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Reviews

Hell Mode ~ The Hardcore Gamer Dominates in Another World with Garbage Balancing, Vol. 4

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By Hamuo and Mo. Released in Japan as “Hell Mode – Yarikomi Suki no Gamer wa Hai Settei no Isekai de Musō Suru” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Taishi.

Most of the time, when you’re reading a Japanese light novel and all of the magic powers, combat stuff, etc. comes out in the same way as a Japanese RPG, it tends to be… not laziness, per se, but it’s a way to allow the writer to easily explain things without having to create an entire fantasy world system and let them get on with more important things, like having the protagonist be super awesome and attract all the girls. Sometimes, though, you read a book and you realize that the RPG stats are the point. This is one of those series. The Hell Mode author is not really interested in plot or characterization all that much. Heck, they’re still not bothering with romance – there’s none of it in this book. They are here to roleplay their elf vs. demons campaign, and it’s going to take 367 pages to get through it, so you’d better settle in. Hope you like stats.

We left off with Allen and friends being sent to the front lines and almost certain death just because the royal family don’t really like him. This is fine with Allen, though, who of course sees this as a great opportunity to level up. They can’t take Meruru (whose country is asking her to go to her own war front), but everyone else goes. When there, they find the elves are really on their last legs, about to suffer an ignominious defeat. Fortunately, Allen has 80 billion magical total heal things, as well as any number of summons that can destroy, maim, eat, or spy on the enemy. Honestly, through most of this book his biggest concern is Krena and Dogoro, who are still having trouble accessing the “I was cool but now I’m SUPER COOL” part of their powers. That said, the main boss we get here is enough to make even our protagonists struggle. They will need another ringer. They will need… the hero.

The majority of this book is pure fight scenes, and thus unreviewable. Aside from that, I did appreciate that Allen, who is now relatively comfortable and trusting of everyone around him, finally fesses up and admits that he’s a reincarnation from a different world. I especially liked Cecil’s immediate reaction, which was “ah yes, so much makes sense now”. Allen is a freak in a very different way to the others… is what I’d like to say, but I’m not sure it’s true anymore. All the others are equally obsessed with getting new levels, new titles, and new powers. It’s the way this world works. Either you keep getting strong and stronger and more overpowered, or you die. (Hence the title.) Also, while Cecil and Krena don’t seen romantically interested in Allen all that much yet, the same can’t be said for his summons. Ellie, aka “Spirit B”, seems to be deifying “Lord Allen” a bit, and it’s slightly worrying… well, it would be if the narrative wasn’t doing the same thing.

This will always remain a “I might read the next book if I get a gap in my schedule” sort of series to me. But if you enjoy watching Allen wave a hand and watch OP bullshit happen, this is still giving you what you need.

You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story, Vol. 1

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By Makiko Nagaoka and magako. Released in Japan as “Keiken Zumi na Kimi to, Keiken Zero na Ore ga, Otsukiai Suru Hanashi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Adam.

Other folks have said this besides me, but I will join in: the least interesting part of this series so far is the relationship between the two leads. He’s a nice guy. She’s a sweet girl. They’re really cute together. Which is fine, but you can read more interesting versions of that in 8-10 other stories from J-Novel Club or Yen On. Where it holds up better is the “gimmick”, so to speak, where it tries to walk a fine line between telling a teenage girl she doesn’t have to have sex to be in a relationship while also asserting that there’s nothing wrong with having it once you want to. Once the author and editor had that idea, that’s what this book was going to HAVE to be, because if it became “I will save you from the terrible things you have been doing”, it would have been the worst thing ever. That said, the guy… takes a while to get there.

Ryuto Kashima is a standard potato-kun light novel protagonist, who does not have the looks or confidence to be on the cover next to his girlfriend. He’s a shy, introverted guy who pines after Runa Shirakawa, the gorgeous, trendy, and confident girl in his class. The rumor mill says that she’s gone out with a ton of guys, and they’ve even had sex with her, but none of the relationships have lasted. Ryuto, of course, is content to just pine away, but when he loses a bet and is dared to confess to her, he goes through with it, figuring she’ll reject him and he can rip the band-aid off and get on with life. To his surprise, she accepts… and that evening, they end up at her house, with her father and grandmother away. Is this it? Is he going to have sex with the hot girl?

If you were thinking that yes, he is, I suspect that light novel romcoms must be a constant disappointment to you. As it turns out, Runa (whose parents got together in middle school, and she focuses on that and not the fact that they’re now divorced) thinks that having sex with a guy is just what you do in a relationship, and is absolutely boggled when Ryuto tries things like thinking of what she wants and asking her about her hobbies. That said, she’s not annoyingly naive, and the disconnect comes from a sensible emotional place. It took me a long time to warm up to Ryuto, who has an awful lot of “no one could ever likle such a giant loser like myself” vibes that he has to struggle with. His 4-page long monologue about bubble tea shops won me over, and also won Runa over. (Runa expects that he will break up with her soon, like all guys have done, so any genuine affection for anything is amazing.) As for the other major character in this book, I suspect she will be the focus of Book 2, so I’ll save her for then.

