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Reviews

The 100th Time’s the Charm: She Was Executed 99 Times, So How Did She Unlock “Super Love” Mode?!, Vol. 1

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By Yuji Yuji and Nami Hidaka. Released in Japan as “99-kai Danzaisareta Loop Reijō Desu ga Konse wa “Chōzetsu Aisare Mode” Desutte!?: Shinno Chikara ni Mezamete Hajimaru 100-kaime no Jinsei” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Stephanie Liu.

This is a book which tries, and mostly succeeds, in striking a balance between what the reader is expecting to have happen and what would make more sense for the characters. I’ll be honest, I was expecting this to be a lot more cliched. For one thing, I assumed, like most other “yarinaoshi loop” titles, that we’d be going back a few years to try again – nope, there’s almost no time to do anything. But the way this ties into the multiple deaths is clever. Then I assumed that everyone involved was simply being a massive tsundere – which *is* true, but is not remotely the reason that she was executed 99 times. The one thing that was exactly as expected – and the weakest part of the book – is the antagonist, who like most light novel antagonists is not allowed to have shades of grey but has to be 100% evil and awful. Complete with pig noises. But… mostly good.

Princess Alphina has had a bad time of it lately. Accused of crimes she did not commit by the Saint of the country, and condemned to death by her fiancee, friends, family, and the emperor, she is summarily executed… and then has it happen again. And again. What’s worse, she usually rewinds back to right when she’s arrested, so there’s not even time to change the storyline. She attempts to prove her innocence. She attempts to escape. She attempts comedy. By now she is thoroughly sick of this. However, as she starts her 100th time reliving these same events, she now finds she can hear the inner thoughts of everyone around her! Will this allow her to finally escape the time loop and show who the real guilty party is? And does she even want to go back to being a princess?

This has both a well-known writer (the creator of OreShura, aka My Girlfriend and Childhood Friend Fight Too Much) and illustrator (the artist of My Next Life As a Villainess), so I shouldn’t be surprised that it reads well and the author knows how to land a gag. It’s predominately a funny series, for good and ill. The best part of it is Alphina, or Arle as she comes to call herself. Deciding to use her newly discovered magic powers to simply nope out of all of this drama is an excellent choice, and frankly I wish it had stuck. The various love interests she has all have inner monologues that verge on the ridiculous, which is the point, but always manage to stay on the funny rather than the annoying side. The exception, as I noted, is Debonaire, the saint, who is a boy-crazy egomaniac who doesn’t even have the decent excuse of being isekai’d from Japan, and whose theme is “pig squealing” for a laugh. It’s no surprise that, rather than surviving to be annoying another day like most good “heroine” villains, she’s butchered here.

This is getting a 2nd volume, though given that cover is “wedding” themed that may be it. I’ll read it. Fans of the genre might want to just ignore the “heroine” and enjoy the antics of the “villainess”, who’s a spunky tomboy princess who kicks ass.

There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless…, Vol. 1

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By Teren Mikami and Eku Takeshima. Released in Japan as “Watashi ga Koibito ni Nareru Wake Naijan, Muri Muri! Muri Janakatta!?” by Dash X Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by TNFWIBYLU Translation Team. Adapted by Harry Catlin.

I can understand the appeal of a title like this. It starts off badly, in my opinion, but around the second half of the book we start to get the actual character flaws that will become development. Its lead heroine is (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) intensely self-deprecating to the point where it’s almost her entire personality, and because she’s an introvert who has been unsuccessful at interaction in the past, she has a definition of “friends” that is vast and all-encompassing. The other heroine is the perfect , extroverted, and very forward rich girl whose personality masks a lonely life, and who also has minimal experience in real relationships, so comes on far, far far too hard. It’s the sort of story that can be developed pretty well over the next few books. That said… I have issues. The narrative voice. The lack of consent throughout (which is, to be fair, a plot point). The implied future plot.

Renako is having issues. She’s successfully managed to reinvent herself in high school as a normal, outgoing gal, and is part of a group of friends that includes the school idol, Mai. Unfortunately, she’s an introvert at heart, and all this interaction is too much. So she runs away to the roof… where Mai finds her, and for some reason assumes she’s trying to kill herself. Throwing herself towards Renako to stop her, both girls end up going off the roof. Fortunately, they are rescued by a passing tree. Unfortunately, Mai then confesses to Renako, saying that she wants to be her lover. This flummoxes Renako, who has no idea why the school idol would be interested in her. can’t they just be friends? You know, best friends?

