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Reviews

Imperial Reincarnation: I Came, I Saw, I Survived, Vol. 4

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By Masekinokatasa and Kaito Shinobu. Released in Japan as “Tenseishitara Koutei deshita: Umarenagara no Koutei wa Konosaki Ikinokoreru ka?” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Jason Li.

Those who know my reviews by now could probably guess that I would find writing about this volume difficult. It is, after all, a massive medieval battle, complete with little maps showing the position of the troops and everything. This is still a book of “let’s sit down and explain politics, economics, ad history”, but now we get “warfare” in there as well. Still, buckle down, I will get through this. After all, that’s what Carmine has to do. His “reincarnated from Japan” doesn’t help him quite as much when it comes to things like this, and after all the Emperor should not be fighting one-on-one anyway. Carmine is going to have to set back and let other people fight so that he can survive. And that’s hard for him to sit still and just watch happen. Fortunately, he can occasionally duck into secret night sabotage, but near the end, when all seems lost, he has to ignore everyone around him and take up a sword himself.

Carmine and his troops are headed into battle against Duke Raul’s forces, and they have clever plans to ensure victory. Well, sort-of-clever. Plans that don’t hold up against actual medieval problems like the fact that measurements haven’t been standardized yet. Or the fact that it doesn’t matter how many commoners you trick into fighting for you if they’re too scared to actually go in for the kill when it matters. Or, and thanks to the blurb for this book for spoiling it, the fact that the enemy army is twice the size of Carmine’s own. Fortunately, there are certain advantages they have – the mana batteries, Carmine’s own magic, which will allow him to sabotage the enemy cannons, and of course Vera-Sylvie, who has stopped being a shy maiden who finds it hard to speak in a tower and has leveled up into being a shy maiden who finds it hard to speak but is a magical powerhouse. That said… the actual battle can’t be predicted.

Vera-Sylvie did pretty well, though this clearly is not somewhere she wants to be. It is, though, exactly where Nadine wants to be, and it has to be said, if Rosaria, Nadine, and Vera-Sylvie are all going to end up with Carmine (and this book points us even more to the fact that this is going to happen), They’re very good at balancing each other out. They even get along – Nadine warns against Carmine making Rosaria sad as a threat. Mostly as no one trusts Carmine not to try to fix things himself at the possible cost of his life. Carmine would say that he rushes in to fix things himself because he wants to live longer – he explicitly says here that he does not care at all about what happens to the Empire after he dies, as he’ll be dead and won’t care. Everything is for the Carmine of now to live as long as possible.

Which means that cliffhanger is just rude. Fortunately, that can be solved by looking at the cover art for the next volume, which if nothing else should give me something to write about.

If the Villainess and Villain Met and Fell in Love ~ She Was All But Disowned for Her Spirit Contract, But She’s Still Competing with Her Rival ~, Vol. 4

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By Harunadon and Yomi Sarachi. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō to Akuyaku Reisoku ga, Deatte Koi ni Ochitanara: Nanashi no Seirei to Keiyaku Shite Oidasareta Reijō wa, Kyō mo Reisoku to Kisoiatte Iru Yō Desu” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

It’s always interesting to read a series which does not quite know how long it’s going to be allowed to run. I mentioned last time that the third book felt like an ending, but here we are with the fourth book. The fourth book also seems to wrap most everything up, as while last volume we focused on the horrible abuse of Brigitte’s father, here we check in on Yuri’s abusive brother, and now that Brigitte has mostly managed to come to terms with her past and grow into a splendid young woman, it’s now Yuri’s turn to try to get past his own past and present and accept that he’s still in love with his ex-fiancee. They go through a trial, come out of it well, have a lovely confession, and we’re all set for a weddi–oh dear, it’s cliffhanger time.

It’s exam time at Yuri and Brigitte’s school, and because this is a school with magic and spirits, the exam is incredibly dangerous, because this is that sort of genre. That said, Brigitte has discovered she’s made of sterner stuff, and she and Yuri (as well as Nival and Kira, who I haven’t mentioned in my reviews but are basically a combination of “those two friends”, the beta couple, and comedy relief) set off to the crack between the human world and the spirit world, where they have to take care not to be tricked by spirits who can literally read your mind and become the person you’re closest to. Even worse for Yuri, his brother Clyde will be assisting with the exam, and he still has a massive hate-on for Yuri, and also is in charge of an evil spirit. Will they be able to pass?