The book does what it sets out to do, which is to say “indicate that slut-shaming is bad”, and I hear the anime (currently airing) is pretty solid as well. I just hope that Ryuto and Runa can be a bit less… vanilla in their relationship. Just because you’re not having sex doesn’t mean that hand-holding should take 60 pages.

The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent, Vol. 9

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By Yuka Tachibana and Yasuyuki Syuri. Released in Japan as “Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Julie Goniwich. Adapted by E.M. Candon.

This ninth volume in the series comes out just in time, as the second season of the anime is currently airing and looks like it will adapt till the end of Book 8. So if you want to continue onward, you can pick right up where it leaves off. Of course, I will warn you in advance that you’re only getting 3/4 of a book. The manga version of this title runs in Flos Comic, but it would fit right at home in LaLa, because, like many LaLa manga, it’s packed with filler to pad out the volume. Now, this is not always a bad thing. The short stories that bookend each Bookworm volume are just as important as Rozemyne’s POV, and some of the side stories are fun. But what we get instead here are scripts for audio dramas starring the voice actor for Albert… talking to himself, as I guess “situational audio drama” means that the reader invents Sei’s half of the dialogue? Not sure, but it’s not worth it.

Sei and Albert are now engaged, and this is officially announced at a ball. Much to Sei’s surprise, there’s a second engagement being announced – Elizabeth is now engaged to the second Prince, Rayne. That said, their wedding will be a year from now, as there’s just that much pre-preparation involved. Sei is content to go back to the research labs, but then the palace gets an urgent missive from Prince Kyle’s delegation in Zaidera, saying one of the most important members was deathly ill, and help was urgently needed. Everyone suspects this is a ploy, but they can’t just ignore it, so Yuri decides to go there and take one of Sei’s panaceas, the one that healed Prince Ten’yuu’s mother. The problem is… Sei wants to go too! She’s so curious! So of course Albert goes along as well. This becomes a problem when the thing they thought was a plot turns out to indeed be a ploy.

So yes, we get the return of Prince Kyle here. Much to my surprise, very little is made of his past by the main cast. He gets a side story near the end, which shows that while to Sei and company he looked calm and collected, inside he was panicking that she was going to start getting furious with him. Setting off abroad seems to have done him a world of good, and I think he agrees. As for the story itself, it’s OK, not great. It’s mostly an excuse to delay the inevitable wedding a bit longer and take a look at this world’s version of China, complete with a few recipes a la foodie manga. The actual plot won’t really get going till Book 10, so instead we get things like Yuri being a giant magical nerd and… more of Yuri being a giant magical nerd. At least Sei has more female friends besides Liz and Aira now.

This is not one of the best in the series, but as a setup for a new arc it’s OK, and it will satisfy anime-onlies wanting to see what happens next.

Taking My Reincarnation One Step at a Time: No One Told Me There Would Be Monsters!, Vol. 3

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

It can sometimes be difficult, when a series is told entirely from one person’s point of view, to remind ourselves that they may not necessarily be the best narrator for the job. Sara tells the entire story in these books, and for the most part that’s fine, but there is a good deal of snark, apathy and general grouchiness to her entire character that makes the narration fun but also reminds us that everyone else doesn’t necessarily adore her. That said, the people she’s grouchiest to (Ted, the knights) generally deserve it. As the series goes on, I’m hoping that we get more of her joyful delight at seeing the ocean, which we get at the end of this book, and a bit less of her “whatever, I don’t care” attitude when people try to railroad her into annoying things. Though she’s right, she really should settle on figuring out what to do with her life soon.

Sara and Nelly head back to Rosa to do some shopping for clothes, but end up getting sidelined by a ton of plot. The other Invited we met in the capital last time, Haruto, has arrived in the town, and is acting like a 10-year-old kid – which, to be fair, is about when he died in Japan, so Sara has a big leg up on him. More dangerously, the knights are returning to get Sara and forcibly have a noble adopt her and get her working for the state. She really does not want to do that, so after letting Haruto and fellow Invited Bradley handle the cottage on the mountain, she, Allen and Nelly join Chris is a trip to a town two weeks away that is trying to train new apothecaries. Unfortunately, when they get there it turns out almost every single apothecary has in fact left the town. Oh yes, also frogs. LOTS of frogs.