So, my issues. Renako’s narrative voice is very, very panicky teenager, with a near constant repetition of the title words “no freaking way”. I was crying out for the book to switch to another point of view, but alas. Secondly, Mai has no sense of boundaries, being very explicit about what she wants to do with Renako and not backing off even when Renako demands she do so. This actually comes to a head near the end of the book, when Mai forcibly gropes Renako and Renako’s sister walks in, leading to a slap that was much needed. At this point the book begins to address this issue seriously, but that still leaves a lot of the start of the book, which is in “noncon is funny” mode. Lastly, the series is ongoing, and the subplots of this book, showing Renako interacting with the other members of their friend group, seem to imply a “harem” aspect to this series, with Renako as the unwitting object of multiple affections. This depresses me, as I’d much rather see Renako and Mai try to grow up and define what they have together, but instead suspect I will get “no freaking way” repeated a lot more.

So despite some whining on Twitter, this isn’t bad. It just has a lot of things I personally dislike. And, from what I hear, it’s certainly better than the author’s other yuri series. You might be better off reading the very similar Yuri Tama.

I Only Have Six Months to Live, So I’m Gonna Break the Curse with Light Magic or Die Trying!, Vol. 1

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By Genkotsu Kumano and Falmaro. Released in Japan as “Yomei Hantoshi to Senkokusareta node, Shinukide “Hikari Mahō” o Oboete Noroi wo Tokō to Omoimasu.: Noroware Ōji no Yarinaoshi” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by piyo.

Sometimes I get tired, you know? I’ve been a fan of Japanese manga and anime for a long time, and you would think I’d have grown used to all of the cliches, all of the fanservice, all of the annoying little tics that authors, illustrators and editors throw into a work in order to make it successful. But sometimes they all seem to hit at once in the same book, and I get tired. This sounded like a good series with a nice desperate fantasy thriller premise. That’s there, sort of. There’s also “our hero is ten but he’s got love interests” (which is thankfully resolved by a time skip at the end, and to be fair, two of the love interests are also ten). There’s tsunderes so cliched it’s remarked on in the text. There’s girls so shy and awkward I was surprised they didn’t fall over on their face… oh, wait, they did. It drowns out the story.

Callus is a prince… though that’s a secret. The reason it’s a secret is that he was born with a curse, and the rumor has it that those with curses will bring misfortune on the land. He’s struggled to survive for ten years, with agonizing pain at all times, helped only by the royal family and his loyal maid. But now he has a time limit. He’s told that the curse will kill him in six months. There’s only one possible way to solve things… learn light magic, which he could possibly use to heal himself. The good news is that he has a strong capacity for magic, including the ability to see the spirit he’s made a contract with, something almost unheard of! The bad news is that the magic he needs is tough. This curse really, really does not want to let him go…

Another part of the problem may be the artist, whose work I’ve disliked before (they do The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt), and who loves to draw big boobs. Beyond that… aside from the issues I mentioned above, there are things to like here. Callus is fine, a somewhat bland protagonist with a side order of oblivious to love, but he’s likeable enough. Crys and Sissy are cute, despite never ever running off their rails once during the book (two pages after meeting Crys, I knew she would be running off to get in trouble by fighting something she shouldn’t). The possible future antagonist of the book, the head of the Magic Association, is pleasantly evil in a chaotic, Xellos sort of way, and his sadism and viciousness allows the book a couple of dark patches.

For the most part, though, of all the Drecom debuts I’ve read over the last two months, this is the one that reads most like an author asking “so what are the kids reading these days?” and pulling derivative works out of a hat to mix ‘n match. It’s the very definition of “meh”.

Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel!, Vol. 10

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By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

There can sometimes be a disconnect between when a title is finished and when a title is “cancelled”. Generally speaking, some light novel titles indeed were cancelled for low sales, with no ending ever being published except on the web. Deathbound Duke’s Daughter is a good example, or Roll Over and Die. On the other hand, if a series does have a definitive ending, and yet there’s more content on the webnovel that comes after it, is a publisher obligated to release all of it just to satisfy completists? Arifureta came to an end recently, but fans know there’s about 10+ volumes of “After Story” on the web, which Overlap has shown no signs of releasing. And then there’s Piggy Duke. Yes, there’s more content on the webnovel site that has events after this volume. But this volume comes to a satisfying conclusion, mostly. It doesn’t leave you hanging. As such, I think it’s perfectly fine.

It’s finally time for Slowe to confront his family. First his sister Sansa, a general in the military, who meets up with Slowe after his dungeon adventures to announce that he’s now important enough that he needs a better retainer than Charlotte, so they got him a new one. Needless to say, this does not please Slowe. The new retainer, Mint, seems at first to be a clumsy dojikko type, but it’s not too much of a spoiler to say that this goes out the window pretty quickly. Meanwhile, Slowe’s father is also coming to see him, but for a far more serious reason. There’s a mercenary group, Rust, that has worked with Slowe’s family in the past to do the “dirty work” the government can’t do. Now the queen wants them wiped out, and their leader killed. And the setting for that confrontation… will be Kirsch Mage Institute.

