace, Vol. 5

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

This series, while telling the story of Jusetsu and her attempts to broaden her world, find out more about the Raven Consort in general, and escape, began as an anthology series to a large degree, which each chapter featuring a ghost story of the week for her to solve. That still happens at the start of the fifth book, with a court lady whose makeup box is upsetting people in the living quarters by being haunted by a ghost. But as this book goes on we realize that we’re past the halfway point of the series, and we can’t really focus that much on Jusetsu solving ghost crimes anymore. Or rather, the ghost crimes she’s solving are ones that affect her specifically. Because we’re getting to the bottom of what the Raven Consort position really is, and what happens to those who have been Raven Consorts, and let me tell you, it might be scarier than most of the stories we’ve read in this series to date.

Jusetsu is not the only one trying to figure out how to break the barrier stopping her from leaving and free the raven, the Emperor is as well. This is despite the fact that he (consciously) and Jusetsu (unconsciously) are in love with each other, and leaving the palace will mean never being able to return. The Emperor, towards that end, has now buckled down to the position of siring an heir – two of the consorts are now pregnant. He’s even inviting back old retainers who had previously been exiled for being on the wrong side of past conflicts, mostly as he finds it a lot more preferable to have any seeds of rebellion close to him rather than far away where he can’t do much. Meanwhile, Jusetsu gets the shamans needed to help her destroy the barrier, and even knows where she should probably go, thanks to several old folk tales about an underwater volcano. Unfortunately, that pesky God is still around…

Jusetsu was told, at the start of this series, that she had to be alone, not take retainers or bodyguards, and hold herself aloof. This from the previous Raven Consort. She has not remotely done that, and for the most part the consequences have been pretty good – close friendships, respect, people who like spending time with her. Unfortunately, we’re now seeing the pendulum swing the other way. Solving the problem of the makeup box, for example, even though it saved a life, just makes people think that she was the cause of the accident. And I suspect the cliffhanger at the climax of this volume is going to make leaving the palace more of a “fleeing for her life” sort of deal. That said, anything’s better than suffering the fate of all the Raven Consorts before her, whose souls are frozen in a sort of massive grudge to prevent exactly what Jusetsu has been doing. It’s a bit scary.

There are, I believe, two more volumes in the series, and I suspect we’re not going to have too many “let’s solve a mystery” chapters anymore. Where we will go remains intriguing.

An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me!, Vol. 5

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

Generally speaking, I enjoy these “sweet love story” light novels, enough so that I’m reading several in the genre, but they have their flaws, and this 5th volume of An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups shows off a big one: the lead couple is simply far too earnest. You would think that would not be an issue, especially since they’re now a genuine couple, but that’s exactly the crux of the problem. After spending the last quarter of the last book groveling and apologizing to each other for their mutual deceit, they both realize that other people were involved in this dare as well, and the other people realize it too, and (while not as bad as our leads) they are also very earnest people. And so the entire first THIRD of this book consists entirely of apologies. It is, frankly, exhausting, repetitive, and mildly annoying. Get back to being accidentally smooth with each other, please.

So yes, the book opens with Nanami’s best friends apologizing to them for the dare. Then they apologize to their families for the dare. And then Nanami’s mother apologizes to them because she knew about the dare. Then they go apologize to the guy who confessed to her while they were fake going out. Honestly, this was the most interesting apology, if only as Yoshin and Shibetsu are bonding so closely and so quickly you want to check the genre of the book you’re reading. After this, though, it’s all sweetness all the time, as they go to cheer Shibetsu on in his basketball tournament, visit a trampoline park (where Yoshin learns that sports bras exist and what they do), meet Hatsumi and Ayumi’s boyfriends, go to an indoor pool at night, and end up having a surprise wedding photo shoot, which they only put up token resistance for.

Yoshin spends a good deal of this book wondering if he’s really doing enough for his relationship, or thinking about his future and how to be a breadwinner, etc. The irony, of course, is that he’s way ahead of most of the cast when it comes to honest love and communication, and lacks the “this is too embarrassing” gene that most light novel guys tend to have. I think he’s probably going to be good no matter what he chooses to do. We also get a better look at the two boyfriends, as I said. I mentioned in an earlier review they both sound like they’re starring in light novels of their own. It’s still not wrong. The book lightly glides over the “stepbrother/stepsister” one, and the other one has a big age difference. There’s parental pushback, but not for the reason you might think. Basically, they’ve got a few more problems than the sickly sweet Yoshin and Nanami, who (it is literally pointed out) will be married the day they graduate high school and likely having their first child nine months later. The book is sweet and not sleazy, but these kids are quite horny for each other.

So yeah, the series could have ended fine as of Book 4, and I could have done without Apology Tour 2023, but this gives readers what they want. That cliffhanger suggests that the initial premise is not entirely gone, however…

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 5: Avatar of a Goddess, Vol. 8

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

Most of the time, summarizing each plot of a typical volume of Bookworm can be difficult, and I inevitably leave things out, because these are chunky books and a ton keeps happening. That’s true here as well, but it’s a lot easier to summarize: War. We saw the start of it at the end of the previous book, but this one sees the full consequences: Rozemyne, with the help of Dunkenfelger’s battle-happy soldiers, invades Ahrensbach in order to save Ferdinand, while Ehrenfest prepares for Ahrensbach, or rather the more easily manipulated bits of Ahrensbach, to invade them, while Georgine herself goes incognito in order to assassinate Sylvester. Hell, even Hannelore, normally the scared fluffy bunny of this series, is in armor, ready for battle, and controlling a group of nasty looking fantasy Dobermans. As for Rozemyne herself, she’s going to basically do anything to get her “family” back together, even if that means becoming the Aub of her greatest enemy’s territory.