Because Sara has for the most part been living on a mountain with a mentor who does not really care about much of anything, or else in a town that is very clearly the “last dungeon” town in this fantasy world, she has not really had a normal isekai reincarnation like everyone else in this series. That’s clearly for the good, as it turns out that while reincarnates are coddled, they’re also pretty much used as government-sponsored slaves, with a name change. You can see why – Sara is really, REALLY powerful, and we see more of that here, though at last we seem to have finally hit a magic thing that makes her feel tired rather than just being easy as pie. The next book is set up by Nelly suggesting they go to her hometown to get her family (who are nobility) to adopt Sara, which should stop the knights from trying to abduct her. I’m fairly certain it will not be that simple.

So yeah, Sara’s not sure what she wants to do with her life here yet, but till she’s safe and can relax, I don’t really blame her. Also, the gimmick is that Sara attracts monsters, right? I think we all get that by now, even if the cast don’t yet. She’s a Monster Magnet.

A Young Lady Finds Her True Calling Living with the Enemy, Vol. 1

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By Syuu and Fujigasaki. Released in Japan as “Oguni no Kōshaku Reijō wa Tekikoku nite Kakusei Suru” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Kashi Kamitoma.

As we have advanced into the 21st century, we have thankfully moved on from one of the more egregious fan terms (and one I used myself back when I was younger), the “Mary Sue”. Originally used as an example of a character created by a writer purely to be the “perfect” love interest for her favorite character, it then morphed into, supposedly, any woman who lacked flaws and was seen as too perfect. Which, naturally, meant any woman protagonist, if you’re a guy reading it. Meanwhile, male protagonists who kill all the monster, gets all the babes, and wind up leading the nation are a dime a dozen, and despite the attempt to use “Gary Stu” to describe them they never got any flak. And of course let’s not get into the “Strong Female Character”, as best seen by Kate Beaton’s wonderful comics. I mention all this because Bertine, the protagonist of this new series, starts her own business, unites warring tribes, shoots burglars with her rifle, and has such innate economic skills that she was raised by her father to be his successor. And you know what? It’s amazing.

Bertine du Jeanne, daughter of the Chancellor of San Luenne, an independent nation and financial powerhouse, is preparing for her upcoming wedding when she is told that the Empire, which their nation has been giving financial support to, has lost its war with the Federation. The Federation has demanded 1000 large gold coins in reparations. The royal family have decided instead to send them Bertine, as the new bride to the leader of the Federation, Cecilio. She is barely given time to hear this before she and her lady maid are bundled off to Ybit, one of the major cities in the Federation. There they are told Cecilio is away, that he never accepted the bride deal in the first place, and to go home. She can’t go home, though, as it would disgrace her country. So instead the staff at Cecilio’s estate decide to slowly starve Bertina and her attendants to death, and passively abuse them. Having had enough of this, Bertine chooses to leave the estate and make her own way in this new country.

I always enjoy novels that give greater depth to the main character as the book goes on. At first Bertine just seems like a basic “stiff upper lip” noble, though she does seem very exhausted by everything near the start of the book. We then learn that everything has been terrible for her since her mother died over a decade ago, her stepmother tried to kill her and is actively trying to prevent her returning to her own country, that she had *two* marriages called off before this, and that even when her sickly mother was alive, her father, recognizing her economic talent but being unable to properly express love, gave her hellish training that made her think he hated her. She tells Cecilio flat out that when she got to his estate and the staff abused her, she was near suicidal. Fortunately, the book wants us to know that but not dwell on it. What it does want us to dwell on is Bertine empowering herself, then empowering other women around her. There isn’t even any romance in this first novel, though I’m pretty sure she’s gonna end up with Cecilio by the second (he’s nicer than his staff). It’s just Bertine being badass. Oh, and the Candy Ma’am pun is hilarious, well done translator.

I had an absolute ball reading this. Is Bertine too perfect? Damn straight.

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, Vol. 18

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By Dojyomaru and Fuyuyuki. Released in Japan as “Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

The Realist Hero books have struggled since the start with having to deal with two types of audiences. The first one has been well-served by all of the Machiavelli stuff, the political worldbuilding and military strategy, and they’re really looking forward to the upcoming major war against Fuuga Haan. And then there’s the regular old light novel audience, who are delighted with Souma having eight wives and seemingly everyone in the entire cast of well over 200 people all having weddings. It can be hard to reconcile the first and second groups, especially since the second group does not really want the logical outcome of a war, which is that many named characters who are married with children will die. In an effort to compromise, this book mostly tries to avoid the war, but does feature two minor characters tragically sacrificing themselves. It’s OK, they’re old men and also single. The marriages are safe.