We do finally meet the family here, and it’s no surprise why Slowe has done everything in his power to avoid them all this time – they’re just like him. Especially his father, who made me wonder if Slowe was a clone rather than a son. Slowe is also feeling a little guilty, as this entire “let’s get rid of the guys who do our dirty work” plotline is likely happening because Slowe averted the war, and thus derailed the anime’s story. That said, peace is a good thing, so he doesn’t regret it, but it does lead to the second half of the book being one final battle. Sadly, most of the cast that we’ve come to know is quietly shuffled offstage for that – Alicia is absent dealing with fallout from the last book, and Shuya just helps to give exposition. But they are very good fights, something the author has always handled well.

I will admit the ending, particularly the ending picture, did feel very Shonen Jump “we hope you enjoy the author’s next work”. And yes, Slowe and Charlotte do have more ongoing adventures that will remain a mystery. But this ending was decent enough. I’ll take it.

The Reincarnated Villainess Won’t Seek Revenge, Vol. 1

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By Akako and Hazuki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Tensei Shita Akuyaku Reijō wa Fukushū o Nozomanai” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by JCT.

With the glut of villainess books we’ve seen in recent years, it can help to know which bucket to put them in, in order to help with expectations. One of the easiest is “how serious is the story being told?”. On the one side you have titles like My Next Life As a Villainess, or the initial parts of Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster, where we know that the villainess tropes are being used to have a rollicking good time. On the other side you get titles like I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!, where the reality of what’s happened leads to trauma and severe mental strain. This new title, The Reincarnated Princess Won’t Seek Revenge, is not as dark as that, but it’s definitely more on the serious side of the scale. Mary just wants to life a happy, peaceful life in her new reincarnation, and not worry about her old life as Rosemary. Unfortunately, agency is an issue here. Others want the revenge she does not.

Rosemary Hubert, brought up to be engaged to the crown prince, is accused of terrible crimes she didn’t commit and hung at the gallows. Now the prince is married to Tia, the woman who brought this miscarriage of justice about. Eighteen years later, Mary Edigma suddenly regains her old memories of Rosemary – she was reincarnated as a rural baron’s daughter. She wants nothing more but to ignore court politics and live a new life… but the crown is calling in various noble daughters to serve as handmaids in the palace, in the hopes that one of them will prove to be a wife to Crown Prince Rizel, who has not really shown interest in anyone yet. Once there, she’s forced to interact with both Rosemary’s childhood friend Albert, now a knight, and her younger brother Reynaldo, now a duke. And both men are hellbent on at last getting the revenge for Rosemary’s death they’ve sought all these years.

There are some romance aspects to this book, of course. Prince Rizel falls deeply in love at first sight with Mary, mostly because she doesn’t fall all over him. Albert is still deeply in love with Rosemary, and transfers that to Mary quickly. And, in a creepier vein, Reynaldo is quite content to make Mary his, as “they’re no longer related” with her new reincarnation. But for the most part this volume is about the need for revenge, and who it’s really for. Mary insists that because she herself does not need revenge, the others should stop, but this ignores the suffering they’ve been through all these years. Likewise, both Reynaldo and Albert lie to Mary’s face a couple times about the revenge itself, because they will find it easier to apologize after the fact than to have her show up and stop them in media res. Which, of course, she does. That said, the bad guy got away, so it’s very easy to see how the 2nd volume will go.

This book can be a bit didactic at times, and Reynaldo pushes a few envelopes, but Mary is a strong heroine, and overall it’s a good read.

Lovestruck Prince! I’ll Fight the Heroine for my Villainous Fiancée!, Vol. 1

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By Shakushineko and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Betabore no Kon’yakusha ga Akuyaku Reijō ni Saresō nanode Heroine gawa ni wa Sore Sōō no Mukui o Ukete Morau” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Mittt Liu.

I am once again thinking about genre when I write these reviews. I am, as you are no doubt aware by now, very fond of the villainess genre as a whole. There are several reasons for this, but one of the main ones is simply that it gives us a female protagonist, something that was nearly unheard of in translated light novels before this point. It’s almost a reaction against the potato isekai guys. Of course, if that is the case, then this book has a big issue, which is that this is the series where it’s the prince, for once not inveigled by that sneaky heroine, who is determined to help his sweet-as-pie fiancée. He’s sort of goofy, and not a bad character, but the lack of Elizabeth in this book is a worry. That said, the other part of the premise is quite interesting: what if the “otome game” aspect was in the world itself?