I hate to be a broken record, but Bookworm really does alternate viewpoints well. It’s a common feature in Japanese light novels, but usually the way that it’s done as like My Next Life As a Villainess does it: we get a scene from our heroine’s perspective, and then we see the same scene from the perspective of someone else who was in the scene, showing what they felt about everything. With Bookworm, the POV switches really are necessary, because Rozemyne’s lack of common sense (both because she’s used to the ethics, morals and customs of 21st century Japan and also, let’s face it, because she’s bonkers in general) really does need to be underlined… and Rozemyne’s POV is just as important, because sometimes she’s really in over her head. Everyone in this world is a lot more used to death and bloodshed than she is, and the dismay and nausea she feels when seeing stabbing victims is only going to increase as the series goes on.

And then there’s Ferdinand. There is a thing that happens a lot in series, where we have a heroine who is very obviously coded as asexual and everyone loves the fact that we finally have an asexual heroine… until the author ends up hitting the romance switch, at which point the asexuality slowly recedes. Bloom Into You is an obvious example, as is (sorry, anime onlies) The Apothecary Diaries. Bookworm may actually be one of the few to pull that trigger, though, as even though Ferdinand is clearly in love with Rozemyne, and everyone else in the land is horrified and appalled at the shameless way they’re all over each other, Rozemyne keeps emphasizing the fact that Ferdinand is family and of course that’s why she’s overthrowing a country for him. It’s mind-boggling, at least until you see Ferdinand going “welp, OK, in that case let me take all my limiters off” and you remember that he’s just as eccentric, perhaps even more, than she is. Towards the end, Rozemyne whines that Ferdinand never taught her about courtship or love or anything, and her attendants point out that’s because he’s a man, and this is a thing women tell to other women. Alas, Rozemyne was a book gremlin who looked 8 years old and spent years inside a magical cocoon. And now there’s war, and I get the sense it’s probably too late.

There are a number of scenes after the main action, which ends about 2/3 of the way through the book. We get an extended flashback dealing with our main villain, Georgine, who is treated far more sympathetically than Detlinde ever was. You can see why she’s doing this, though it does not extend into sympathy. We also get scenes from other territories showing us how the war is going in their area, meaning we get to see Brigitte again. We get to see Philine and everyone else at the temple and orphanage hunker down in what has essentially become a bomb shelter. We see Effa and the rest of Myne’s family taken to her library to shelter, and get Effa’s conflicted feelings on her birth daughter and how far she’s gone compared to their normal commoner life. And we see Gunther defending the borders, and just generally being a good soldier and dad. Both to his family and his troops. These stories were all very welcome and helped flesh out what is otherwise a “run at full speed” storyline.

The war’s not over yet, and I suspect the next book will show us Sylvester vs. Georgine. You won’t regret reading this. (Well, unless Rozemyne/Ferdinand bothers you, but if that’s the case I assume you dropped this already.)

The Springtime Chime of Marielle Clarac

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By Haruka Momo and Maro. Released in Japan as “Marielle Clarac no Harurin” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Philip Reuben.

It’s been a while since we’ve last seen Marielle Clarac, but she’s still worried about whether she’s too childish. That said, I don’t think she has too much to worry about. Since the start of this series, she’s improved by leaps and bounds. She’s able to listen to people when they tell her she’s going too far or saying too much. Best of all, Simeon is learning when it’s a good idea to just let her off the leash and do whatever she wants. Marielle is featuring in a Murder, She Wrote knockoff, where everywhere she goes she can’t help but get involved in dangerous situations. There’s no murder here, but the same thing applies. That said, this is more than just a thriller or a mystery this time. It’s also a gothic ghost story, complete with creepy castle and ghosts that are said to curse those lying within. Now, neither Simeon nor Marielle believe in ghosts. But Marielle loves the IDEA of believing in ghosts a lot…

Marilee is dealing with a lull in her book series at the moment. People still like her books, but they want something a bit more bittersweet. A bit more adult (no, not like that). Unfortunately, despite her vigorous nighttime activities with her husband, Marielle is not sure she is mature enough to understand the appeal of a bittersweet love. She and Simeon, however, have bigger things to worry about. The prince’s uncle has recently passed away, and his wife asked asked Severin to come along and help her with a problem she’s having. Going along are Julianne, Simeon, and Marielle. Once there, they find that Laetitia, the Duchess, wants to leave the duchy and return to the town she grew up in. And take her daughter with her, despite the fact that her daughter doesn’t know that town at all. And what’s more, she wants to do it IMMEDIATELY. Why? Could it be… ghosts?