Given that we’ve had to deal with Brigitte’s father literally sticking her hand into a fireplace in prior books, I did appreciate the lesson learned in this book, which is that not every abusive person is driven by being evil and psychotic, and sometimes it’s just pettiness and jealousy taken to extremes. Clyde can’t be head of household like his older brother, he can’t be contracted to powerful spirits, like Yuri, all he has is an “evil” spirit, who he can’t even use that often. This all adds up to “making my little brother feel sad makes me feel better”, and so can end with a mere apology rather than the exile Brigitte’s father got. That said, Yuri doesn’t forgive Clyde, which is also very valid, given that the bullying has affecting how he conducts his life to date – we’d thought Brigitte was the one driving the “competition”, but we see here Yuri uses it as an excuse to do things he’d never have the courage to otherwise. Fortunately, they’re both able to gather their courage here.

Unfortunately, remember how the archbishop was holding everyone back from taking Brigitte and abusing her phoenix powers for their own gain? Yeah, he died. See you in Book 5! (At least we now do know it will end with Book 6.)

The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life As a Noblewoman: The Price of Glory, Part 2

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By Kamihara and Shiro46. Released in Japan as “Tensei Reijo to Sūki na Jinsei o” by Hayakawa Shobo. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Hengtee Lim.

(This review contains spoilers, though I will try to confine them till after the synopsis.)

Well, that went about the way I thought. Not that I knew what was going to happen precisely, but because “Great googley moogley, everything’s gone to shit” is the way that this series operates, and I had a feeling we were due for everything going wrong very rapidly, and that’s exactly what I got… eventually. Honestly, the first two-thirds or so of this volume feel like a typical “villainess” book, with just a bit more politics than usual. There’s even a big dance where Karen (who has been trying harder and harder to not be The Worst Dancer Ever) ends up needing to be literally dragged around in order to manage not to humiliate herself. And the Emperor even snubs her, which is a surprise given he invited her, but hey, good news! Then we get the last third of the book, and everything once again becomes a horror novel *and* a tragedy.

Karen is trying to make up with Ern, but unfortunately that involves running into Lubeck, the knight who really, really wants to seduce her and cannot understand why she seems to find him a massive creep. (The reason is that he’s a massive creep.) Fortunately, they do make up, and then Karen is off to the ball(s). She thinks that it doesn’t go well because after all this fuss, when she introdeuces herself to the Emperor he barely acknowledges her. To me, it read like she had significant conversations with every single powerful person in the Empire, all of whom are trying to curry her favor. But then, I’m not the one desperately trying to pretend I’m just a plain side character. (Un)Fortunately for Karen, the Emperor decides to invite her back for a meal. Breakfast. The next day. When she arrives, along with six other people the Emperor is “honoring”, we get to see just what he’s really like. It’s not great.

I admit I was not all that shocked at the window thing, as it was heavily telegraphed, but I was far more shocked at the Emperor essentially saying “rejoice, we’re going to make sure we have good Aryan stock by breeding my knights to you folks, so get ready”. Usually light novels aren’t quite this blatant, but this is Trials and Tribulations, and when has it ever held back before? To be frank, I’m amazed Karen escaped, and she even rescued a young noble who made me think of Galinda from Wicked but who quickly gets a nasty surprise. Then there’s the finale with Ern. Honestly, I suspected Ern would not survive this book, so again her death in and of itself is not what shocked me. What shocked me was HOW she chose to die, and the fact that Karen ended up, with gritted teeth and a callback to something that now seems far less funny, going along with it. On the bright side, this may make it harder for the Emperor to simply marry her off as breeding stock. On the less bright side, EVERYTHING ELSE. (Oh yes, bonus points for actually hearing the rumors about Karen explicitly, which frame her as the most evil woman in the universe.)

The cover to the next volume also seems to have a spoiler literally on it, suggesting that the events of this book affect Karen far more than we’d expected. I realize this is not for everyone, but I really do highly recommend it. It’s the best car crash being published right now.

The Dragon and the Blade Saint: This Isn’t Where We End, Vol. 1

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By garry and Taiga. Released in North America by J-Novel Club.

This is another of the winners of the Original J-Novel Club light novel contest, getting a runner-up prize. That feels about right, as while I enjoyed this book I felt it wasn’t quite as good as some of the others I’ve read. This is one of those titles where we go back and forth between the two protagonists. Unfortunately, it makes the book awkwardly balanced, as the author does not want to introduce the Blade Saint until nearly halfway through the book. This definitely makes me appreciate the dragon, as she’s a lot of fun, being a fish out of water sort, as well as an arrogant girl who can also back it up when she wants to. I was reasonably sure I knew where her story was going, but it was fun seeing her get there. As for the Blade Saint, most of his half of the book shows us his Tragic Backstory, and you can hear the capital letters as you read. Fortunately, the cause of said tragedy is dealt with here, so I’m hoping future volumes give him something to move forward with. (Like a dragon.)