Crown Prince Vincent really loves his fiancée, Elizabeth. Really, really loves her. It’s sort of sickening. Unfortunately, lately things have not been going well, because there’s a new book that everyone at school is reading, Star Maiden. A romance of the “otome game” variety, it features a hero that is clearly Vincent… and Elizabeth as a cruel villainess! What’s more, a new girl at school, Yulisse, is trying to get in close with the prince, just like the book. And events in the book start to magically happen, despite both Vincent and Elizabeth trying their hardest to avoid all contact with Yulisse. What’s really going on here? Will Vincent be forced to publicly denounce his fiancée and break off their engagement at a huge ball? After all, that’s the trope.

I did like the book premise, which, yes, does turn out to involve a reincarnation from Japan, but for once it’s not the villainess or heroine. There’s a lot of political wrangling here, which is mostly good. Harold, the long-suffering aide to Vincent, is also a great character. The trouble is that, in trying to protect Elizabeth, Vincent bars us from learning anything about Elizabeth, whose inner thoughts we are rarely privy to. (This seems to be a family thing, as it’s hinted that his mother is a complete loose cannon, but we get no evidence for this at all.) And there’s also Raphael, one of Vincent’s allies, who is, as the book notes, “a playboy and sadist”. Yulisse can’t stand him, and so while her fate at the end of the book is appropriate given what she was trying to do, it also gives me the creeps. It’s not meant to make the reader assume she’s being sexually abused, but the frisson is there.

So, overall, a mixed bag. And, once again, everything is wrapped up in this book, but there’s a second one due out in the summer. Let’s hope it has a bit more villainess in it.

A Royal Rebound: Forget My Ex-Fiancé, I’m Being Pampered by the Prince!, Vol. 1

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By Micoto Sakurai and Kuroyuki. Released in Japan as “Konyakusha ga Uwakiaite to Kakeochi Shimashita. Ōji Denka ni Dekiaisarete Shiawase nanode, Ima sara Modoritai to Iwarete mo Komarimasu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by A. M. Cola.

Occasionally I have to remind myself not to criticize something for being what it is intending itself to be. You would not criticize a science-fiction book for having spaceships in it, or an isekai for having someone transported to another world. That’s what it IS. And this is a romance. What’s more, A Royal Rebound is definitely in the genre of “wish fulfillment” romance. The heroine is an adorable nerd who finds love with another adorable nerd (the prince). The other princes are all sweet as pie. Everyone is easily put into two buckets: those on her side, or villains. As such, it works fine. The book’s wish fulfillment is sweet, the bad fiancé gets what’s coming to him, and they all live happily ever after (well, at least until Vol. 2). My only real issue with the book is Amelia, the heroine, who is… a bit of a drip, to be honest.

Amelia Lenia is a count’s daughter in a farming domain specializing in grain. She’s a water mage, fairly common. She’s been engaged to Reese Thurma, from a neighboring domain, for some time and things have seemed fine. But when Reese goes off to school he suddenly stops visiting, or writing. And when Amelia joins him a year later she finds that everyone seems to hate her on sight. What exactly is going on here? Fortunately, she does meet one nice guy – an eccentric young man who wants to talk to her about ways to help their harvest in the increasingly cold weather they’ve been getting. Oh yes, and he’s also the Fourth Prince, and 2nd in line in the succession. Can Amelia figure out why Reese is shunning her AND negotiate Sarge’s royal family?

I might have liked this better if I hadn’t read it right after The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent, whose heroine, Carla, is almost the anti-Amelia. Amelia is nice, but is definitely in the “suffer quietly” camp, never my favorite. She does get a nice punch at the end of the book, but it’s a long wait. She works much better paired up with Sarge, as the book makes no bones about how the two are massive nerds who will happily talk about crops until they both pass out from exhaustion. Fortunately, everyone in the royal family adores Amelia on sight, mostly as she can keep up with Sarge’s thinking. Most of the book is not “when will they get together” so much as “when will Amelia realize that this is love?”, and the answer is “most of the book”. That said, again, this is a wish fulfillment romance, where a shy nerdy girl gets a hot guy and his hot family, and they go back to his place late at night for some hot equation solving. It does its job well.

The book wraps everything up nicely in one volume, but there is a 2nd on the way, which seems to involve the desert nation mentioned in this book. I’m hoping Amelia gains some confidence going forward.

The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent, Vol. 1

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By Kosuzu Kobato and Yasuyuki Syuri. Released in Japan as “Kusushi no Majo Desu ga, Nazeka Fukugyō de Rikon Daikō Shiteimasu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Satoko Kakihara.

I have a type, it has to be said. OK, I have several types. But one of those types is essentially Carla, the heroine of this novel, and as such I love it to bits, possibly a bit more than it deserves. When I first saw the title scroll by at Anime NYC last year I got excited, because it sounded similar to Dahlia in Bloom, where we go after various asshole fiancés and take them to the cleaners. Then I read the summary and was less excited, because they all kept getting back together in the end, making this a much lighter and softer book than I’d expected. But then it turned out that I feel the same way that Carla does. Given her apothecary is failing, all she has left is this side job of hers. She wants to make it a success. So why is it, every single time, everyone ends up happily in love?