After all the conflicts of the previous books, along with reluctant alliances, there’s no putting it off any longer: Fuuga wants to conquer the world, and Souma is the one standing in his way, so war it is, despite Yuriga’s best attempts to convince him. Of course, Souma is not going to simply roll out there with troops for an old fashioned Mongol Horde battle. He has schemes. Schemes that involve people like that old guy who warned them about the monster from the sea over a dozen books ago, or utilizing Trill and her bonkers impractical ideas that are nevertheless a bit more practical now that it’s a war. Or breaking the faith of the holy church through the power of evangelical broadcasting. That said… can he actually sacrifice people he cares about?

The book is, for the most part, a tense military thriller, where the question is “what’s the big plan that Souma is getting together?”. It’s supposedly something that would stop the reason for the war existing in the first place, or at least stop those following Fuuga. The answer proves to be pretty clever, and utilizes everything we’ve seen in the last couple of books, as well as the initial conflict that Souma was first isekai’d in order to solve. I ha to laugh when I saw Juno and company at the climax – I knew the adventuring party had to be part of the big final battle, but they weren’t in any of the war parties, and honestly don’t seem like the type, so they had to be part of Souma’s solution. He’s hearts-and-minding Fuuga’s army, and it works really well.

How well we’ll have to wait and see. But at least we have an end volume now – the author says 20 will be the last. I’m sure he can marry off one or two more single people by then, and probably not kill off anyone that would make us sad.

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Millennial Capital

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

Imagine a horse race, with a lot of impressive participants. The race starts, everyone is going flat out… except one horse who just stands there, staring, and perhaps snorting with amusement. What’s going on? Is she just going to let the other horses win? Then, when everyone else is about 3/4 of the way into the race, the remaining horse starts to run. She ends up winning by 10 furlongs. That’s sort of how this book feels for those who are wondering who Allen will end up with in this series. It’s Lydia’s world and we just live in it. There are a few scenes dedicated to the rest of the cast, but even there, the main POV character is not the titular Duke’s Daughter, but her older sister, who is also possibly the only one of the harem herd Lydia regards as a rival. Tina? There was a character poll in Japan. Tina came in 6th. No prizes for guessing who won, and it wasn’t close.

(I want you to look at the cover to Volume 6, and then look at this volume. They’re the same character.)

After the events of the last book, Allen and Lydia (and Atra) have gone on the run to the City of Water, in the middle of the Southern Alliance that is currently at war with Lydia’s family. They check into a hotel under an an assumed name, and, Lydia ensures, as a married couple. What follows is about half a volume of the sweetest gloop you could possibly want. Sadly, the plot has to kick in sometime. The Doge is trying to broker for peace, especially after he and Allen have a secret discussion at a fantastic cafe, but one of the countries is being particularly difficult… because, of course, their reins are being held by the Church. The younger brother of the City’s Don has the Church trying to kidnap him for nefarious reasons. And there’s a mysterious woman who is, according to Atra, a “scary, sad fiend”. Which is true, especially the scary part.

I hate gushing (that’s a lie, I love gushing), but this book is a massive reward for Lydia fans who have been waiting for her to spend an extended period with Allen since the first volume. She’s at her most self-confident here, having Allen pamper her, declare that he will never hate her, and connecting their mana together, something she’s longed for for years, even if it’s just temporary. Even the climax of the book, which technically has Allen and Lydia fight against a powerful enemy and lose, is triumphant. As for the others? Well, Stella’s still having mana leakage issues, and I’m sure she’ll get a book of her own later. And, um… Felicia and Lily’s breasts are big? Yeah, I may love this series, but it’s still what it is, so of course there’s a “small-breasted girls vs. large-breasted girls” argument. All of them miss the point, as Allen is not the sort to pick a partner based on looks. Honestly, Allen is not the sort to pick a partner, period. Lydia’s working on that.

This looks like a multi-volume arc, and I’m sure the girls will intrude on Allen and Lydia’s love-love honeymoon in the next book. Till then, though, please enjoy a victory lap from the angriest redhead around. (OK,. the angriest redhead in this series, at least. Sorry, Lina.)

Agents of the Four Seasons, Vol. 1

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By Kana Akatsuki and Suoh. Released in Japan as “Shunka Shūtō Daikōsha” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sergio Avila.

This one took me completely by surprise. For one thing, I’ve never seen Violet Evergarden, the other series this author is noted for, which I know has a large cult fanbase. But even then, the cover art and plot description were sort of obfuscating things. I was expecting a soft little romance, with star-crossed lovers reuniting after ten long years and lots of crying and apologies. Actually, technically, I got all that except for the “soft” part, but that also does not describe the book at all. This is a dark and brutal story about recovering from severe trauma after years of torture, the devastation of those left behind, and living in an active terrorist state where at any moment you might get brutally murdered – or just kidnapped again. Fluffy this ain’t. That said, every page of this does its job to reward the reader, and if you can tolerate a lot of dark depressing angst, it’s one of the best light novels to come out this year.

