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Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement, Vol. 9

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

(A reminder that the English Vol. 9 is the equivalent of the Japanese Vol. 10.)

Last time I said that the next book would have Colette get attacked, but I was not expecting this to literally happen on the first page of the new book. It does end up being a good introduction to one of FUNA’s most common tropes, another Roaring Rampage of Revenge. Mile’s group doesn’t do this quite as often, and usually it involves people who try to con them getting humiliated. Kaoru’s moments of extreme violence are taken more seriously, and tend to be in more traumatic situations, though after the time skip she seems to have mellowed to being closer to the other two heroines. And Mitsuha, well, her shtick is that she’s a flake, even more than Mile and Kaoru, so it makes sense that her revenge is the most emotional, off the cuff, and complete. There’s no stopping it, you just have to give in and accept your bad decision has ruined your life.

As Mitsuha and Colette walk down the street, someone comes at them with a knife, and stabs Colette in the back/abdomen. Mitsuha, as noted above, goes nuts. Colette ends up being OK after some surgery, though she’ll have a scar (which horrifies Mitsuha but Colette is proud of). The assassin is questioned, but come on, you’ve read the last few books, you know who’s responsible for the assassination attempt, it’s that empire again. After this, we deal with Mitsuha’s restaurant getting a scheming golddigger, the recuperating Colette getting some suspicious visitors in her hospital room, an accident at the gunpowder factory that Mitsuha has to deal with (not intentionally caused this time); The noble teenage girl group suffering from being too popular; starting a new junior noble girl group for youngsters; and having this turn into an Idol Project.

As always, I try to look at the more serious parts of this series, which have been hard to come by sometimes. But given that the premise is Mitsuha trying to ensure that she has enough of a safety met to live on in both worlds in case she ends up being unable to go back and forth, and she continues to think about the future of everything she’s done even after she dies, it can get quite dark. She pointedly has a discussion with Former Count (now Marquess) Bozes about what to do with her land, stores, and people she looks over in the event she’s killed. To her this is sensible and planning ahead. To Bozes, who still regards Mitsuha as a teenage girl who should be out there having teenage fun, it’s depressing as hell. Mitsuha KIND of gets this (she knows not to have the discussion in front of Beatrice or Sabine), but also does not get it at all.

Not that this series is ending with Mitsuha’s death. It’s FUNA. Oh, and we get the obligatory grateful orphans desperate to work for food, so check that off your bingo card.

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, Vol. 9

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

As with prior reviews of this title, you’ll have to pardon me, there’s very little to actually write about. The brief bubble of ‘what if a sweet girl and a sweet boy dated?’ light novels burst a while back, and we’ve only got a few ongoing in North America, including this series. It’s doing quite well, and there’s a second season of the anime coming soon. That said, there’s really only two things I can really sink my teeth into here: “Boy, these kids are adorable”, and “Boy, their past has caused both of them to think they are completely unworthy of being loved”. That comes up here quite a bit, as not only is it Mahiru’s birthday, meaning we have to give her the BEST DAY EVER, but they’re also starting to think of college, which means moving to a new place… one where they actually would be living together. Even the very concept makes them both go red. We’re a looooooong way from sex still.

Having successfully celebrated Amane’s birthday, Mahiru’s is up next. Unfortunately, thanks to her parents, she regards the day as “oh, it’s just another year marker showing I’ve gotten older”, it holds no joy for her at all. Amane is determined to change that, and wants to do everything he can to make this the best birthday. Admittedly, after they take exams, and after parent-teacher conferences (which Mahiru attends by herself, of course). We’re going to need the help of friends with actual good taste and an eye for beauty to get just the right bouquet of flowers. We’re going to ask the part-time job to help him learn how to bake the perfect cake. We’re going to try to buy a gift for the girl who has no needs because anything she sees that she wants she just buys it. And in the end, we may have to bring in a ringer to put the cherry on top.

One little niggle that I noticed throughout the book: I appreciate how it can be hard to use real-life places and the names of actual universities in fiction. That said, this series goes above and beyond to obfuscate every detail. We know they’re trying for “the same college” and that it’s about an hour commute from their current apartment. That’s it. We don’t know anything about the college, we don’t know what major they’re doing, except Amane wants to use college to get a better job in the future. It’s very… generic, which is something this series, already a bit too sweet, should avoid. The finale of this book, though, was excellent, finally introducing a character we’ve heard about since the start but have never met, and here the plot is just right, with a good balance of “I’m so happy” and “but is that OK, don’t you deserve better than me?”, because these two are both still a bit screwed up.

Yen’s slowdown means I’ve no idea when the next book will be. Till then, enjoy the next season of the anime.