Given that this series started with Marielle being (according to herself) being the sort to be unnoticed and only listen to others, it’s really great to hear her give a few smacktalk speeches in this book. There’s a lot of people not communicating with each other in this one, and (of course) there’s also international intrigue, again. (No Lutin, though.) Honestly, for once Simeon is the more worrying one. When Marielle is in danger (again, yes, it’s that sort of series – at least she’s not successfully kidnapped this time) he grows terrifying in his desire to punish those responsible, but even scarier is his rage when some other man finds his wife attractive. The best part of the book might be how, in acquiescence of his wife’s wishes, he does an interrogation while holding his riding crop. The Simeon of only two or three books ago would never have done this. They really are in love.

There are suggestions that Marielle imagine what being a mother is like towards the end of this book, but I don’t think the series is ready to go there right now, if ever. It’s far more content watching Marielle sneak around in disguises she brought herself, find clues that her husband already knew about, and get in and out of peril. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Best and Worst Manga of 2023

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This weekend’s Nor’easter provided me a swell opportunity to finish my long-gestating Best and Worst Manga list for 2023. One of the things that tripped me up was the sheer volume of new work published last year; when I first started reviewing manga in 2006, it was hard to imagine a market that offered a title for every conceivable reader, from the Chainsaw Man enthusiast to the the romantic, the oenophile, the foodie, the soccer fan, the gore hound, the isekai buff, and even the middle-aged manga critic. Though I made a concerted effort to be as thorough as possible, I freely admit that my picks barely capture the sheer quantity and diversity of last year’s new releases. Instead, I focused on the titles that stayed with me weeks and months after I first read them, from the exuberant One Hundred Tales to the unnerving The Summer Hikaru Died. For additional perspective on 2023’s best and worst manga, I encourage you to check out the well curated lists at Anime News Network, Anime UK News, Asian Movie Pulse, The Beat, The Comics Journal, From Cover to Cover, Okazu, and The School Library Journal.

Best New Manga: Okinawa
Story and Art by Susumu Higa • Translated by Jocelyne Allen • Lettering by Patrick Crotty and Kayla E. • Fantagraphics
There are books that critics like, and books that readers like. I’d put Okinawa squarely in the first category, as it has all the hallmarks of a Serious Manga™: slightly naïve artwork, historically important events seen through the eyes of ordinary people, and detailed footnotes explaining the story’s cultural and linguistic nuances. If I sound a little cynical, I was; I put off reading Okinawa for months after its release because so many reviewers rehearsed the same talking points about how “harrowing,” “heartbreaking,” “complex,” and “haunting” it was. After reading Okinawa, however, I have to admit the critics were right: Okinawa is a deeply moving exploration of the island’s fraught relationship with Japan and the United States. It’s also a tribute to Susumu Higa’s parents, whose memories of World War II pervade many of Okinawa’s most affecting stories; a celebration of Okinawan resilience and spirituality; and the best manga I read in 2023.

Best New Drama: River’s Edge“Story and Art by Kyoko Okazaki • Translated by Alexa Frank • Vertical Comics
River’s Edge offers a gritty portrait of adolescence before chat rooms, cell phones, and social media, focusing on the slackers and misfits at a Tokyo high school. Haruna Wakakusa, the protagonist, is caught between her fierce sense of justice and her ambivalent feelings towards her on-again, off-again boyfriend Kannonzaki, a horny, hot-headed loser who bullies weaker classmates. Over the course of the story, Haruna forges an unlikely friendship with one of Kannonzaki’s targets, an aloof young man whose popularity with the girls belies his true sexual orientation. Okazaki’s spare, stylish linework is ideally suited to the material, as the character’s exaggerated facial features and ungainly proportions remind the reader of how confusing, weird, and uncomfortable it is to be on the physical cusp of adulthood. Okazaki also nails the casual cruelty and cluelessness of adolescence: her characters’ impulsiveness, selfishness, and inexperience often compel them to betray each other in small (and big) ways that feel true to life even when the plot teeters on the brink of melodrama.

Best Classic Title: One Hundred Tales
Story and Art by Osamu Tezuka • Translated by Iyasu Adair Nagata • Lettering by Aidan Clarke • ABLAZE
Over the course of his long career, Osamu Tezuka published three series based on the legend of Doctor Faustus, among them One Hundred Tales (1971), which ran in Weekly Shonen Jump. Tezuka takes a few liberties with the original story: his hero is not a brilliant scholar in search of knowledge but a lowly samurai who’s been sentenced to death for his employer’s misdeeds. In a fit of desperation, he sells his soul to a witch and is reborn as Fuwa Usuto, a dashing young man who wants two things: love and power. What follows is a rowdy picaresque, as Fuwo ventures into the lair of an alluring demon, saves his daughter from an arranged marriage, and insinuates himself into the house of a foolish daimyo in his quest to become more worldly and powerful. These episodes provide Tezuka ample opportunity to insert pop-cultural sight gags—Christopher Lee and Astro Boy both make fleeting appearances—but they also showcase Tezuka’s flair for character design and panel structure; the artwork is fluid and playful, equally suited to moments of exquisite silliness and heartbreaking sadness as Fuwo stumbles towards transcendence.