This takes place in a world where the seasons are controlled by “Agents”, four people chosen to bring about the change to winter, spring, summer and fall. They are humans with powers, and when one dies, another one develops a birthmark which marks them as the next in line. In Yamato (i.e. alternate universe Japan), things have been terrible and rather wintery for the last ten years because of a disaster that took place – during an attempted assassination of the winter agent, the spring agent was kidnapped. She’s been missing all this time, and yet, because a new agent has not appeared, she isn’t dead. The book starts with her return, ready to perform the actions to bring about spring despite PTSD, what appears to be disassociative identity disorder, and a retainer who may be even worse off than she is.

We don’t get explicitly told what happened to Hinagiku when she was kidnapped, except for dialogue-only flashbacks that imply that heavy torture was done to her. But it left its mark, and it’s amazing that she’s here to bring on the spring and try to get things back to the way they were. Meanwhile, her retainer Sakura is still trying to cope with being unable to save her at the time, and being abused by nearly everyone around her in the interim. Rosei, the agent of Winter, has tremendous survivor guilt, given that Hinagiku sacrificed herself so that he could live. And Itecho, his retainer, also blames himself for not being strong enough to go up against dozens of terrorists with guns. There is, thankfully, a BIT of healing in this volume, but when the agent of Autumn is kidnapped in what looks like a repeat of the events of last decade, the Four Seasons decide enough is enough, and they’re not going to take it anymore.

I didn’t even have time to get into the Summer agent/retainer, who have twin issues, or the Autumn retainer, who is the only retainer with no real issues and therefore gets to be the one to suffer. I do know that I really, really, really want to read the next book in this series, and I am thankful that the series seems to do 2-book arcs, so things should reasonably wrap up in it. Highly recommended.

Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord, Vol. 3

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By Satori Tanabata and Tea. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō Level 99: Watashi wa Ura Boss Desu ga Maō dewa Arimasen” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Satori Tanabata.

I’ve said this before, but I will say it here again: these books are just too long. Normally I don’t carp too much about the length of a book, but it’s relevant in this vase because Villainess Level 99 is a comedy. The bulk of the humor comes from Yumiella being ridiculous, and everyone’s reaction to this. And she’s very funny here, but the trouble is, about 50-60% into the book, you just flag a bit, and want it to be over faster. Luckily, by around 80% or so complete, the actual serious plot kicks in, so it ends strong. But there’s no reason this had to be 300 pages, dangit. Especially since, as the author says in the afterword, this is no longer a villainess series ad there’s no longer a demon lord. Well, mostly. Covers always spoil, and maybe the reason that this book was so long is because the presence of two Yumiellas means that there needs to be twice the pages to contain them.

After the events of the last book, things have settled down mostly, and all Yumiella really has to worry about is Eleanora being around her far more often and a sinking suspicious that she’s dead weight even though she’s running her territory. But then the God of Darkness shows up, and through him Yumiella finally learns the way to get past that Level 99 cap and get even stronger – she has to kill a version of herself from another parallel world. Believe it or not, Yumiella is not as gung-ho about this as you’d expect, especially since there’s only one other Yumiella left – all the other parallel Yumiellas have been killed by virtue of the otome game plot that our Yumiella subverted. Unfortunately, the remaining Yumiella is still alive as she’s destroyed her world… and is heading for our Yumiella next!

The core of this series remains Yumiella’s combination of deadpan humor, oblivious ditziness, and meathead tendencies, and all three of those are in full effect. You’d think that the alt-Yumiella would be quite a different person give that she destroyed the world, but remember even our Yumiella, with her “isekai” personality, had those feelings a few times in Book 1. Honestly, and this is part of the gag, the alternate Yumiella is a heck of a lot more sympathetic than the one we know. Things do turn serious in the end – alt-Yumiella’s trip to this world was not just for evil kicks, and there is a higher power behind all of this. I had sort of guessed how things were going to have to turn out, but the book did enough hoop jumping that I was able to accept a lot of the hand-waving near the end that kept everything from getting too depressing – this IS a comedy, after all. And the epilogue is the best joke in the book. Maybe our Yumiella should be #2 after all.

This volume is well-timed, as the anime starts in January and will likely get through 2-3 books at most. It should be fun to watch. Especially as the episodes won’t all be 75 minutes long. Also, Patrick is just Kyon, right? He’s even doing the Kyon pose! Yare yare.