Repeated Vice: I Refuse to Be Important Enough to Die, Vol. 1

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By Kuroakawa Hitsugi and Kushiro Kuki. Released in Japan as “Repeat Vice: Akuyaku Kizoku wa Shinitakunai node Shitennou ni Naru no wo Yamemashita” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by piyo.

I’ve started to read a few more “villain” novels, the distaff counterpart to the villainess genre. Generally speaking, their strength lies in the fact that they’re not afraid to keep their main character an absolute dickhead, even as he’s trying to change his fate and ends up saving the world. That’s the main reason to read this book. 11-year-old Lofus is introduced to us as an arrogant little shit who is not afraid to beat the crap out of anyone who slights him, and by the end of the book that is, at least on the surface, much the same. He will not be learning how to be sweet and nice. Mostly as the game he’s trapped in seems to make no sense, and his main goal is to try to figure out why he’s being targeted at all. That said… this *is* a male villain novel, so of course he’s ludicrously overpowered and gets two girls to fall for him. Some things never change.

Lofus Ray Lightless is a noble kid and heir to House Lightless. He has piles of magic, but is also a massive asshole, so keeps firing his magic teachers. Then one day he starts having nightmares. Nightmares where he’s at a magic academy, bullies a commoner, and is one of the first ones to die when the plot inevitably turns into a game. He’s horrified. Not because he was killed by the hero, but because he was killed early on as a minor villain. That cannot stand. What’s more, the plot made no sense – why are they blaming him for things out of his control? He therefore decides to set out with his trusted attendant Carlos to a remote fishing village, where he knows three years from now a disaster will occur. Only… it seems the disaster is happening now!

This book has one big weakness, which is the giant battle against sea monsters in the middle of the book. It goes on forever, and mostly just consists of “Here is my big attack!” “Here is my bigger attack!” ad nauseam. It drags it to a halt and bored me. It also has to be said, if you’re going to hide someone’s gender, to the point where the translator uses he/him pronouns through most of the book, it’s best not to put the reveal in a color page. J-Novel Club must assume that now that they put the color pages in the back to appease Amazon, no one looks at them first anymore. Other than that, this is a decent villain book. There’s clearly more going on here, including a very suspicious head knight, and I suspect Lofus will be uncovering a lot more secrets earlier than planned.

If you’re fond of the genre, and don’t mind that our 11-year-old has all the magical power in the world and gets the only two girls in the book to fall for him, this is pretty decent.

Adachi and Shimamura: Short Stories 2

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By Hitoma Iruma and raemz. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Molly Lee.

Several volumes ago, I mentioned hearing that the author had worried they would die before the series was finished, which is the main reason we’re getting all these short story books and “Vol. 99.9” in between volumes. You’d think, given that, that the author would also be trying to bring the series to a conclusion, but no worries there. 13 is out in Japan. What it does mean, though, is that the last few volumes have been drenched in mortality – death and what you do after you die, as well as what your loved ones do if you die before they do. We get a few more stories here showing the elderly Shimamura, having lived longer than everyone else, playing an old video game with Yashiro to try to reconnect with her beloved. We also get Adachi waiting in an afterlife parking lot,. unable to move on without their partner. It’s meant to be sweet, and it is, but I also found it a bit grim, to be honest.

The stories, as with many prior books, divide themselves neatly into two. The first part of the book is set from Shimamura’s POV, and shows her life with Adachi as a working adult, with them living together. Adachi has mellowed – a bit – and Shimamura is attempting to be proactive – a bit – and they’re both really fantastic together. The next chunk is from high school days, and Adachi’s POV, mostly showing her interactions with Shimamura’s family and the aftermath of her and Shimamura becoming a couple and sort of trying not to tell anyone yet. We also get a couple of stories in the future of Hino and Nagafuji, showing Hino living at her estate and Nagafuji working there as sort of a part-time maid. And of course we get Yashiro throughout, the same age and mentality even as the characters grow older and move on with their lives. She has a ukulele now.

As the series has gone on, and especially as Adachi’s mother has become one of the main supporting characters, we’ve seen more and more of Shimamura’s mother and her… um… zeal for life. To Shimamura, she’s just an annoying mom. To the Adachis, she is utterly terrifying, as the two of them are both incredible introverts who are terrible at just making conversation, and Shimamura’s mom tries to drag them into that constantly. She can be incredibly annoying, but it’s never malicious, and you can definitely see how Shimamura is a product of her mother as well as her father. As for the short stories themselves, they’re mostly short and sweet. I really loved the marriage proposal, which was very much exactly the sort of thing Shimamura would do. It’s also nice to see that, ambiguous though it is, Hino and Nagafuji are mirroring the relationship Hino’s mom and head maid had. Oh, and we get a semi-sequel to the “Adachi rant”, which is hilarious.