Some time in the future, a dragon faces off against the human who’s about to kill her, the deadly Blade Saint. However, she uses a magical device to go back in time so that she can destroy him before he gets this powerful. She ends up at the ubiquitous magical academy that so many light novels have, where she’s quickly captured and collared – literally – by short but powerful mage Karen, who, after consulting with the student council president (a vampire who is more than she seems) and the headmaster, helps Mitaelshuroxa (now going by “El”) to attend school, provided that she can defeat enough people in the combat course she wants to join. This includes a beastgirl who’s fighting to give status to her family, an arrogant guy who wants to use SCIENCE!, and of course the Blade Saint, who is a teenager at this point, and who she dearly wants to kill.

El is fun. She’s annoyed that she can’t just fly everywhere, her lunch consists almost entirely of parfaits, and she has the brains and brawn to back up her attitude, though all three of her opponents give her trouble. Karen is also a lot of fun, and I wish that she’d been the other protagonist, to be honest. Ca’al is dealing with a lot. He’s a young man from a noble house on the decline, whose parents, when they aren’t screaming at each other, abuse him horribly. His sole happiness is going out to play with Soreya, a girl who unfortunately I found it hard to really like as I haven’t seen someone this destined to be a tragic backstory since Bridge to Terabithia. She’s fun, spunky, and “deserved” to be the next Blade Saint, but her death allows our hero to, after years of pain and nightmares, avenge her. There wasn’t anything wrong with this sequence, I just found it much less fun than El’s side.

This is a decent book, and I can see why it got a prize. I’d read some of the other contest winners first, though.

The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes, Vol. 10

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By Bisu and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo wa Kyou mo Hata o Tatakioru” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Esther Sun.

It’s been so long with everyone in the cast adoring Rosemary that it’s sometimes a surprise to remember that there are those who don’t love Rosemary, and part of this is because she’s been kept in bubble wrap for most of her life. It’s only now that she’s married to Leonhart and has a few world-changing innovations under her belt that she can afford to move on to the really, really impossible tasks of shoujo light novels: the grand ball with catty nobility all present and correct. Fortunately, Rosemary is still so utterly gorgeous that almost everyone who sees her either falls in love or gives up. Oh sure, there’s the King’s annoying cousin, who fragrantly tries to get Leonhart to take his daughter as a mistress in front of Rosemary. But clearly he’s too stupid to love, so there’s no way that he’d actually be part of the main plot, right?

Now that Rosemary has used her protagonist powers to not be evil and executed, and to make sure that her family all love each other (well, mostly, the King and Queen still mostly exist as a political marriage), she has to deal with the fact that that family wants to protect her and see her safe, especially now that she’s pregnant.This means her mother wants to help her choose the proper dress for the ball, while her brothers, who want to help but can’t see her change, are left to fume outside. Even her father, who has lived his entire life under the rule of “it doesn’t matter if I’m an asshole as long as the end result is good” spots her exhaustion at the ball and deliberately screws up her hair to force her to leave early and not get sick. This is not even mentioning her husband, or bodyguard, or any of the 80,000 others. Boy, you’d have to be REALLY DUMB to try to go after her!

The bulk of this book is Rosemary setting up a harvest festival for her nearby village. They used to have a big one, but it gradually petered out, and she wants to peter it up again. This is helped by her actually caring about the wives and grandmothers of the village and wanting to see what their traditional foods and crafts are. Speaking of crafts, we also see her interacting with her autistic jewelry designer Ayame (I usually try not to diagnose fictional characters, but sometimes it’s impossible not to) and Ayame’s childhood friend/minder Hiiragi, who would probably be married to her if she weren’t in love with Rosemary and making delicate jewelry pieces, in that order. Oh yes, and there’s even the son of Duke Evil, who is trying his best to save his family and domain from dear old dad’s plotting, and he ALSO falls in love with Rosemary while also seeing she already has the perfect husband.

With all this going on, it’s no wonder she doesn’t give birth in this. There’s no sign of Book 11 in Japan, either. Oh well, we’ve got enough adoration of Rosemary here for three new books. I do enjoy this, but hope you don’t hate perfect characters.