Fake It to Break It! I Faked Amnesia to Break Off My Engagement and Now He’s All Lovey-Dovey?!, Vol. 1

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By Kotoko and Esora Amaichi. Released in Japan as “Konyaku Haki o Neratte Kioku Sōshitsu no Furi o Shitara, Sokkenai Taidodatta Konyakusha ga “Kioku o Ushinau Mae no Kimi wa, Ore ni Beta Boredatta” to Iu, Tondemonai Uso o Tsuki Hajimeta” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Stephanie Liu.

If I’m being honest, as a romance novel this one felt like a bit of a chore. It’s another in the line of Japanese books that I’d summarize as “communication is important”, as we first meet our main couple when they are having the most awkward lunch ever, not even bothering to look at each other. Then we get, well, the title, and after that there’s a lot of lies piling up, on both her side and his side, and the subsequent “falling in love again” part mostly happens because of said lies. This can be a bit hard to take. On the bright side, I did find myself interested throughout the book, as the reader gets no backstory at all before things start, so we’re as much in the dark as Violet supposedly is – how did things get as bad as this? The book is a mystery.

Violet Westley is currently miserable. She’s been engaged to her fiancee Phillip since birth, owing to a debt owed by one family to the other from over a century ago. Unfortunately, Phillip is quiet, reserved, impassive, and uninterested in conversation, and Violet is also shy and awkward. Then one day she’s in a carriage accident and doesn’t wake up for a week. When she does, she has a “brilliant” idea – she’ll fake amnesia, and use that as an excuse to end the engagement. Unfortunately, Phillip runs over to see her the moment that he’s heard she’s awake, and tells her all about their relationship – they were madly in love with each other and very doting. Violet stares – what the hell is he lying for? Why has he suddenly become vibrant and outgoing? Is this really her fiance?

The best part of the book is gradually tracking down what Violet and Phillip’s past was really like, and how the two of them came to be the way they are at the start. Part of it is the usual romantic misunderstandings (Violet hears a staged conversation meant for someone else), and some of it is just down to Phillip being a giant introverted dork in a genre which needs its romantic leads to not be giant introverted dorks. Once you realize what his real feelings are like, they actually feel a bit heavy – s I said, the romance part of the book is not that great, and he feels a bit too obsessed and overdramatic post-amnesia. As for Violet, she doesn’t really have a strong enough personality beyond “the reader” – she’s the equivalent of those isekai protagonists who are all “generic guy with black hair”. Even her faults – well, aside from the lying – are “cute” faults, like being a terrible cook and a terrible embroiderer.

If this was done in one volume, I’d say it was all right. It has a second coming out, though, and I worry that it will feature more annoying misunderstandings. I may stop with this one.

The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 14

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By Tsunehiko Watanabe and Jyuu Ayakura. Released in Japan as “Risou no Himo Seikatsu” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT.

And so the author has finally achieved his dreams. We’re 14 volumes into a series that began with the idea that our hero was being isekai’d solely to impregnate a queen for the sake of the country, and he never would have to do anything else. Now, 14 volumes later, the sex is basically absent, there’s not even any action in this volume, and the entire book is devoted to political wrangling, all of which needs to be done by Zenjirou, because Aura can’t exactly go gallivanting all over the world. We are now finally in complete, 100% opposition to the title of the series. Fortunately, in this case that’s a good, thing. The worldbuilding is stepping up its game, and we’re also (finally!) seeing a lot of Aura in this volume, and seeing how she is stating to deal with Freya now that she’s married to Zenjirou and living in the same palace. It actually goes pretty smoothly, though now that Freya has gotten her man her eccentricity is more pronounced than ever.

Everyone is back in Capua, at least for the moment. That said, there’s a lot still to do. Lucretia is still trying to become Zenjirou’s second concubine, and while she’s changed her approach to be more mild, she still doesn’t really get him, and does not understand why “I have no actual wants or needs beyond what you have for me” is a bad thing. Aura, meanwhile, hears a secret from the Twin Kingdoms that is potential dynamite – they were once part of the White Empire, long long ago. And there’s a high chance that some people still hold a grudge about it. This is also stunning news for Freya, who realizes that she may have accidentally gotten her little Northern country involved in a massive global conflict by her marriage. And then Zenjirou gets a very odd invitation…

There’s some very funny jokes in this book, most of them involving Freya. Having seen in the previous book that she is thought of in her own country as “that out of control lunatic”, we get to experience a bit of that here, with her having to be literally dragged away from the fridge in Zenjirou and Aura’s room and also declaring that she’s moving in with them when she sees the air conditioner. (Aura says no, sorry, threesome fans.) There’s also her twin brother, who is basically her as a man, and this is emphasized by the color artwork, showing each of them throwing the exact same tantrum when being told they can’t do something they really want to do. Mostly, though, this book is setup for the next major arc. Zenjirou is at a point where he has to accept Lucretia as a concubine, but it makes him unhappy, which will not help anything. And then there’s his mystery invitation. The next book should be really exciting.