There is, mercifully, no real creepiness in this book, and aside from a “oh no, I woke up and Adachi is a cat” stories, few alternate universes. If you like the couple, you’ll like this.

If the Heroine Wants My Fiancé, I’ll Marry a Yandere Villain Instead!, Vol. 1

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By Kobako Takara and Jun Natsuba. Released in Japan as “Heroine ni Konyakusha wo Torareru Mitai node, Akuyaki Reisoku (Yandere Character) wo Neraimasu” by B’s-Log Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Emma Schumacker.

I admit I did briefly roll my eyes at the ineptness of the antagonists at the start of this book. The titular fiance is a drip of a man who our main character immediately falls out of love with after she gains her memories from Japan. The heroine is one of those who doesn’t actually care about walking up to the crown prince of their nation and saying “wow, great CG art!”. The “yandere villain” is being abused by his family, whose father is actually decently evil but whose brothers are so dumb they can’t even pretend that our main character is anything but a convenient woman to stay home while they play around. It then occurred to me that despite all this, both main characters have to struggle to get what they want, and still barely do. It’s almost like evil does not have to be competent or smart to succeed. Some lessons to learn there for all of us.

Cynthia Rhuddlan is a viscount’s daughter, and engaged to the son of an earl. Sadly, the son of the earl is pretty pathetic, but she still tries to work on their engagement with him. Then she remembers this is a game, and she’s one of the villainesses. And that Elly, the new girl who’s been muscling in on her fiance, is the “heroine”. Since her fiance suddenly no longer appeals, she tries to find another love interest who’s not already engaged, and comes up with Siraiya, the third son of a duke. He has a tragic abusive backstory, and if the heroine helps him he gets very attached to her… which can lead to a murder-suicide if done poorly! Can she try to win over this man, help him overcome his family, and get a happy ending?

Cynthia is very likeable, and is in the “highly competent” variety of heroines, so it’s nice to see she’s not immediately exiled or arrested, and she even breaks up with her fiance herself. A lot of this book requires negotiating the noble title arena, as well as who one can and cannot make a pass at. The game, tellingly, completely ignores all this, because only light novels are interested in delving into class warfare like that. Sireiya, meanwhile, is the sort of boyfriend who, once you give him a nice haircut, teach him things, and treat him like an actual human being rather than a tool, turns out to be nigh-on perfect. Her parents are understanding and supportive, and basically adopt her new fiance. The crown prince even helps after Cynthia accidentally solves his own tragic romantic subplot by virtue of her game knowledge. The outcome is not in doubt… even with rather pathetic villains.

This wraps up nicely, but there is apparently a Vol. 2, which surprises me. For genre fans.

Breaking Up Was the Plan, the Duke Falling For the Villainess Was Not!, Vol. 1

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By Kotoko and Ataka. Released in Japan as “Hakyoku Yotei no Akujo no Hazu ga, Reitetsu Koushaku-sama ga Wakaretekuremasen!” by B’s-Log Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Dawson Chen.

I’ve often wondered what would happen if I ended up in one of these “oh no, I’m dead and now in the world of my favorite game” books. Well, OK, I haven’t wondered it often. But I wondered it as I was reading this latest version of it. It’s all very well and good for the reader to think “well, certainly I would not be so wedded to the plot of the book that I would lose all common sense”. But we’re not stuck in a world that will be going to war unless we make the right decisions. Or in this case the wrong decisions. It’s a lot to ask a young woman who’s already dealing with the fact that she’s now stinking rich and ludicrously evil. If I were in a similar position, would I do my best to forget about the book and just live life as it comes? Would I slavishly adhere to the books events no matter what? Or would I break down in front of my favorite character and start eating weeds?

Our heroine was a poor salarywoman who worked herself to the bone to earn money for her equally poor parents, scrimping and saving. Then she wakes up as Grace Saintsbury, the villainess from one of her favorite books. And what a villainess! Grace is obnoxious, spends money like water, and breaks up with lovers routinely. She’s bedridden as her most recent break-up caused her to be pushed off a balcony… and now she has her memories from Japan. Grace knows that in this world, there will be a war unless Zane, the grief-stricken son of a duke, ends up involved with Charlotte, the story’s heroine. The impetus for them getting together is Grace breaking up with him in a horrible way. She’s hardly the villainous type now. Also, she’s not even dating Zane yet. But we’ve gotta keep that plot on the rails!