Carla is a witch. Orphaned at a young age, she was taken in by an old witch and taught the basics of magic. She’s very good at cultivation and transformation magic. Unfortunately, all of her oral medicines have terrible side effects. As such, after her teacher’s death, the apothecary is doing terrible business, basically surviving on ointments and deodorizers… as well as her side job. She is asked to help a woman break up with her husband, who is ignoring her. Using transformation magic, she pretends to be the wife and confronts the husband. But it’s all just bad communication! Now they’re in love again. Carla is now the go-to person for wives who are dealing with terrible men. Sadly, all the men aren’t terrible and they get back together! Why is Carla so bad at BOTH jobs?

So first and foremost, if you are not a fan of two characters sniping constantly at each other, and this being interpreted as flirting by everyone else, get another book. Carla and her not-love interest, the knight Thane, immediately fall into banter that does not go away. (Gintama fans will also raise an eyebrow at the “It’s not *you*, it’s Carla!” running gag.) Carla herself is enormous fun, as despite her businesses both failing she’s actually a really good witch, and also good at knowing when to take action and when to just let people pour their hearts out at her while she stands there silently. The wannabe divorcees in question are of the usual variety – the husband is shy and was raising money for a demonstrative gesture, the prince was trying to protect the woman he loves by being cruel to her, etc. Actually, the main flaw of the book may be that everything is a bit too pat and predictable. But I don’t care, I want to read more of Carla being blunt and straightforward.

This is an author we’ve seen before – I’d Rather Have a Cat Than a Harem – and will again – Making Jam in the Woods just got licensed. And the illustrator is also known, as The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent is from the same artist. So this won’t be the most original thing ever. But in the end, it did live up to the overinflated expectations I had of it at Anime NYC, mostly due to Carla.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!: Short Story Collection, Vol. 1

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

I’m sure some of you are thinking “didn’t we just have the Royal Academy SS book in July?” and yes, we did. This particular volume thus focuses on everything but the royal academy. That said, what it actually appears to be is that readers were curious and vocal enough about all the extra stories the author had written for store giveaways and the like that it was decided to bundle them up into this collection. There’s even some double-dipping, be warned, as several of the stories features here were also in the 2nd fanbook. That said, I enjoyed this book a great deal, mostly as it makes you realize the basic core premise of this series: Rozemyne has made everyone’s lives better, and without her their lives are very difficult. This is especially true after the first quarter of the book, when we get into the books in Part 3 and 4 of the series. Nobility is a drag.

Did you know Rozemyne has grown nearly eight inches since the first book in the series? I did not, fun fact. She’s still far too short, though. The early stories in this collection are from the POV of Gunther, Tuuli and Lutz as they have to deal with a Myne who is suddenly very different from what she used to be. There’s also a story with Wilma and Rosina, showing us Rosina’s frustration and selfishness. After that, though, it’s all nobles all the time, including nobles we’ve never even met, as two sort-of-Veronica faction sisters meet up and discuss the performances that Rozemyne and Ferdinand did, the sweets that they ate, and the fact that the Veronica folks could not go. (You do have to wonder if these two were later purged, though apparently a later fanbook says they were spared.)

The best stories in this book come near the end, with extended time devoted to Cornelius, Philine and Charlotte. Wilfried also gets a story, but it only serves to remind us of his painful naivete, and the fact that his attendants all seem to be evil. Charlotte in particular is well aware of this, but is also aware that the way things played out she’s lost the competition to be Aub without ever showing off her smarts, and it’s truly annoying. It’s annoying to the reader too, because we like Charlotte a lot more than we do Wilfried. The Cornelius chapters take place right after Rozemyne’s kidnapping and coma, and as you can imagine feature a lot of “it’s all my fault”, but give a good look at an underwritten character. As for Philine… god, her life sucked. I’m so glad she’s out of there now. The book is also very good at showing the class strata and how you can and cannot deal with things… and how Rozemyne tramples all over that. She saved Charlotte because Charlotte is her cute little sister and was in danger. This BAFFLES everyone. Family is something very different in this world.

So good stuff, but be prepared to dislike Wilfried even more. Something’s going to have to give there soon.

In the Land of Leadale, Vol. 8

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By Ceez and Tenmaso. Released in Japan as “Leadale no Daichi nite” by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange.