Best New Horror Series: The Summer Hikaru Died
Story and Art by Mokumokuren • Translated by Ajani Oloye • Lettering by Abigail Blackman • Yen Press
The Summer Hikaru Died begins with a familiar scene: two high school buddies are clowning around outside a convenience store, trading good-natured barbs. But something’s off, and midway through a seemingly ordinary conversation Yoshiki realizes that he’s talking to an impostor who’s the spitting image of his friend Hikaru. Though the mystery of what happened to the real Hikaru is resolved quickly, many questions remain: is it possible for Yoshiki to befriend “Hikaru” even though he has no real memories of their relationship? And what, exactly, is “Hikaru”? Mokumokuren resists the temptation to provide simple answers, relying instead on suggestion to create a tense, atmospheric story that skillfully blends elements of body horror, BL, and fantasy in a fresh, unsettling way.

Best New Cat Manga: Nights With a Cat
Story and Art by Kyuryu Z • Translated by Stephen Paul • Lettering by Lys Blakesly • Yen Press
Though there are dozens of great pet manga now available in English, Nights with a Cat has something genuinely new to offer: simple, observational storytelling that doesn’t shamelessly tug on the heartstrings or anthropomorphize our furry companions. The series explores the relationship between Fuuta and Kyuruga, his roommate’s cat. As someone who’s never lived with a cat before, Fuuta is fascinated by Kyuruga, marveling at Kyuruga’s anatomy—his pupils, his sandpaper tongue, his retractable claws—as well as Kyuruga’s ability to silently materialize in surprising places. Kyuryu Z doesn’t play these moments for laughs, choosing instead to emphasize how strange and amazing cats really are with illustrations that capture the fluidity of Kyuruga’s movements and the changeability of his moods. Recommended for new and long-time cat owners alike. (Reviewed at Manga Bookshelf on 5/21/23)

Best Ongoing Series: Go With the Clouds, North by Northwest
Story and Art by Irie Aki • Translated by David Musto • Vertical Comics
After a two-year wait, a new installment of Go With the Clouds, North by Northwest arrived in stores this fall, demonstrating once again why this odd, delightful, and occasionally thrilling story deserves a bigger audience. Strictly speaking, Go With the Clouds is a murder mystery, but Aki Irie refuses to observe the basic tenets of the genre, frequently interrupting her story for interesting diversions: a fitful romance between supporting characters, a brief lesson on Icelandic geography, a casual conversation between Kei, the main protagonist, and his trusty jeep. What prevents the story from being twee or mannered is its matter-of-fact tone. In the first chapter of volume six, for example, Kei uses ESP to track a kidnapping victim through the streets of Reykjavik by chatting up parked cars around the city, a goofy gambit that works thanks to Irie’s superb pacing and commitment to character development; Kei’s methodical approach suggests that his ESP is something he uses on an everyday basis, not something that manifests per the plot’s demands. Swoon-worthy art and twisty plotting add to the series’ considerable appeal. (Volumes one and two reviewed at The Manga Critic on 8/30/19).

Most Disappointing New Series: #DRCL: Midnight Children
Story and Art by Shin’ichi Sakamoto • Based on Bram’s Stoker’s Dracula • Translation Caleb Cook • Touch-Up & Lettering by Brandon Hull • VIZ Media
Let’s face it: Bram Stoker’s Dracula sucks, marred by turgid prose and a convoluted form. In the hands of other creators, however, Stoker’s ideas have thrilled, titillated, and shocked six generations of horror buffs. The introduction to #DRCL: Midnight Children suggests that Shin’ichi Sakamoto might be one of those creators, as he offers the reader a claustrophobic, suspenseful riff on Dracula‘s most famous chapter, “The Voyage of the Demeter.” The rest of volume one, by contrast, is a fever dream of short, incoherent scenes that bump up against each other like commuters on a rush-hour train. Anyone familiar with Stoker’s original novel will recognize the characters’ names but wonder why Sakamoto re-imagined Renfield as a nun who’s chained up in a dormitory room or Mina Murray as a short, scrappy redhead who’s an expert wrestler. (Also: a dead ringer for Anne of Green Gables.) It’s a pity that the story is so fragmented and overripe, as Sakamoto has a fertile imagination; the first volume is filled with hauntingly beautiful renditions of Dracula himself that instill a sense of awe and fear that’s missing from the rest of the story.

Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 11

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y 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.

(This review gets a bit spoilery about the fate of one of the main characters, be warned. Though I try to glide over it.)

We’ve seen Tearmoon Empire be a fun comedy, and we’ve seen it be an action thriller, and we’ve seen it be a romance as well. But we really have not seen it as a dark tragedy. Or rather, it’s only been seen in flashbacks to the bad future, where we see the consequences of Mia being unable to save everyone and getting executed. And that’s tended to be more along the lines of “my God, what have I done?” The latter half of this book, though, goes as closely as this series is likely to get into the tragedy mode, and I’m kicking myself that I did not pick up on the ominous foreshadowing in the last volume, which I cheerfully thought was “oh boy, secrets are going to be told once this arc gets finished!”. Unfortunately, this leads to the question of “why won’t secrets actually be told?”, and the answer is possibly “because the person with the secrets is now dead.”