Betrothed to My Sister’s Ex, Vol. 1

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By Tobirano and Mai Murasaki. Released in Japan as “Zutaboro Reijou wa Ane no Moto Konyakusha ni Dekiai Sareru” by M Novels f. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Rymane Tsouria. Adapted by Zubonjin.

Ah, it’s time for another of my favorite genres. No, not Cinderella story, although this is that as well. No, it’s the classic shoujo light novel genre of “I am so horribly abused by my family that my self-worth is garbage and I will spend volumes trying to like myself”. Generally speaking, these books live and die on their heroine. Sometimes they suffer stoically, such as The Too-Perfect Saint (this will not be the last time I mention The Too-Perfect Saint in this review). Sometimes they are such pollyannas that the abuse doesn’t even register as such. And sometimes they just accept that they’re terrible and ugly and awful because that’s what their parents say, and live a life of quiet desperation. That’s where Marie is at the start of this book. Fortunately, we know that things will get much better for her, but the challenge, with someone like Marie, is to make her accept that she deserves to have good things happen to her at all.

The title may throw off the savvy reader, who sees it and expects an evil sister to go along with the evil parents. In fact, Marie’s sister Anastasia is the only good thing in her life, and the two of them get along great (Much like Too-Perfect Saint). Unfortunately, Marie’s parents REALLY despise her. They force her to do all the chores – yes, they have servants, but why use them when you have Marie? – and her 18th birthday party is hijacked and used as an excuse to get a rich husband for her sister. A proposal soon arrives from Kyros, a Count who’s going to be a Duke when he inherits. The parents could not be happier. Anastasia is, frankly, terrified, but she goes to his country… and dies in a carriage accident along the way. Now they have to send Marie, the “horrible” sister. (Again, Too-Perfect Saint, yes.) Marie, who is not only grieving for her sister but being told she’s only useful as a womb and that she should never have been born, meekly goes along. Fortunately, a series of misunderstandings mean that her welcome is much nicer than expected.

An anime of this has aired in the summer (so no spoilers for the second book in the comments, please), and everyone agreed that the absolute best thing about this title was Mio, Kyros’ head maid. They’re absolutely correct, Mio is indeed the best thing. She’s a badass, snarky, caring, and has an appetite for food that boggles the mind. She helps both of her charges, though finds herself exasperated with Kyros, whose screw-up (he met Marie at the party when she was hiding in the garden and fell in love with her, but assumed, as it was a party to engage the other sister, that she was Anastasia) led to all this. I also like what little we see of Anastasia, who loves to sew masculine outfits for women and wishes she were in a different type of shoujo light novel (the “my family goes under and I have to become a merchant” kind). As for Marie, well, her growth is the point, but I will warn folks, her self-hatred oozes from almost every line she has till near the end, and she cannot accept anything good happening to her. This is understandable, but readers might balk.

Not me, though. I want more of this. It’s like catnip.

ATLAS: Her, the Combatant, and Him, the Hero, Vol. 1

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By John Rohman and ttl. Released in North America by J-Novel Club.

This is another of the J-Novel Club Original Light Novel contest winners. In fact, this is the Grand Prize Winner. That said, I had put it off, mostly as the description made it seem sort of futuristic sci-fi dystopia, which is generally not my genre. And it certainly is that genre, but there’s more going on here than that. This is a story of two seemingly ordinary people who really aren’t, forced into a role that emphasizes how special they actually are. There’s a lot of prejudice and class struggle in this world (we see that on the “her” side), but even if you are comparatively privileged you can still end up being forced into things by those richer and more powerful than you (the “him” side). Of course, there’s also things familiar to light novel/anime fans here. Super sentai armor, lots of cool shonen battles, and powers that remind me a whole lot of My Hero Academia. That said, the main reason to read the book are her and him. They’re great characters, and even better when they interact with each other.

Calli is a young woman struggling to get a job in his world that is very prejudiced against those with her hair and skin. She’s a Stratan, and got an opportunity to make something of herself, which she is trying to do so she doesn’t have to crawl back home as a failure. Unfortunately, all she can find is temp work, and her co-workers mostly hate her on sight. Then she’s offered a special job. Meanwhile, Genesis is a young man who’s in charge of a loading dock where an explosion occurs. He got everyone out without injury, miraculously. A bit TOO miraculously, though, and the richest man in the city took note of it and wonders if he’s hiding a secret. A secret that might also give him a different job. Can these two people who end up opposing each other find common ground? And can you really meet cute when you’re a cop and a terrorist – sort of?