There’s a rather pointless prologue set, presumably, after this first book ends, that shows us that we’re meant to think of this as a comedy. It might be there because while the bulk of this book mostly consists of Grace being really nice and sweet to everyone with the occasional “wait, I have to be arrogant” sidestep, there are a few very grim scenes as the actual novel tries to exert its plot. The reason the grief-stricken duke’s son has grief is the horrible murder of his younger sister… who Grace realizes is going to be murdered THAT NIGHT, and whom she only just manages to rescue. (When asked why she rescued a woman she’s never met from a psycho with a sword, we get Grace eating weeds out of pure desperation). Towards the end of the book we get a child slavery ring as well, which it is implied would have happened if Grace had not suddenly become a philanthropist who wants to start a soup kitchen. It’s still MOSTLY a comedy, but the pull from darkness is what makes it interesting.

This has a second book, which presumably will continue to have Grace run from her increasingly infatuated boyfriend. I hope it keeps the dark stuff as well.

Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta, Vol. 5

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By Toshizou and Kuro Shina. Released in Japan as “Yuri no Ma ni Hasamareta Watashi ga, Ikioi de Futamata Shite Shimatta” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tristan K. Hill.

It is sort of mind-boggling that I finished this series. My review of the first book was decidedly lukewarm, and the second one I actively hated. (The incest, the main reason I hated the second book, briefly crops up again here, and no surprise it’s the worst part of this book.) But as the series got to the third and fourth volumes, and its wet rag of a heroine paused from her description of herself as a pathetic piece of excrement lying at the side of the road long enough to instantly seduce any young woman who happened to say two words to her, I gradually warmed to it more and more, especially as it became apparent it was fighting a losing battle against another yuri series with a similar premise that started earlier, was far more popular, and now has a popular anime. There’s No Freaking Way Yuri Tama was not going to get cancelled, and sure enough it was. But we do get this last book.

We pick up where the fourth book left off. Yotsuba’s two current girlfriends have a bet with her childhood friend and wannabe girlfriend that will be resolved when they perform. All Yotsuba has to do is film the performance… wait, no, they don’t trust her to do that. All she has to do is watch the performance. Oh, and go around the festival. Then she’s approached by one of Makina’s fellow idol group members, Mio, who wants to figure out just why Makina would leave a huge up and coming idol group to go and be in high school for a while. She immediately sees that Yotsuba is a giant sucker, and so makes her own bet: If she watches the upcoming performance and is impressed, she’ll let Makina do what she wants. But if not, Yotsuba has to convince Makina to return to idol work. Fortunately, Yotsuba is armed with nothing except near lethal amounts of rizz.

It’s remarked on several times in this book that people can’t read Yotsuba’s mind, it’s just that everything she’s thinking is written all over her face. This of course extends to why she gets so many people to fall for her – it’s because she cannot help but be genuine and honest with everyone, and she really is mind-boggled by how sexy and attractive and sweet and good all the girls around her are. To the point where the girls need to actually be that good to match the expectations Yotsuba has for them. This is a final volume, as the author notes in the afterword, but there’s no real resolution (the author, to be honest, sounded a bit bitter about the low sales). The bets essentially return everything to status quo, Yotsuba is still “Two-timing” with her girlfriends, and the usage of that word still bothers me.

God, Yotsuba was annoying. but as I read more and more from her, I actually came to root for her more and more. Which is more than I can say for Renako.

Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools, Vol. 11

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By Hisaya Amagishi and Hachi Komada. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by A.M. Cola.

Entirely unintentionally, I suspect, this volume of Dahlia came out so that I read it on New Year’s Day, and its own plotline is about celebrating the New Year. That made me smile. It’s a more leisurely book in general, with few ominous hints for the future beyond people with tremendous amounts of power and influence reminding everyone that Dahlia is not to be messed with. If we can’t get Dahlia to acknowledge her own worth, well, at least she has everyone else in multiple countries in her corner. I also owe Dahlia an apology. I’ve put the bulk of the blame for her utter lack of romantic progress on her complete lack of self-esteem, and while that’s true, there are two people in this relationship. And somewhere between Volf running around the training grounds in a giant wolf onesie and starting snowball battles with local children, I realized that Dahlia may need to wait a bit for her handsome young best friend to have the childhood he never got as a child but is having now.

It’s the New Year, and Dahlia and Volf plan to go around the festival together eating all the food. They’re convinced to go as a couple and wear the special masks made for couples to avoid unwanted attention. really. I’m sure that’s the only reason. Meanwhile, Dahlia and Lucia come up with some silly-looking but comfy nightwear for her, and Volf accidentally sees it one day. And then suddenly it’s become a huge invention, and they’re introducing various kinds to the Beast Hunters which they’re not only using to sleep better at night, but as camouflage when they fight monsters. Jonas’ father comes for a visit, and while Jonas wants to avoid him, Dahlia ends up meeting him and being thanked for being Jonas’ friend. And possibly more than friends? Finally, Irma gives birth safely and the twins are fine, much to everyone’s relief, especially Bernigi, who, with the help of Jonas, arranges a serious injury that requires that he and his wife go to the temple to get healed, where by pure coincidence Marcella and Irma are located.