We pick up where the last book left off, with the race between Mia, on her “slow but steady wins the race” horse, and Xiaolei, on her “fastest in the land” horse. If you’re suspecting we’re seeing a retelling of the Tortoise and the Hare fable, you’re pretty much dead on. Mia is, of course, trying her best NOT to win, for various reasons, but we already know how that’s going to go. She does, however, manage to unite the tribes. Which is good, as unfortunately while this was going on Citrina was kidnapped by the Chaos Serpents, led by Abel’s older sister Valentina. Mia goes to rescue her, and oddly she is allowed to take other people with her, such as Abel and Dion. Why, it’s almost like the Serpents’ goal is not merely to kill off Mia but something far more sinister…

This is the second book I’ve read recently that felt like a final volume of the series, enough so that the author needs to assure us it’s not the end. The cliffhanger ending helps, as we’re introduced to what appears to be yet another Tearmoon from the future (?). As for the book itself, Mia is pretty great in it (I always enjoy a good “I won’t let the villains die, that would be too easy on them, they will have to live on” plot), but honestly the emotional lifting is done by Citrina and Bel. I joked on Twitter that since Mia had changed the future so that she doesn’t suffer, Citrina had become Tearmoon Empire’s designated woobie, and it’s not wrong. The other reason that this feels like a final volume is that we get a ton of flashforwards to “the good future”, the one Mia will eventually get to, with everyone alive and married off. It’s nice to actually *see* Grandma Mia rather than just hear about her. As for Citrina… well, I suspect the start of Book 12 will help. At least, I hope so.

I haven’t even mentioned the other high point of the volume, where Valentina tells us what the Chaos Serpents actually are. This was one of the best in the series. And again, the arc ended at the end of the book! Keep it up!

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 17

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

This one is really doing its best to trick you into thinking it’s the final volume. Hell, look at the cover, which screams “and the adventures continue…” And to be fair, that is how it ends, it’s just we go along with everyone when they continue their adventures. But what this amounts to, honestly, is a soft reboot of the series, which had grown fat and placid on its regular cast, sci-fi backstory, and ended the last book with Mile having finally visited the final “non-human” race she wanted to see, and announcing to the world that the invasion of monsters from another dimension is imminent. There’s nothing left to do but have the final battle, which takes up the first 40% of the book. But after that? What do you do when you’ve won? Worse, what do you do when you revealed all because you were planning on dying, but then DON’T die?

We pick up right where we left off, with Mile imitating the MGM lion as she broadcasts herself to everyone in the continent. She then explains that the invasion is coming in the next few days, that most of the armies who have to deal with it won’t make it in time, but that’s OK, because the Crimson Vow will take on all 100,000 monsters for them. She also reveals that she’s Adele von Ascham. And “Miami Satodele”, for that matter. From there, the four of them go off to certain death… and are very surprised to find that the ENTIRE cast has come to help them in the final battle. Really, everyone who can fight shows up here, including the elves, the demons, and the dragons. Hell, I was expecting Lenny to show up (she did not, but we do see her later on). The battle is indeed tough – they absolutely would have lost without the help of everyone – but they prevail. And… um… the battle was also accidentally broadcast to the continent via Mile’s MGM widescreen. Whoops.

So yeah, now they’ve all achieved their goals. They’re all nobility. Pauline has a successful business. Mavis is an S-rank hunter and is Mile’s holy knight. Reina is also an S-rank hunter, and can publish her memoir. And Mile… has been captured by everyone who’s been trying to catch her since Book 1, and is now being forced to be The Holy Saint. Needless to say, after six months of this they’re all bored out of their gourds. So it’s time for that soft reboot – they all run away and go to a completely different continent. (the Wonder Trio, as well as the Princess, follow them, because we can’t leave EVERYONE behind.) This will allow the author to start over with slightly different baselines – for one thing, the monsters in this new continent are a LOT smarter than the ones we’re familiar with. That said, Mile is still Mile. I’m sure it will be fine.

If you were looking for an excuse to stop reading the series, this is basically the perfect volume to do so. If you want more Mile and company, good news, that’s coming. This was a fun “finale” that wasn’t.

Earl and Fairy: The Spectral Lover

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

This review, by necessity, features major spoilers for this volume, and I recommend not reading it till you finish it. I will put the cover (which does not spoil) first to allow you to avoid the spoiler.

Earl and Fairy’s first volume was clearly written as a one-shot. Most series are. Not everything is created to be a massive hit without having to actually sell the books first. And sometimes authors look back at decisions they made in the first book, when they were not expecting it to be, say, a 33-volume behemoth, and think “man, why did I do that plot twist? It worked great for a single book, but I could have done so much more with the character?” Mizue Tani was clearly thinking exactly that when she was writing up the plot of this volume, which features… well, come on, you have to guess what I’m talking about given I’m discussing major plot twists from the first book. She’s back, there’s a supernatural explanation, and it’s cool.

Edgar has been attending a seance held by a suspicious medium (one who seems to recognize him) that is meant to help a mourning woman marry off her late daughter’s ghost. Oddly, someone else is also attending the seance pretending to be him… and creating nasty rumors in the tabloids, rumors that Lydia (who doesn’t trust Edgar more than she can throw him) immediately believes. She’s also annoyed that she has to pretend to be engaged to him for reasons we saw in the last book. Then she’s promptly kidnapped (again, it’s that sot of series) and when Edgar and Raven track her down, she seems to genuinely be possessed by the spirit of the woman’s dead daughter. Well, possibly her daughter. And also only possessed half the time. Is this another of Ulysses’ clever plots?