The Leadale series does something that I very much appreciate… well, to an extent. It knows that readers may not always remember what’s come before, so has a handy summary of the series before each volume. That said… perhaps the summary can be shortened a bit in the future? By the time I read through what had previously happened in the first 7 books, I was already nearly 30 pages into THIS book. It needn’t pad out the word count so much. As for the book itself, it continues to have fun with its main joke, which is that Cayna sees the other powerful players in her old group as eccentric lunatics, and they see her as the exact same if not worse. But really, Leadale is the ultimate book for folks who just want to read the worldbuiding. So much of this series is about game mechanics, both past and present, and how to abuse flavor text or what happens when your last boss monsters get unsealed. The gaming really is the plot.

Cayna is invited to help guard the princess as she and her fellows go out on an educational camping trip (a plotline also done, almost note for note, in Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear). Unfortunately, she also has a job she has to do for Opus, checking out the stability of a barrier holding back the last boss monsters mentioned above. The second mission quickly outstrips the first, and the school trip has to be rapidly cancelled. (The entire purpose of the trip seems to have been to introduce Exis’ little sister, who was also a player and thus is also in Leadale. That said, they need all the players and strong NPCs they can get, as the barrier is finally breaking, and bad things will overrun the kingdom if they don’t stop them. What’s more, if Cayna dies, the whole “game” part of this world goes away forever.

The connection between this world and Cayna has been its strongest mystery, still being revealed to us, and the most interesting part here is the fact that the players that have ended up inside Leadale is a figure much larger than the players who were actually active when the game shut down. Cayna has no idea why this is, and apparently Opus doesn’t either. As for the rest of the book, well, if you like Cayna being Cayna, it’s fun. She overreacts, she terrifies people, she will brings out a terrifying monster to act as a blanket so she can be warm when she sleeps. And, since the book is from her point of view, we as the reader don’t regard it as oddly as everyone else who deals with her. It doesn’t help that she’s now getting fangirls, thanks to players being too glib when creating their “children”…

The book ends with a cliffhanger, as our players are still in the midst of a big battle against a monster horde. Sadly, this is the final volume out in Japan as well, so we’ll be waiting a while before we continue. Probably long enough that I’ll need the 30-age summary for Book 9.

Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster!, Vol. 1

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

As everyone knows, we are at the height of a villainess boom right now, with seemingly every single new villainess title getting picked up for publication. That said… are they really new? I looked to see when Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster! began as a webnovel, and it debuted in late July, 2014. For comparison, My Next Life As a Villainess debuted in EARLY July, 2014. And the light novel itself had its first volume published in 2015. That said, unfortunately, its translation is being published in 2023, and therefore the reader may have to stop themselves from sighing and saying “total ripoff”. It’s not, really. What’s more, the plot of this is almost the inverse of My Next Life As a Villainess. Katarina Claes does wacky things to avoid getting killed/exiled, and despite these she wins the hearts of everyone. Lady Mary Albert does villainous things to deliberately try to get exiled… and despite these she wins the hearts of everyone. Because at heart, they’re both great people.

Mary Albert is the daughter of a powerful noble house… and she’s just regained her past memories from Japan. She immediately tells her beleaguered manservant that Mary was the villainess in an otome game, doomed to be exiled to northern lands at the end after bullying the heroine for the entire game. Mary’s reaction to these memories is to say “Welp, guess it’s time to be a villainess” and break out her ojou-sama laugh and cruelest remarks. She quickly targets Alicia, the heroine, and verbally abuses her sense of direction… while directing her to the correct place. She viciously mocks her tables manners… by showing her the correct way to eat. Adi, her servant, is getting very frustrated. What the heck is Mary actually trying to achieve? Is there method to this madness?

Actually, yes, there is. I was suckered in a bit. The first third or so of the book is Mary Albert’s increasingly silly attempts to bully the heroine, and those same attempts failing miserably, because at heart Mary is a nice girl. It’s hilarious. Then Adi asks why she’s REALLY doing this, and things get a lot more serious. Mary turns out to be a lot more on the ball than I was expecting, and can see how her family’s political power, as the nation now is, is a massive liability for the future. Her goal, to achieve her ruin, is meant to sacrifice herself to save everyone else, which is impressive… if it were not for the fact that she’s STILL terrible at it. In reality, Alicia becomes her best friend, much to her horror. Oh yes, and there’s also the relationship between her and Adi. He’s clearly in love with her. She’s in love with him too, but as yet unaware. It’s a very solid romance.

This could have been a one-shot, but there’s more to go. Still, it’s a good old-school villainess book, for a good reason: it is old-school, being written long before most other pretenders to the throne. But, most importantly, Mary Albert is a hoot.