Dahlia in Bloom’s sense of humor is usually more “put a smile on your face” than making you laugh till you’re sick, but the scene with the Beast Hunters all trying on their animal onesies and going outside to test and see if the flying squirrel one can make them fly… that was pure comedy gold. There’s also plenty of heartwarming here as well – Dahlia makes Volf a new magic sword, which as it turns out resembles his late mother’s a great deal, filling him with glee. (Though, as Jonas darkly notes, when used by someone with evil intentions it would be a fantastic assassination weapon.) And there’s dark tragedy here as well – each volume to date has ended with a flashback to Dahlia working with her father on something or another, but they’ve gotten closer and closer to the present each time, and with this volume, we finally see Carlo’s death. It’s well written and will make you choke up.

All this plus zero romantic progress! But that’s why we read Dahlia, of course. (Oh, and her big New Year’s gift is essentially a wine-of-the-month club, in case you worried she and Volf weren’t still drinking like fish.)

The Tanaka Family Reincarnates, Vol. 5

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By Choko and kaworu. Released in Japan as “Tanaka-ke, Tensei Suru” by Dragon Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sasha Schiller.

So yeah, I was wrong about more than one thing in my last review. To be fair, when it comes to one of those things, the rest of the cast got it wrong as well. When we hear there’s a new saint, we, and the King and prince, assume that it’s going to be Emma. I had wondered if the plotline would be that Emma had to move to the country of religious zealots. But no, it turns out that the saint is someone totally different. More to the point, I had said that this series was first and foremost a comedy, and while that’s still true, it does show that it is not afraid to get involved in drama when the need arises. Or in this case pure horror. For a number of pages we know nothing about what’s going on except that Emma and her brothers are terrified, to the point that Emma can’t even walk. And the explanation is not only eerie (though even it gets used comedically later) but also asks what the saint position even does.

After debating just staying forever, and William having to deal with his mother and sister being BL fans, the Tanaka family are returning to their capital… only to find this have changed while they’ve been gone. The Church has declared a new saint, Juana (who we briefly saw in a prior volume, but don’t worry if you forgot her, so did everyone else). And there’s a rumor going around that Emma was in fact a FAKE saint, and a lot of students are following Juana around and disparaging Emma. For the most part, this doesn’t really bother Emma and company, as those close to her are still her friends, and she doesn’t really run into the new saint. Until she does, and when Emma and her brothers see Juana’s face, Emma has a complete nervous breakdown and the entire family retreats to their estate. Which starts even MORE rumors.

Rest assured, there’s some good comedy here. The bizarre Church edict about buying new underwear makes the Tanakas boggle just as much as the audience, and the Tanaka Family themselves are always good for fun scenes, especially when we get a few of their uncles and cousins. But the book shines when we discover why Emma is so horrified about Juana’s face, and the nightmare that she has is harrowing and (possibly) may have led to real disaster were it not for their giant cats. More to the point, the Church and the Saint are trying to start a real war with real consequences, and it takes most of the book for the country to even realize it. Now, I’m fairly sure that things are back on the upswing, but it’s a good sign of how the Tanakas have sort of accidentally become the lynchpin that holds this world together – especially Emma.

This is basically “Part 1 of 2”, so we’ll see how it resolves next time. A great volume, with some nice depth.

A Certain Magical Index NT, Vol. 5

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

I’ve been dealing with a very bad cold the last few days, which might explain some of this, but not all of it: there were a few points in this book I was genuinely laughing out loud. Longtime readers will know that I find Index, much like Strike the Blood, to be rather pathetic when it comes to actual humor, mostly as the humor tends towards the usual shonen harem “whoops I just groped you ha ha” jokes. And indeed, there’s one of those in here too, and it’s not funny. But there is a scene in this book where Mugino is trying to bake something from a cookbook, and the entire scene is just so bizarre and out there I could not stop laughing. It’s the good kind of funny. Likewise, this is the good kind of Index book. Touma runs all over creation, gets everyone mad at him, tries to save a girl, and gets shot in the chest multiple times. OK, that last one is new.