So yeah, Ermine’s back. Arguably this ruins the tragedy of her death in the first volume, but frankly I always found her death in the first volume rather annoying, so I don’t really mind this all too much. She’s now a selkie, as apparently this is how she was saved from death in the first place. Unfortunately, having betrayed Edgar and Raven in Book 1, she’s got to do it again, this time because Ulysses has her “skin”, in the form of a glass bead, which if destroyed will kill selkies for real. We’ll see how long she lasts this time around before what I suspect will be a slightly better death. As for Lydia and Edgar, he is at least starting to get why she doesn’t trust him in the least – he has to stop treating her like a solution to his problems. That said, I think most of the readers are siding with him more than her right now – we do want a romance novel, after all.

I greatly enjoy the writing in this series, because (I have observed) it’s nothing like modern light novels. Anyone looking for something different, come get this.

The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-Up, Vol. 4

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By Rino Mayumi and Machi. Released in Japan as “Jimihime to Kuroneko no, Enman na Konyaku Haki” by M Novels F. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Evie Lund.

So I believe that this may not be the final volume in the series after all. It certainly feels like it, though. The princess is no longer drab and no longer a princess. the break-up has happened and was pretty satisfying. Viol is still a black cat on occasion, but part of this book’s plot is getting to see Seren in his human form, in order to ensure that the announcement of their engagement does not come completely out of nowhere. But for the most part, this book is in the subgenre of what I call “victory lap” books. Our heroes have won, the problems are solved, and what is left is just everyone feeling really swell. That’s exactly what happens here, there’s minimal drama. I suppose there are things they could do in the future of this series, such as children, or cool magic things, or maybe giving Marietta something to do. But really, this absolutely feels like the end.

After the events of the last book, Seren is finally a High Mage, and gets to start High Mage Classes. Of course, there’s one slight problem – she never underwent normal magical university classes at all. So she has to not only do the advanced stuff everyone else is doing, but also take the basic magic courses Viol did not bother to teach her. I’ll let you guess how difficult she finds this. Guessed yet? If you said “not in the least”, give yourself a cookie. In the interim, she also finds time to invent electric fans, and she and Viol also help intervene in the rescue of a ship stuck in the ocean due to calm currents, which ends up being solved due to… GIANT electric fans, basically. With all this going on, can Viol manage to get permission to court Seren?

There’s not really much to say about Seren and Viol’s courtship, mostly as it goes so smoothly that the book ends with a wedding. I was amused at meeting Viol’s family. He’s always sort of been the calm, stoic type, so it’s hilarious that his commoner family are the same as commoner families always are in these sorts of books, which is to say rural farmers who panic when they have to deal with noble folks and worry they’re offending them somehow. They don’t have much to worry about – Seren’s dad is basically as eccentric as she is, and the King and Queen ask for this to be a big wedding more because Seren was like a daughter to them than any other reason. The other suitors for Seren’s hand are basically driven away by the sheer power of their “we are a gorgeous and powerful couple” vibe at the most recent ball. And they all lived happily ever after.

Except a 5th volume came out in March in Japan. Does the electric fan break? Well, I’m sure something will come up. If you like “relaxing vibe” series, or enjoy seeing two nerds nerd out while being in love, this is a good one.

Revolutionary Reprise of the Blue Rose Princess, Vol. 3

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By Roku Kaname and Hazuki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Aobara-hime no Yarinaoshi Kakumeiki” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by JC.

In my review of the first two volumes of this series, I said that my chief issue with the series was that it didn’t really have anything that made it stand out over a pack of other “redo my life” titles coming out at the same time, was overly serious, and could be a bit dull. It’s still overly serious (there’s nary a joke to be found here), but fortunately the fact that this is the final volume and has to wrap everything up solves the other issues. This is easily the best volume in the series, as Alicia has to try to balance out the fact that she needs to do what’s best for her nation with her love for Clovis, and Riddhe has to try to find the traitor behind most of the bad events in this book, and do so without getting caught and used to start a war between two countries. He achieves half of that. But it’s OK, there’s a trial to try to put things right.

The book begins with Alicia still in Erdal, meeting with the Empress to try to show why she wants their countries to reach out to each other WITHOUT needing her to get married to Fritz to do it. The Empress, after a quick “how devoted to your ideals are you?” test, is pretty much OK with this, but Fritz now basically sees Alicia as an enemy. Indeed, he sees almost everyone as an enemy, including his lover Charlotte, and is acting just the way you’d expect a bratty prince with too much power but not enough responsibility to act. And then there’s Alicia and Clovis, who are still both hung up on “he’s just her advisor, he can’t marry the future queen” to move forward, and are thus having communication issues. Things get so bad that Alicia decides the best way forward IS to marry Fritz… but before she can, chaos erupts in Erdal.

The back half of this book really sells the danger and drama, with several action sequences and threats to help overshadow the fact that we know who the bad guy is throughout. The mystery is not “whodunnit”, but “how to fix things without destabilizing multiple nations”. It helps that there’s a lot of “even if they are a bad person, I still love them like family” going around, which means this timeline has a hell of a lot less death than the last one. Actually, another great moment was the revelation about what DID happen in the previous lifetime – Alicia’s always had spotty memories, so it’s been hard to decipher beyond “Clovis killed her”, but now we see this was part of a larger scheme, which makes sense given how easily manipulable he must have been in that first timeline. As for the romance, I will admit that “it’s OK, you can marry your advisor, everyone knows you love him” doesn’t really work given this is a “political marriage is the norm” sort of world, but hey, the relationship is sort of dessert. The meal is saving the country.