I won’t lie, this book starts slow as it serves up its worldbuilding, and I found the flashfoward at the start (which we never catch up to) somewhat pointless. But it gets better as it goes along, especially when it gets to the first big action sequence on the train. The best scene, though, is when Calli and Genesis meet cute for the SECOND time, and finally give in and decide to go grab some pizza. What ensues is a fantastic conversation as the two of them try to bitch about their respective new jobs without giving anything away… all while not realizing that they’d been desperately fighting each other earlier that day. Despite essentially being a terrorist for the money, Calli has a good head on her shoulders and cares about people, but she knows that sometimes you have to survive. As for Genesis, he wants to be a real hero, but finds his job doesn’t want that, and also some of the most famous heroes out there are just in it so they can beat the shit out of “bad guys”. Ideals are tough.

This ends the way most contest winners do, I assume, as it has enough of an ending to satisfy while still clearly promising more. I enjoyed her. And him.

My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me!, Vol. 11

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By mikawaghost and tomari. Released in Japan as “Tomodachi no Imouto ga Ore ni dake Uzai” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

It’s been well over two years since the last volume of this series, and that volume was a massive flashback, so it’s actually been almost three years since we were last dealing with Akiteru’s confrontation with Iroha’s mother. Since then an anime has been announced and is currently airing (I’m not watching it, but I don’t think it’s setting the world on fire). Also since then we’ve had just this book. The author apologizes for it taking so long (it was two and a half years between 10 and 11 in Japan). Fortunately, it’s a very solid volume, which mostly goes how I thought it would, but also contains a few surprises. The surprises are not related to Iroha, who honestly takes this a lot better than I’d expected. No, it’s something unrelated to the game or to Iroha’s voice acting, it’s Mashiro’s writing. In which we learn what happens when producers decide to adapt something into an anime without actually enjoying the work itself.

The confrontation between Iroha’s mother and Iroha’s crush ends pretty much as you’d expect. Amachi agrees to let Iroha continue to do her acting work… but she’ll be the one managing her career. He has to stay out of it. Possibly realizing that this is never going to work as long as he’s literally next door, Akiteru thus decides to vanish from everyone’s life… though in reality he asks for a temporary job at Canary’s book publisher, where he gains valuable experience at how deal making works in the land of adults. Unfortunately, only Canary knows he’s there, so the rest of the cast are feeling rather bereft. Iroha at least has a new job she’s doing providing multiple voices for a VTuber project… but when Mashiro is told that the anime team wants to change her anti-bullying revenge fantasy so there’s no revenge and the bullies don’t get harmed, she goes completely to pieces.

As I said, the most startling scene in this whole book for me was the fact that Mashiro showed up for the meeting with the anime team with a gun in her pocket. Yes, it was a model gun that doesn’t shoot, but still. Her yakuza fantasy may have helped her get through the meeting without breaking down, but it did not stop her breaking down after. Actually, “after” may be the biggest flaw with this volume – it feels like it was being written to a page count. There are several plot points (Mashiro, Akiteru’s schooling) where I wish we’d gotten a bit more closure than we did. We did get some great background on Canary, though, which reminds us that sometimes when you work in an industry where you promote others, and you screw up, you can destroy lives that are not yours. I also enjoyed Akiteru being reminded “your uncle is famous, so throw his name around a bit”. Sometimes being an adult means not being straight and narrow all the time.

This author loves to start new series, and start new series that get anime adaptations, so it may be a while before we get the 12th book. That said, with the new events here, I don’t think it’s wrapping up soon anymore.

In Another World with Household Spells, Vol. 3

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By Rika and HIROKAZU. Released in Japan as “Isekai ni Kita kedo, Seikatsu Mahou shika Tsukaemasen” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

There is a Looney Tunes cartoon called The Big Snooze, and at one point Elmer Fudd is running through a hollow log and Bugs Bunny positions it so he runs out of it off a cliff into midair. Elmer realizes what has happened, stares at the viewer, and turns into a lollipop with a hunter’s cap, with the word ‘SUCKER’ written on the lollipop. He then quickly scrambles from midair back to the log to run through it. Bugs merely flips the log 180 degrees so that this happens again. Elmer then turns into a ‘SUCKER’ again, and runs back to try a third time. This time he tests it first, discovers there’s ground, and runs back to get a head start… at which point Bugs flips the log again. The reason I mention all this is that Patience Granger is the Elmer Fudd of this scenario. She spends the entire book not wanting to do things and then ending up doing them anyway just because everyone’s just too assertive for her.