No, that’s not a new character on the cover. You’ve seen Headband Girl before, and if you really want to feel like a nerd, go and look for her page on the Index wiki. Wait, you mean the blond bishie? Yeah, he is new. That’s Thor, looking nothing like Chris Hemsworth. Thor is technically part of GREMLIN, but he’s not very happy with them at the moment after the events of the last two books. As for Touma, he’s dealing with having been away for so long and it being festival time – which means he should be at the school doing prep. Unfortunately for Touma, not only is Ollerus trying to stop and explain the plot and backstory of the entire series to him (Touma is mostly uninterested), but Thor wants to save a girl named Fräulein Kreutune, and gets really pissed off that Touma is no longer a one-dimensional caricature of himself. What’s to be done?

Fräulein Kreutune does indeed look to be the latest girl that needs to be saved, but I’m fairly certain it’s not going to be Touma doing it, especially as she’s befriended Last Order and Fremea. Right now she’s creepy and monotone, I suspect that won’t last. She and Thor are the big new characters, but there’s also a bunch of returning favorites, some of whom I suspected and some of whom are a genuine surprise. I’m fairly positive that whatever is confronting Mugino is NOT the vengeful ghost of Frenda back from the dead, nor do I think Frenda is actually Not Dead After All, so we’ll see what’s up with that next time. The return of Kakine delights me far less, but I’m more worried about the woman telling him to go wild than I am about him personally. As for Touma? Well, he gets himself shot multiple times in the chest as a distraction to confuse the enemy. Which is par for the course.

This is a 2-parter, so we’ll have to wait till the next volume to find out what happens. If you like Index hijinks, this is for you. It even has Mikoto in it! She doesn’t do anything, but hey. And it has Index in it! She doesn’t do anything, but hey.

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, Vol. 20

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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.

Yes, I know, I jinxed it. I was looking forward to this being the final Realist Hero volume, and lo and behold, there’s a short story collection still to go. Still, for the most part, this does serve as the “epilogue” to the series the author wanted, for better or worse. For worse is laid out right there on the cover, which might be the most bizarre choice of cover art for a final volume ever. (The short story volume, realizing this, will have Souma and his wives instead.) Of all the plot points I wanted this series to resolve, “who does Souma’s son marry?” was pretty low on the list, and the fact that the answer is Carla does not fill me with glee. To her credit, Carla brings up all the reasons I hate this pairing, but Souma essentially shoots them all down by telling her “Face it, Carla, it’s Chinatown”, and she ends up going through with it anyway. Sigh. What else do we have here?

In addition to the Carla subplot, we see the rumor that Souma has a secret love child (who turns out to be Souma’s actual child and not secret at all); Souma and the other nations open an airline service using dragon knights; Lombard struggles with ruling the new Kingdom of Remus, broken apart from Fuuga Haan’s old empire; Lucy runs a wedding planner service, and brings the reader up to date with more couples getting married; Merula goes back to the spirit kingdom, no longer exiled, but finds herself homesick fairly quickly; Julius and Tia deal with their carved-out bit of the former empire; Jeanne and Lumiere try to discuss politics, but their old friendship and Lumiere’s lingering guilt gets in the way; the rumors that Souma has a secret eighth wife turn out… wait, they’re true?; the former king and queen pay a visit to Georg’s widow and greet her “new” mysterious masked husband; and Anne, the former Saint and Fuuga’s abandoned ally, imprisoned for her own safety, is having post-war trauma and nightmares, and needs therapy.

As you can imagine for an epilogue that’s essentially a short story collection of its own, the contents are highly variable; made more difficult that I didn’t keep a spreadsheet when I read this series, so once again tend to forget anyone who isn’t Souma or his wives. I did enjoy the resolution of Juno’s plotline. The last of the women in love with Souma, marrying her off to someone else would have felt cheap. At the same time, it makes sense that she’d want to be a “secret” wife out of the royal limelight. Plus it allows Souma to use the mascot costume on a regular basis. I also liked how Anne’s story was handled. Her plotline is frankly horrific, and we’re reminded that she was 12 years old, manipulated by everyone around her, and forced to watch all her allies executed or slaughtered. Moreover, the fact that she’s never seen herself as anything but a tool now means she sees herself as nothing. The idea of animal therapy as a start is a great one.

We even get a “lady or the tiger” ending, where we’re told Souma eventually died of old age surrounded by his family… OR DID HE? This final volume of Realist Hero tried to dot i’s and cross t’s, and succeeds about half the time.

Promised to a Dragon, Vol. 1

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By Selena Pigoni and Minori Aritani. Released in North America by J-Novel Club.