So yes, always nice when a series ends with its best volume. I enjoyed this.

Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster, Vol. 4

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

I’m starting to feel really bad for Patrick. The most obvious reason being that it’s not entirely clear, at least until the end of this volume, that Alicia would actually choose him over Lady Mary. The relationship between Alicia and Mary has not been yuri per se, but certainly Mary is the most important person in her life, and she has a tendency to tackle hug, and fondle, and adore her. Meanwhile, Patrick has to actually run a country, so is not as free for snuggles. More worrying for Patrick is that he is now the only fully, 100% sensible one in the cast. He didn’t think this was the case. He was sure it was him and Adi against the eccentrics and airheads of this world. But when push comes to shove, Adi has been around Mary far too long and thinks far too much like her for this to be true. Sorry, Patrick. Everyone is bananas except you. Someone has to do the nasty work.

Things are looking up for Mary Albert. She’s survived the first game (despite her best efforts to be exiled), and the second game has come and gone with only mild sadism and shotacon friends as the result. Unfortunately, the game also had an anime adaptation. Which introduced a friend character for Alicia, consoling her when Mary was being too much of an evil villainess. And now we get Veltina, a new arrival to Mary’s group due to a school exchange program. Veltina clearly has memories of the anime from a previous life, great hatred for Mary Albert, and a huge crush on Adi. On the bright side, she makes an absolutely terrible villainess herself, and taking care of her is ludicrously easy. On the down side, Mary is starting to get this odd heartburn when people get too close to Adi…

Everyone knows that if you write a villainess book where the heroine came from an otome game, and the plot resolves, then you need to have the otome game sequel, or spinoff media, or side story… anything to keep the series going. Here it’s the anime, but it’s amusing how little it actually matters. The author just says “oh, there was an anime, she must remember it” a few times and then proceeds to forget about it. So does Mary, who occasionally tries to find a good time to ask her but it never comes up. Which is fine, as in the end it doesn’t matter. We’re not here to see how Mary Albert can escape the terrible fate of whatever new plot hits her life – she’s not Katarina, or Aileen. We’re here for the comedy, as not only is Mary unable to tell that she’s feeling jealousy, but Adi is ALSO unable to realize this. You’d think that, having been married for some time now, the self-doubt would have disappeared, but that’s not how it works. Their resolution of it is sweet. Also, Alicia turns out to be the best gardener ever, which may be my favorite joke.

There’s four more volumes, and I’m not sure how many more antagonists we can reasonably introduce at this point. But the books remain a hoot, and always put a smile on my face.

Loyal Soldier, Lustful Beast

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By Sumire Saiga and Saya Shirosaki. Released in Japan as “Gunjin wa Ai no Kemono” by Sonya Bunko. Released in North America by Steamship. Translated by M. Jean. Adapted by H. Qi.

(This book is meant for readers over the age of 18,. and the review uses a few words that are a bit naughty.)

Steamship is one of Seven Seas’ many different imprints, and specializes in what my grandmother might have called “smutty books”. Until now, they have specialized in manga titles, all under the “josei” umbrella and basically a romance-novel style manga, only with added sexual content. Now we get this stand-alone novel, which is the first light novel under the imprint. We got a sexually explicit light novel licensed a few years ago, but that one was more on the “for guys” end, and I think Amazon pulled it relatively quickly. This one is probably safe, if only as if you removed all the sex scenes from it, it would still have a coherent and interesting plotline. Well, eventually. This book is a slow starter, and does not exactly have prose that compels you to read on, so it took me a while to get into it. In addition, a word of warning, there’s as certain amount of “codependency is good if it’s romantic” here.

Giselle is a young woman of marriageable age, but unfortunately she’s seen as a bit drab, so all the potential marriage meetings she’s been to have ended in failure. Then her brother, a soldier in the royal army, brings home a colleague, who was kidnapped and enslaved as a young boy, and still has a bit of a slave mindset to him. Giselle takes pity on him and tries to teach him how to think for himself and not just do whatever anyone tells him to. In fact, she’s falling in love with him, and he with her. This is, needless to say, a bit of a problem given that he’s an ex-slave and she’s a noble. As if that weren’t enough, the King has asked for her to join his court as one of the royal concubines. This is not really an order that can be refused. What will become of her relationship with Wallace?

So, first of all, the sex is fine. There’s quite a bit of it, mostly featuring different positions and quite a bit of cunnilingus. Wallace had a tendency to put everyone before himself, so blowjobs are not really on the table, and even asking if he can do her from behind is saved till the end when they’re far more familiar with each other. The main reason to read this, though, is the intrigue. The King straight up admits that he’s using Giselle as a hostage to keep Wallace loyal to him, and the threat ends up driving the latter half of the book. As I indicated earlier, Wallace worships the ground Giselle walks on, and would happily murder anyone if she asked him to. Meanwhile, Giselle has always felt drab and unloved, except maybe by her brother, so suddenly getting someone who adores her and is also fantastic in bed is quite a cocktail. Hopefully a lack of constant danger will allow these two to mature as a couple to where they aren’t the only thing in each other’s lives.