Hrm? What’s that? We’re caught up? It’s been over two years since the last book in Japan? Ah well.

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 1

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

It can be difficult when writitng a book to keep the reader’s attention. Conversely, one little mistake may make you lose all the goodwill you gained. A little ways into this book, there was a description of a character that was saw jaw-droppingly awkward that it took me right out of the book. The first thing I thought was “oh boy, this book is going to be A CHORE”. Now, I kept going, and honestly, the book turned out far better than I would have expected – the description really was just a one-off, not the sign of worse things to come. But it did mean it took till the final long chapter for me to appreciate that this book wasn’t making the mistakes that a lot of books in this genre make, but was instead basically doing what Der Werwolf does, and making fun of the Japanese habit of humility to ridiculous levels.

Beryl has spent the last twenty-odd years teaching kids in his father’s dojo. He likes to think he’s done a good job, and is quite happy to live his single life out in the boonies. But then he gets a request from one of his old students, Allusia. She’s now the commander of the knights in the royal capital, and she wants Beryl to go there to teach the other knights his swordsmanship. This is fine with Beryl’s dad, who kicks him out of the family home and tells him not to return until he’s married. So Beryl goes to the capital, and keeps running into old students of his, who all happen to be beautiful young women. That said, why are they all so interested in his teaching swordsmanship? He’s just a normal, average, everyday guy. Who can, um, win a battle against the second-in-command of the knights, the top-ranked adventurer in the country, and the top mage in the country. Yeah.

I picked up this series because I wondered if it would be similar to S-Ranked Daughter, and it is and it isn’t. It isn’t because, with no family to deal with here, all the girls he’s taught clearly have massive crushes on him. But it is because, to my surprise, that’s not the point of the book. The romance is actually ignored for the most part, and the focus is instead on Beryl being one of the greatest swordsmen of his generation but being totally unaware of it. This actually extends to every aspect of his life – he does not pick up on any of the signals other women give that they’re into him, and he even talks about his home village being “way out in the boonies, far from the capital” when it’s less than a day’s carriage ride away. How much you enjoy this depends entirely on how much you can tolerate “excessive humbleness” to the point of parody.

But yes, there were no annoying characters, the fights were cool, and I’ll give the next volume a try. Just please never say ‘She looked like a handsome man with breasts” ever again, I beg you.

Sabikui Bisco, Vol. 6

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

You know, I appreciate its use as a plot twist or a way to get the characters to do something they would not normally do, but as I was reading this 6th volume of Sabikui Bisco, I began to think that this series goes to the “I am mind controlled” well a few too many times. Half the cast in this book is, at one time or another mind controlled, including Pawoo, who spends nearly the entire volume at the beck and call of the villain. It can be a tad predictable. That said, I can’t really talk about just mind control. Sabikui Bisco is a series that overdoes everything and dares the reader to object. This volume has reality-warping powers pulled out of nowhere, to the point where everyone remarks on this. It brings back every single cast member of the last five books to do a cameo. It has Milo veer so far into the yandere stereotype that I’m comfortable using the term. The book is just A LOT.

Kurokawa, the villain of the first book, is back. She’s in a female body now, she’s a film director, and she’s taken over all of Japan. If you’re thinking that makes no sense, clearly you have not read the other volumes of this series. Bisco and Milo are forced into action by the evil director, who wants to use Bisco’s attempts to stop her as the plot of her latest film. To do this, she has her assistant director/muscle (Pawoo, mind-controlled as I noted before), as well as any number of minions wearing rabbit masks, who she will happily kill if they don’t get her film trivia correct. As the book goes on, and Bisco keeps pulling out ludicrous solutions to Kurokawa’s even more ludicrous problems, I am once again left with the odd dilemma: how do I sum up the plot in this second paragraph if the book doesn’t have one?

This may make it sound like I did not like the book, which is not true. I actually think it’s the best book since the first. The series has always had an element of “action movie” to it, which normally feels like a Shonen Jump series but here is far more like a Western action film, complete with expensive sequences and CGI. The author now trusts the reader to not particularly care that none of this makes a lick of sense, or that Bisco can defeat the bad guy if everyone just claps for Tinkerbell (the second time I have written that this week). And, as with previous volumes, I am highly amused at the contrast between every single woman in the series falling for Bisco, and he and Pawoo still being married, with the fact that he and Milo are clearly destined for each other and the gayest things ever. The whole book is ridiculous.

But that’s why we read this. I don’t need self-examination from Bisco, even when he goes through genuine tragedy. Just keep pulling out more arrows.

The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?), Vol. 11

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By Toru Taba and Falmaro. Released in Japan as “Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu ~Sou da, Baikoku Shiyou~” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange.