Patience is very, very busy this school year. She’s already doing a double track with home ec and civil service, but there’s also a lot of magic/alchemy related stuff she wants to do, as her goal is to make money so that her family can stop being so poor and she can provide for her adorable brothers. (Yes, the shotacon thing has not gone away, I’m ignoring it.) Unfortunately, Princess Margaret’s girl posse all hate her, Prince Keith can’t say anything to her without sticking his foot in his mouth, the alchemy club is trying really really hard to get her to join, the music club is asking her to write an opera, and the entire curriculum has changed to become far more practical, much to the horror of noble ladies who find they will have to sew their own ballgowns. And then there’s the Knight Club, whose new president is taking this a bit too far, and this may lead to the end of the club…

Much to my relief, despite hints in the 2nd book, no one is going dungeon crawling just yet. Indeed, this is a very school-oriented book, though I suspect the author has a bit of a grudge against mandatory education, as Patience (who has her past memories and also OP magic that everyone underestimates) ends up essentially passing most of her classes for the year in the first week. This allows her to meet the alchemists, who are generally regarded as weird creeps, and not without reason, but they also help her to create lamps with dimmer switches, and possibly even washing machines in the future. That said, when Margaret and Keith say Patience is painfully naive, they’re not wrong. She’s blind to Keith’s crush on her, as well as several other characters who are ready to propose. (Also, Patience, who is supposed to be far shorter than her peers, is 149 cm, which is… average for an 11-year-old girl?) Basically, Patience might want to take a bit less herbology and magic circles and a bit more “how noble society functions”.

This was VERY nerd-heavy and education-heavy, but assuming you don’t mind either, it’s a good read. Also, author, just because you have Patience realize she’s being a sucker doesn’t make it less true.

The Twelve Kingdoms, Book Three: Sea of Wind, Shore of the Labyrinth

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By Fuyumi Ono and Akihiro Yamada. Released in Japan as “Juni Kokuki: Kaze no Umi, Meikyū no Kishi” by X Bunko White Heart. Released in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. Translated by Kim Morrissy. Adapted by Monica Sullivan.

So I’m sure that after the events of the first two books, everyone is ready to dig in and find out how Youko settles in to her new ruling status. Well, hate to break it to you, but not only is Youko not in this book at all, but the entire volume takes place prior to the first two, and deals with a completely different kingdom. As I noted in the last review, the books are not called Twelve Kingdoms for nothing. That said, despite the fact that we get a new protagonist, a lot of this may feel very familiar. We see someone who grew up in Japan suddenly yanked to this world, where they’re forced to try to figure things out that everyone else assumes are either common sense or just come naturally. Youko dealt with this mostly through fury and increased paranoia. Taiki deals with it through depression and increased anxiety.

Up on Mount Hou, everyone is awaiting the birth of the new kirin, who will be the one to choose the next ruler of the country of Tai. Unfortunately, a storm blows the fruit containing the unborn Taiki off to god knows where. Ten years later, Kaname is an unhappy boy who lives with his family but can’t seem to please them, especially his strict grandmother. Then one day while standing outside in the snow as punishment, he sees a pair of arms reaching out from nowhere, and when he goes to investigate he finds himself on Hou Mountain. He *is* the missing kirin, and Tai needs a leader post haste, so he’s got to become a full-fledged kirin and choose the new leader. Unfortunately, kirin is a very instinctual position learned from birth, and since Taiki lived in Japan for ten years, he has none of that instinct. Good thing there aren’t also crushing expectations! Oh, wait, there are.

Despite the previous paragraph, this is a book with a great deal of heart. Taiki gets a lifelong familiar, Sanshi who sort of acts as a combination pet/mother/bodyguard. The sages of Mount Hou are all very nice to him… possibly they spoil him, but let’s face it, after passive abuse for ten years, Taiki needs a bit of spoiling. I really liked Youka, who we first meet ten years prior as a neophyte who still can’t find her way around the labyrinthian mountain, but who is also the best older sister for Taiki once he arrives. Taiki definitely feels like a ten-year-old with crippling anxiety throughout the book, so it’s good to see when he finally gets what a kirin needs to do, or when he’s actually enjoying and smiling over something. And for those who are sad about the fact that the first two books are in the future, Keiki is a supporting character here – indeed, he and Taiki bonding, and Keiki thus becoming less stoic and nicer, might be what leads to the troubles from the first two books.

So do we get a whole new cast next time? Not quite. The King of En has been supporting in both the first arc and the second, and the next book will look at his relationship with his own kirin. Till then, this is a wonderful fantasy series, highly recommended to everyone.