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, Vol. 12

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By Toshio Satou and Nao Watanuki. Released in Japan as “Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shonen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Youna Monogatari” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

This is a series that is a broad comedy, and is usually content to be just that. The characters are hilarious but also pretty much unrealistic, and the plot will always take a back seat to a joke. That said, there have been a few moments of drama in the books, usually involving Alka’s generation, and it’s the same here. In particular, it’s Eug. There was one scene in the book that had be basically recoiling and going “Jesus Christ”. Surprisingly, it was not the part where she dropped off weapons so horrifying that her soldiers are all appalled at the very though of using them, or her inevitable downfall after being manipulated by Eve. It’s where she gets so angry at the thought of Lloyd that she accidentally breaks her own fingers from clenching her fist too hard. That’s terrifying, and it gives the scenes afterwards a bit of pathos.

It’s time for military exercises, as everyone is posted to a different department. That said, our boy Lloyd is so over-powerful that he’s posted to handing out food to the soldiers, mostly as that also helps to avoid one department getting an advantage over the other. Unfortunately for the country, Eug’s nation has decided (with a little help from Big Bad Eve), that now is the perfect time to invade for real. They have traitors in Azami’s forces. They have really powerful tac nukes. They have soldiers who have recently been given delicious hot meals… by Lloyd? Wait, what the hell is Lloyd doing aiding and abetting the enemy? Unfortunately, Marie has an even bigger problem: some hussy in a hood is the new military advisor, and she’s taking the queen’s place in her father’s heart!

A series like this advances its plot bit by bit, so it’s no surprise that only three real things of consequence happen here. The first is that Rinko reveals herself to Marie, which is mostly played for comedy, but allows the joke to not get stale. The second is the revelation of what actually happened to all the Earth scientists, which turns out to be totally different from what we thought. And indeed what most of them thought as well, particularly Eug, whose repressed guilt over the population of Earth is what allows her to be so easily manipulated. And the third, of course, is the removal of Eug from the board, though I expect that will be temporary. Eve is now very definitely the main antagonist, and it will be interesting to see how things go. Oh yes, it was also nice to see Lloyd essentially lose here, and even get injured enough he had to be carried off. That’s a rarity in these books about Lloyd being basically invincible.

So yeah, a decent entry in the series, though I admit Marie’s patheticness is starting to wear on me. The author knows she’s #1 in the harem stakes, but is doing too good a job of knocking her back.

The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices, Vol. 2

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By Mamecyoro and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Gotsugou Shugi na Kaiketsu Tantou no Oujo de aru” by B’s-LOG Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Moon.

This is one of those “everything is the same as the previous volume, until it isn’t” volumes. For the most part, the first three-quarters of Book 2 are the same as most of Book 1. Octavia is attending a ball in the hopes to find a (fake) boyfriend, and has someone in mind who will be there. Unfortunately, she’s dealing with the fact that everyone else sees her thinks she’s some sort of evil spectre with supernatural influence on the lives of everyone she meets. Most of this volume deals with her learning about this, and trying to use it for her own ends, with limited success. (Octavia’s life can sometimes be described as the “I’m a Genius!… Oh no!” meme.) Then we get to the point where she’s about to achieve her goal and meet the guy she’s come there to see… and actually seeing him terrifies her so much that she flees immediately. Then… the rest of the book happens.

Octavia, with her bodyguard Klifford about about 8 other guards (she *is* a princess, after all) is on her way to a ball held by noble Rosa Reddington, where she will hopefully get to meet Rust Byrne, the person she’s tagged for her “get a fake boyfriend” plan. On the way there, though, she meets up with Sil, who is about to have a tragic carriage accident, and rescues him. Sil is going to the ball as well, without telling his lover Sirius. He wants to find out about his real family… something he says that Octavia secretly inspired him to do. (This is true, but it was mostly by accident.) Once at the ball, it becomes apparent that Rosa has engineered for Octavia to dance with someone, because it turns out that any dance partner she’s ever had has either risen to glory or fallen to destruction. This is news to Octavia. And then there’s the man she supposedly came to meet…

Of all the light novels I ever thought I would comp[are this series to, The Saga of Tanya the Evil was certainly not one of them. The last quarter of the volume, though, reminds ,me quite a bit of the start of Tanya. Octavia recalls her death, and has the obligatory meeting with “God” afterwards. Except that God is an asshole. And says her death was an accident, but he can’t be bothered to revive her because her soul isn’t that important. This causes her to get angry… and the negotiation that follows upends this entire series. That said, the biggest takeaway that we get is that Octavia, whose attempts at bettering her life were mostly centered around herself, is now going to try to better her life by changing the entire kingdom. That’s definitely going to put her up against her brother, and probably the majority of the nobility, but it’s also the only way to get back at God. She may even have to become a villain.

So yeah, still loving this series a lot more than I expected. Can’t wait for the third book.