We’ve always had the backstory of “the college years” simmering through this series, even if we’ve never had an entire book dedicated to it. We get the odd flashback, such as in this volume. First there was Wein and Ninym. Then, gradually, they added Strang, Glen, and Lowellmina. And the five of them pretty much shook the world as a team. Now each of them is deeply caught up in political intrigue as an adult. Wein and Ninym theoretically have it easier. They’re not from the Empire. They don’t have to participate in this throne war the way the other three do. But of course they really do, and in fact Wein and Ninym have been dragged into it since it began. It’s a proxy war. A war to se which of the five is truly the best, the top strategist, leader, and person. Wein is, frankly, looking down from on top of the pile. He’s the protagonist. But this book suggests it may not last forever.

The battle for the Empire has been going on since the start of the series, and it’s finally reaching its climax. Each of the three candidates for Emperor are making their moves. Lowellmina is dealing with assassination attempts, Strang is trying to show Wein that standing back and doing nothing is going to do nothing but drag his own nation into a war, and Glen is just trying to do his best as a soldier while his boss runs amuck with the largest army. There’s Levetia, which is secretly backing one of the princes basically for the lulz. There’s Eastern Levetia, which just want to have a nice word with Prince Wein but get dragged into the conflict anyway. There’s Falanya, who is cognizant that forces are trying to overthrow her brother and put her in power, but is not sure she wants it. And there’s the Flahm, who are desperate for a beacon of hope to guide them, and may end up being the final stake in Wein’s heart before all this is over.

I admit I was faked out a bit by the author. When Strang asks Ninym if she’s ever wanted to go up against Wein, it feels like a big moment, one that will pay off with her willing betrayal. But that reckons without the fact that she and Wein are joined at the hip, as well as in (unspoken) love, and while it is an intriguing idea (we have not gotten nearly enough of Ninym as a strategist on her own in this series, as opposed to Wein’s sounding board), it’s not something she can do of her own volition. That’s why the cliffhanger for the book is so important. This is the sort of thing that could break the two apart permanently, and I don’t think either of them could stand that. This series is too lighthearted to end by killing off its two leads, but, as I’ve said since the start, I would not be surprised if it ends with Wein “winning” by heading off with Ninym to some quiet place where he can not be a ruler.

The 12th book isn’t scheduled yet, so I’m not sure when we’ll see what happens next. At least the giant throne war is over. For now.

86 –Eighty-Six–, Vol. 12: Holy Blue Bullet

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By Asato Asato and Shirabii. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Roman Lempert.

During the course of reading 86, we’ve been following soldiers who are very, very good at their job. Sometimes that job is simply not dying, but that doesn’t matter. They get the job done, they know what to do, they follow orders, but they also think about what’s behind them. They’re good folks. But of course we’re in the middle of total war right now, and the entire Federation cannot be made up entirely of really fantastic elite soldiers. Someone else has to fill out the ranks, to be bodies or ticks on a ledger. Someone who may not have the right schooling or tactical training, but can drive a truck or count supplies. They’re also very frustrated with the war, and increasingly upset with those in charge of it, especially after the hideous events of the last book. All this plus a company made up entirely of a low-level noble and those who follow her unquestioningly, and what do you have? A nightmare is what you have.

The repercussions of last book’s disaster are still being felt throughout the Federation. Everyone is feeling guilty and on edge. Lene is so burned out that she’s sent on enforced leave, and sits this entire book out. But there’s still work to be done. Years ago dams were built to change the course of a massive river, but the war has gone on, the habitats that were in the basin created by the dams are wiped out, and the best way to impede the legion now is to blow up the damn and reverse the effect. That’s what the Strike Package is here to do, and it should be quick and easy, since the Legion don’t know they’re there. Sadly, a rogue regiment called the Hail Mary have decided enough is enough, they’re going to win this war their own way, by stealing some leftover radioactive material left at a nuclear power plant and using it to make a bomb. Um. Yeah.

The books continue to examine prejudice very well, trying to show that it’s not simply a matter of “all the bad guys do it, all the good guys do not”. The Federation is supposedly all about freedom, but freedom also comes with responsibility for having that freedom, and that can be a very hard idea to get across. The people rescued from the Republic have not magically become good and kind after being rescued, and in fact are actively making things worse and using abused children to spy on enemy movements. And the soldiers formerly in the Republic who are now in the Federation army, like Lene, Annette, and others, are faced with resentment and anger, which simmers in the background of this whole book. On the bright side, once the Hail Mary Regiment are brutally dealt with, the actual dam mission goes swimmingly, and they defeat the Legion easily, giving everyone a big mood pickup. Maybe this isn’t a spiraling failure after all.

This series is now basically once a year, so we’ll wait a while for the next book. Till then: war is hell.