Secrets of the Silent Witch, Vol. 7

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By Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Silent Witch” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

This book’s pacing reminded me a bit of Tearmoon Empire. The first half is mostly action and big magic, as the Sages face off against one of their own. The second half, though, essentially starts a new arc, as Monica investigates Felix’s past and his upbringing. It should be overbalanced towards the former, which very much has a big action feel to it. But the latter half of the book makes the series feel like it’s actually gearing up towards an ending. Now, technically it isn’t, as the 11th volume is due out in Japan soon. But there are plotlines that you can’t drag on forever, and the biggest of these is who Felix really is, why Duke Clockford feels he can be used as a puppet, and what’s the story behind the execution of Monica’s father. As for romance? That’s thin on the ground here, as Monica spends most of the book annoyed that you cannot simply turn love into a mathematical formula, and if anything Lana is the one she’s closest to right now. (No, not like that.)

When we last left Monica, she, along with the other sages, was in the forest trying to find a way to get to the Gem Sage Emanuel Darwin, whose artifact is sending out clockwork soldiers and also can command spirits – such as Ryn, who is now attacking them. By splitting up and playing to their strengths, they’re able to save Cyril and Glenn, who are currently trapped in the thick of all this, as well as take care of the artifact and send the Gem Mage packing with his tail between his legs. Unfortunately, we also learn that Louis seems to be trusting Monica even less, and worries that she will in fact side with Duke Clockford because of her relationship with Felix. Also unfortunately, once Monica gets home, she finds that once again someone has infiltrated her attic bedroom – and this time it’s Bridget.

Now, readers of this series may be asking themselves, who is Bridget again? Since being introduced in the first book as part of the student council, Bridget has done somewhere between fuck and all, mostly serving as a signpost of “this jealous girl will be activated when a button is pressed, but no one is pressing it”. Fortunately, not only does she finally get things to do, but it turns out that she’s far more interesting than that, and that her backstory ties into Felix’s (which we expected) but is also fairly tragic (which we didn’t), and that she is absolutely not a rival for the affections of Felix now… if that is indeed Felix. More and more it’s looking like at some point around when he was eight years old, the gentle, sickly, cute but pathetic Felix was somehow turned into the handsome, capable, cool with ladies Felix we have now. Bridget may not have found an answer she wanted, but Monica did, and what she does next…

…will presumably come up in Book 8. Which we won’t get till after the next volume of the Louis spinoff. Still, this was a solid Silent Witch, and I am very happy to welcome Bridget to the cast.

I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Vol. 17

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By Kisetsu Morita and Benio. Released in Japan as “Slime Taoshite 300 Nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level MAX ni Nattemashita” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Tristan Hill.

I will admit that I never thought that I would be comparing the meandering, Cute Girls Doing Cute Things, decidedly ambivalent to romance despite its yuri fanbase I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 3400 Years to the energetic, Anything Can Happen, very very bisexual and horny series The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You, but here we are, they both tend to handle their casts the same way. Both have a cast that is simply too large to juggle everyone all the time. So 100 Girlfriends will see Rentaro going out on a date with four of his girlfriends, and a footnote will say “the others were busy and couldn’t make it”. Likewise, Azusa will always be involved in the wacky antics of the short story, but the supporting cast and expand or contract depending on the needs of the author. Which is good, as I tend to have a lot of trouble remembering who is who in 300 Slimes beyond the ones who live in the house.

The stories: 1) Flatorte goes to visit her parents, and the rest of the house residents come with. They end up babysitting a neighbor’s blue dragon child, which causes havoc as they have no idea how to deal with baby blue dragons; 2) Sandra has a flower grow on top of her head, and attracts attention, both good and bad; 3) Pecora feels her idol singing career is in a rut, so goes on a training camp, and forces Azusa to come; 4) Vania needs to get her Leviathan Flying License renewed, and forces Azusa to come along; 5) A demigod escapes from the underground and starts creating magical girls… pardon me, magical gurus; 6) Pecora is horrified to find a demonic sweets company is making knockoffs of Azusa’s edible slimes, and forces her to fix the problem; and the after story, starring Wynona, she goes to learn magic from Wizly, but finds that she’s actually a genius.

As you can see by the short stories, a lot of these involve pushy characters forcing Azusa to do things to advance the plot. This is the danger of having a passive character as the lead. Azusa is immortal, can defeat almost everyone in the world, and is quite content to hang at her cottage on the hill with her family and have nothing happen to her. This is very undramatic. Fortunately, other characters do seem to be growing, if only a little, in this series where even the author admits they cannot actually have dramatic events. Flatorte is noticeably more mature in the stories that feature her doing more than eating, and if folks had listened to her a bit more, the first story would have gone much easier. Likewise, while Halkara has her drunkard moments, she’s allowed to also be very intelligent and innovative. It’s nice to see in a series where nothing usually happens.