Another of the J-Novel Club contest winners, this one feels the most like a standard light novel, in both good and bad ways. If I hadn’t been told it was a contest entry, there are only a few places where I might guess that it’s not translated from the Japanese. This is a shoujo light novel in the “escaping my horrible fiance and hooking up with a much better guy” genre, which usually intersects with the villainess or Cinderella genres but here doesn’t really have aspects of either of those. That said, this has something most of the Japanese versions lack. Japan’s wish fantasy books tend to have the ex-fiance/boyfriend by rather pathetic, shouty but completely ineffectual and easily humiliated. We do not remotely get that here. Brodrick is terrifying, and it is clear from Page 1 why Rhiannon wants to be as far away from him as possible and it’s clear on page 194 that he’s gotten even worse. I spent the entire book worrying he would show up again. He does, indeed, show up again. Still, there is a sweet romance at the core of the book.

Princess Rhiannon is not having a great birthday party, mostly as she’s horrified to find that she’s been engaged to her childhood “friend” Brodrick, who has carefully made sure no one else gets close to her, driven off almost all servants who support her, and is also casually screwing a lot of other maidens around the palace. Clearly it’s time to run away, which she does by the skin of her teeth, but Brodrick finds out and is in hot pursuit. She does have a plan, though. Her father the king made a promise to a witch that she would be engaged to a dragon when she came of age, and she fears what will happen if that promise is broken. So, with the help of a passing handsome, clever, and charismatic bard, she sets off on a journey to go and meet the dragon and escape a horribly marriage.

If you’re familiar with this genre, there are no prizes for guessing who the bard really is. The relationship between him and Rhiannon is the highlight of the book, as she falls for him relatively quickly, while he’s reluctant for some reason we don’t find out till much later. Everyone who meets them on the journey assumes they’re already married, of course. Unfortunately, as I said before, Brodrick keeps showing up looking for Rhiannon, and once he works out that she’s with her promised dragon, he demands her back in exchange for murdering him. This tension between terror and sweet romance is what makes the book work, but can be exhausting. The book also ends very abruptly, as if it were being written to a page count. As with most books in the contest, it could be stand alone but could also have another volume if there is an audience.

If you like fantastic romances but wish the ex were less of a cardboard villain, this is a solid option.

Buying You on the Day You Were to Die

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By Shiki Narito and Yamimaru Enjin. Released in Japan as “Kimi ga Shinitakatta Hi ni, Boku wa Kimi wo Kau Koto ni Shita” by Media Works Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Knight. Translated by Aleksandra Jankowska.

This is the first title I’ve read from J-Novel Club’s new Knight imprint, devoted to BL light novels. Which this technically is, I suppose. There are two men in it, and they are in love with each other. That said, I’d hesitate to call it a romance. More accurately this falls into that subcategory of books that can be summed up as “I am depressed and suicidal and someone gradually helps me cope and move forward”, and that sort of novel is very much up my alley. It’s also relatively short, and complete in one volume. There is, of course, that tricky premise to the book. Can we really root for a couple if one of them is paying the other one a substantial sum of money to hang out with him and be his friend? The answer is eventually yes, but getting there helps us to realize this book is also a mystery.

Sakuta begins the book in a very bad place. His mother has died after a long illness with extensive medical treatment. His father has abandoned them. He’s currently not going to school, working all the odd jobs he can find so that he can earn enough for a funeral for his mother and to pay off the medical debt. Then one day, a handsome young man walks up to him on the job site and says he wants to buy his services. Kadzuki offers Sakuta a large down-payment – enough to pay for the funeral – and a substantial monthly salary if he will be his friend, go to college with him, and stay there for four years. After the five years (high school and college) are up, Sakuta is free. Sakuta regards all this as tremendously suspicious, but he metes Kadzuki’s family and servants, and they all vouch for him. Just what’s going on here?

This book can be roughly divided into two halves. The first is Kadzuki slowly getting Sakuta to actually want to live again. Sakuta never attempts suicide in this volume, but he’s clearly planning it, and it’s only due to the efforts of Kadzuki and his family and staff talking with Sakuta and showing him that there are reasons to go on that makes him avoid it. Then we get the second half, where we learn why Kadzuki is so devoted to Sakuta, why the contract is for only five years, and why he keeps having unavoidable piano lessons. This is a lot sadder, but it tries to avoid becoming mawkish, and mostly succeeds. I also liked the subplot sprinkled throughout of Sakuta’s friend from high school escaping from an abusive situation, and the occasional updates we got. It was a nice reminder that there was a world outside this doomed romance.

If you’re looking for a quick tearjerker, and don’t mind that there isn’t even a kiss in terms of romantic content, this is a very good read about someone touched by tragedy who manages to live on and grow to adulthood with the help of… well, a large influx of cash, so OK, there is still that niggle, as without the cash he would not be able to get out from under. But also the love of friends and family.

Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden, Vol. 8

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

I do appreciate Nia Liston really committing to its best running gag, which is that every time Nia watches a fight and is vaguely impressed by its fighters, she has to come in with a variation on the old phrase “I could beat them with one hand tied behind my back”. She’s simply so far over everyone else in this series that even now, as she watches people battle to see who is the strongest among 10,000 different fighters, she’s still not able to find anyone who could truly present a challenge to her. And indeed we see she’s not merely full of it, as at the end of this volume we see her facing off against two “heroes” whose job it is to be the best, and she has to hold back in case she breaks their legendary weapons. She is, frankly, terrifying. Which is why she spends most of this volume doing color commentary for the actual fighters.

The preliminaries are done, and so it’s time for the tournament itself. Well, after the “loser’s round”, which sees those who were knocked out get another chance to win their way back into the fight. Nia and her friends spend the time covering the fight itself, and she also gets to see her brother Neal start his own Junior Wingroad team as an added attraction. That said, most of what we get here are some really good fights… as well as some instant wins, because there’s a new clause: no one is allowed to be magically healed if they win, only bandages. This results in a lot of folks being too injured to go on. And of course some of our main characters are in the underworld, and are suddenly finding themselves on live TV. Some respond by making a deal to cut and run, and others respond by getting TOO famous to quietly murder.

The drawback to this volume is that there’s no suspense whatsoever. I kept wondering if one of Nia’s students would get a surprise loss, but no, she’s simply trained them so well that it doesn’t happen. The toughest fight is between Lynokis, in her Leeno disguise, and Gandolph, and they’re basically exactly who we expected to see there. (Well done to Gandolph for not dying, though he needed Nia’s help to avoid that.) Likewise in the weaponed fights category, it was pretty much going to have to be Anzel, both because the mob was betting on him and made it clear he had to win, and also because if he wants to avoid getting immediately arrested or killed, winning a tournament and making himself famous is a good solution. And a good time was had by all, the tournament is a success. Back to everyday life.

Or not, as we get a surprise cliffhanger ending as Nia is in a pinch! My guess is this is just “I want a change of setting for the new arc”, but I do wonder if any of the other regular cast will appear. In any case, girl punch good.

Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~, Vol. 28

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By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan as “Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

I think I’ve started to figure out why it’s harder to get into this arc compared to previous arcs, and it’s not just that 4/5 of the cast is new or we’ve only seen them in spinoffs. The problem is that Re: Zero’s plot is supposed to be, in part, a throne war. Emilia, Crusch, Priscilla, Anastasia and Felt are all vying to be the new leader. Unfortunately, we’ve now thrown that aside to get ourselves involved in another throne war next door, and… well, OK, maybe it *is* the fact that we don’t really know 4/5 of the cast. Now, some of them are becoming better known to us – I’ve really come to love Medium, and I hope nothing terrible happens to her. But for the most part the plot of this book is to have Priscilla save the day, but the enemy gets away, so they move on to the next location. Subaru describes it like an RPG and he’s not wrong. It’s a tad dull.

As hinted in the cliffhanger of the last book, when all seems lost and Arakiya is about to massacre everyone, Priscilla (and Al) arrive to, if not save the day, at least distract her enough to be subdued. Unfortunately, before she can be interrogated, our least favorite mercenary breaks her out. So they’ve taken the city but are otherwise back at square one. And Priscilla certainly isn’t here to help – anyone who has met her knows that. They need to prove that Abel can actually gain real allies, which means one of the nine demon generals. Unfortunately, one of them is so unreliable no one wants to deal with them, one of them is the enemy they just had escape, and one of them is the one who actually instigated the coup. So they’re going to The Chaotic Demon City to try to talk to one of the others… only they’re not the only ones there.

The good thing about Re: Zero is that while the overall plot may annoy and bore me, individual scenes can still be absolute dynamite. When he’s checking on Rem, and describing what happened to her, she points out, quite sensibly, that he’s taking too much on and that he doesn’t need to be a hero. To Subaru, however, who only moved forward thanks to Rem’s words in the 3rd arc, this is the worst POSSIBLE thing she could have said, and it briefly devastates him. I also enjoyed “Natsumi” being more formal while in the carriage with Al, because frankly the two of them sound too similar – it not only helps the author to differentiate between them, but helps to remind us that a lot of Subaru coping is his taking on a role, be it for himself or others. He keeps justifying being in drag throughout this book, and no one really buys it except him.

The cliffhanger suggests we don’t need to worry about Natsumi for a while now. That said, I warn you – this cliffhanger is one of the most contentious parts of this arc, and it will not go away anytime soon. Five more to go!