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 5

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

I am a great fan of this series, which is one of the best in the Villainess genre. That said, reading every volume can be stressful and exhausting. More than any other book, you get the sense that if Aileen relaxes at all, takes her foot off the gas one little bit, she’ll immediately be executed. There’s never any downtime in these books. Hell, that’s the running gag at the start of this volume, before things inevitably turn serious: she can’t consummate her marriage because plot keeps happening. And the plot really, really wants things to happen the way the games were written. Interestingly, for once no one talks about trying to execute Aileen here. That said, they do say that Claude has to marry someone else, and also that he will be turning into a demon. You get the sense the implication is there. But yes, here we go again, time for Aileen to fight fate, and this time even her allies are seemingly turning on her.

Aileen and Claude are now back home after the events of the last book, and are ready to consummate. Sadly, even if the plot weren’t getting in the way, Aileen’s still too nervous about sex for anything to happen. But things do happen, and they’re interrupted by the arrival of Luciel, a demon who claims to be Claude’s father, and refuses to recognixe Aileen as Claude’s wife. What’s more, the nearby Kingdom of Hausel is having a Bridal Royale, with the winner getting to become the new ruler… oh, and also getting Claude, of course. Honestly, this is sounding a lot like the plot of the fourth game, to be honest, but there’s one slight problem: the fourth game took place six hundred years before the first three! Is fate out for Aileen’s head so badly that it will redo everything to get the ending it wants?

I hate to inform you, but this is a two-parter, so we don’t get all the answers in this first book. That said, the answer definitely appears to be “yes” so far, as Grace Dark, the antagonist of this book, is going around trying to get the “real” heroines back on their routes. She’s only mildly successful in this regard. Sahra is a pushover, and mostly goes along to help Ares. Serena knows this is fishy, but is at present so disgusted with Auguste’s waffling that she’s prepared to be a traitor. And Lilia just finds the whole thing hilarious, of course. And then there’s Aileen, who spends the whole book running around putting out fires, getting kidnapped, crashing a wedding, and generally being as badass as possible. Which is fantastic, that’s why we read these books. It’s just there’s is, as I said, the problem that if she ever stops for a breath everything she loves will be destroyed.

So yeah, very good book, but read it when you’re ready to be tense. I will say that so far Aileen has not died. We’ll see what the 6th book brings.

Spy Classroom Short Story Collection: Bridal Royale

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By Takemachi and Tomari. Released in Japan as “Spy Kyoushitsu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Thrasher.

When I reviewed the 4th volume of The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady the other day, I talked about how the success of the anime gave me a new appreciation and love of the books. The same season that that anime ran, we also had the first season of the adaptation of Spy Classroom. Sadly, here I have the opposite problem, as I have to remind myself that I actually did enjoy this series and was looking forward to the next book. Fortunately, this short story collection is in prose, which is the series’ greatest strength, and so I don’t have to worry about lame attempts to hide Erna under a table. Also, I know it’s a short story collection, so am not really expecting it to be more than it already is. As such, I am pleased to say that this is a solid book in the series, with the ending especially pleasing me a great deal, even as it really leans in to having its cake and eating it too.

The wraparound plot, and final short story, involves the girls finding out that Klaus has married one of them on paper for the sake of missions where he needs a wife. However, no one is admitting they’re the wife. As such, interrogations ensue, which form the four main short stories. We see Klaus and Sybilla embark on a miniature Oliver Twist story, only one where Bill Sikes rather than Fagin is the leader. We then see Sara, who already has low self-esteem in regards to being a spy, trying to make herself usual by repairing the mansion, which ends up turning into a contest. Monika goes on a solo mission where we learn her backstory, and she also bonds with the mark she’s trying to take care of, despite her best efforts to be cool and collected. And Grete tries to help Klaus by saving the local meat pie shop he likes, which ends up becoming an escalating comedy of errors. Finally, there’s only one way to resolve the wife question… have a winner-take-all fight to determine who gets to be Klaus’ new bride!

The four main stories all ran in Dragon Magazine, which exists primarily to run short stories for light novel franchises. They’re all pretty decent, though the meat pie story was struggling to keep my attention. The four girls who star were chosen as they weren’t the focus of the first volume in the main series, so this fleshed them out. (This takes place mostly before the climax of Vol. 1, with the rest happening right before the start of Vol. 2). If you like romance, you’ll enjoy this, as most of the cast are in love with Klaus, and a few are not shy of saying so. If you hate the idea of romance, though, you will also love this, as Klaus makes it very clear that he sees his relationship with the girls as teacher and students, does not want to cross a line he shouldn’t, and hopes they all find other partners. I am in the camp that prefers this cast as a found family, so to me this was the best part of the book.

So yes, wipe that taste of the anime out of your mouth, the books are fine. What’s more, for some odd reason, this SS volume did not follow Yen’s normal publishing schedule, meaning we only have a month till the fifth book in the main series. I look forward to it.