Despite pedestrian prose (AO3 has spoiled me) and a tendency towards romance tropes (there’s a sexual assault here, though Wallace arrives in time to break it up, and he’s always a gentleman to her in bed), this got better as it went along, and I’d recommend it to those looking for a good smutty book.

My Magical Career at Court: Living the Dream After My Nightmare Boss Fired Me from the Mages’ Guild!, Vol. 2

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By Shusui Hazuki and necomi. Released in Japan as “Black Madōgushi Guild o Tsuihō Sareta Watashi, Ōkyū Majutsushi to Shite Hirowareru: White na Kyūtei de, Shiawase na Shinseikatsu o Hajimemasu! ” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Mari Koch.

As with the previous volume, how much you enjoy this will depend on two things. The first is how much you care about people who are ridiculously the best at everything they do. Noelle especially, but also Luke, are both prodigies, and show it off throughout the story. This means there are multiple scenes of them being praised to the skies. I know this can annoy some readers. The bigger issue may be the romantic tension, which is using a combination of two devastating “put this off as long as possible” moves – she’s oblivious, he’s a coward. These are both also really, really emphasized throughout, and in my opinion grate far more than the OP stuff. If you can get past both of these, this remains a fun series about a woman in her dream job not realizing how incredible and loved she really is.

After the events of the last book, and after reassuring the now recovered wyvern that she doesn’t really need anything right now from him, Noelle returns to the Magical Court, where she remains busy. She gets a new teacher who everyone calls the hardest teacher they’ve ever had, and while she initially struggles, she ends up being fantastic. She is invited to the Royal Invitational Tournament to fight the World’s Greatest Swordsman, a match everyone expects her to lose instantly. And she and Luke are headed off to the worst dungeon in the world, which just had a new level open after 20 years, and they must face off against a last boss. Still, can’t be worse than Noelle’s last boss, amirite?

The romance here is frustrating but understandable. Noelle is firmly in “I am a commoner” mode, helped along at times by various jerkass nobles, and never even considers a romance with Luke as she knows it’s impossible. Luke has been in love with her almost since they met, but a) has the same problem in reverse, and b) worries that he will ruin their friendship forever if he confesses and it goes wrong. and, to be fair to Luke, we even see that a bit here – after being forced by his superiors to take Noelle on a date to the theater, it turns out it’s a theater where an underground drug ring is operating, and he and Noelle are forced to step in and stop the bad guys. As a result, the present he got her joins the dozens of other presents he’s bought her over the years in a room that is basically a shrine to his failure. The only way he can really make this work is for Noelle to get so insanely powerful so fast she gets a title… but before that, she may end up being poached by the Royal Family for their guard. So yes, Luke’s a coward, but I get it.

This has 5 volumes in Japan, so don’t expect it to end soon. Next time we’ll get a tournament arc and an elf queen, so also don’t expect it to be original. But it’s fun, provided you remember my caveats.

Spy x Family: Family Portrait

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By Aya Yajima, based on the series by Tatsuya Endo. Released in Japan as “SPY×FAMILY: Kazoku no Shōzō” by Jump Books. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Casey Loe.

It’s always difficult to review these spinoff/tie-in novels. By their very definition, they cannot affect the main series in any way. There can’t be plot progression, or significant character development. Usually, there also can’t be a dramatic plotline or cool action scenes either. The novel is not here to provide anything that can’t be done better in the parent manga. Instead, it’s here to give us fun stories using the series’ sandbox to play around in. The author thinks of cute ideas, gets approval from the creator and the Jump editorial staff, and then writes them down. Then Tatsuya Endo reads the stories and gives us an illustration for each of them. If you want to call it a success or failure, then as a product it’s a definite success. This feels very Spy x Family-esque. As something a fan of the series can read and think “I think the world of the manga is better for these short stories”, it’s probably a failure. These are very basic.

The book consists of four “main” stories and one very short story. In the first story, Anya, Damian, and the class go on a “Nature’s Classroom” expedition, and an overconfident Anya causes her and Damian to get lost in the woods. In the rain. In the second story, Yuri is asked to babysit Anya, and ends up taking her to a children’s career fair, where kids can pretend to be any number of things, from a police officer to a jewelry maker. In the third short story, Franky meets a blind singer in the hospital when recovering from an injury, and consoles her about an upcoming operation, while also bemoaning his appearance. The fourth story is the “title” story, as our family, on an outing, is seen by a painter, who wants to paint them. Unfortunately, he’s incredibly famous, and Yor is worried that if her portrait is seen everywhere, it will jeopardize her assassin job. In the final short, two waitresses moan about the lack of good men and gush over regular patrons the Forgers being the “perfect” loving family.

The best story in the book is easily the one with Yuri and Anya, and Endo agrees with me. It’s a clever idea, makes good use of the characters, and is funny. Its only problem is it stars Yuri, and I hate Yuri, so I did not enjoy it. But that’s on me. Aside from that, the stories suffer from having the most obvious resolution there is. Anya and Damian find a cave, and both get closer when the rainstorm brings lightning. Franky’s story would be touching if it had not already been done eighty times before, and the family portrait story, while fun, also has a punchline that I predicted the moment the painter said “can I paint you?”. In addition, Loid and Yor really don’t get much to do here except in that one story, and the book feels a bit empty without them – Anya can’t carry everything on her own, much less Yuri or Frankly.

This is, as I said, perfectly good product, but it’s also the definition of inessential.