Look at that, 500 words. I have defeated another volume. See you next time.

Too Many Losing Heroines!, Vol. 6

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By Takibi Amamori and Imigimuru. Released in Japan as “Make Heroine ga Ōsugiru!” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Hayame.

I think these volumes have started to hit their stride, in that I’m no longer incredibly annoyed with the main characters quite as much anymore. It helps that, for the most part, when I want to roll my eyes at Nukumizu, someone is there to do it for me. The conceit of this series is that its male lead is very familiar with the concept of light novel harem romcoms, but he’s also a normal teenage boy, and so, like all normal teenage boys, too dim to understand flirting and attraction towards him (a healthy dose of self-loathing helps too). The girls, meanwhile, are all very aware that they’re in a harem romcom, and are trying their best, but… (waves vaguely at Nukumizu). There’s a running gag which comes up a few times here where the girls try to have a romantic, sweet moment, and Nukumizu just watches as it goes right over his head, and they say “that right there…” to him. He never gets it. That right there is why this series is ongoing.

Yes, that’s Tsukinoki on the cover art, which means that for the first time we’re not seeing a Losing Heroine. That said, it’s the last time we’ll be able to see her, as graduation is here, and she and Tamaki are worrying about getting into university more than the current romcom plot. The current romcom plot is that Lemon has asked Nuzumiku out on a date, and after taking him to the aquarium and watching him be completely confused about why she would be doing this, she confesses she wants to quit her clubs. Plural. Both track and the lit club, which would be bad news for him and Komari. They end up making a bet – if he can beat her in a race, she’ll stay with both clubs. Of course, she’s an outstanding athlete who could compete in Nationals, and he’s a skinny, out-of-shape nerd. So she gives him a handicap… which likely still won’t be enough.

As noted above, this is not Tsukinoki’s book but Lemon’s, though the other girls all get a good scene or two. My favorite was Shikiya, who realizes that, like Araragi, Nukumizu is a guy who would “save anyone”, and she likes that a lot less than Senjougahara did. Lemon, meanwhile, is dealing with an issue she’s had before – she’s simply too good at track, and the coaches are understandably concentrating on her to get the school some notice and to get her into Nationals. She, however, is worried about all the other track girls, who are not as good as her and therefore not getting the attention. Of course, as it turns out none of the girls feel resentment towards her at all, mostly as Lemon is a sweetie pie who has not a single selfish bone in her body. Once he wins (sorry to spoil, but come on, this IS still a light novel), he solves the problem by telling her to be more selfish. The girls not being as good as she is is not her problem. Go for the gold. Too bad love isn’t like a track meet, no matter how much she tried to make it so.

So now our leads head into second year, and I bet that means a new character being introduced who’s a giant flaming loser of a girl. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Hero and the Sage, Reincarnated and Engaged, Vol. 6

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By Washiro Fujiki and Heiro. Released in Japan as “Eiyū to Kenja no Tensei Kon: Katsute no Kōtekishu to Konyaku Shite Saikyō Fūfu ni Narimashita” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Joey Antonio.

Still enjoy this series, still very hard to review without repeating myself. Boy, these two kids are overpowered and in love, and it’s not clear which is more important, though I will admit in this volume the OP outweighs the flirting. That’s because they spend a large chunk of the book apart – Raid heads back to the Second World to get help to save the First World, while Eluria stays behind to make sure that things don’t get any worse than they already are. But on the bright side, they’ve moved up to cheek kisses and forehead kisses, which means they may actually go all the way around Volume 62. Which we may actually get – the author says this was supposed to end with Book 4, but the manga took off, so now we have 6, and it’s still not done. Possibly as the author is still searching for anything that can make our two leads break a sweat – it doesn’t happen here, for sure.

After dealing with the “hero” Valtos, who like most jerks that run into Raid and Eluria has turned into comedy relief, our main characters are faced with a big issue – they just don’t have the people to fix everything. As such, Raid returns to his own world to enlist help from other nations. Unfortunately, when he gets there, he’s promptly arrested and accused of treason, because most everyone (including me) forgot about the plot of the first two books, which is that Raid has the skills to be a special-class magician, and the deeds, but a lot of people still really, really hate him and his non-magic using self. But that’s fine, Raid can use this to his advantage, with the help of a good old fashioned filibuster that offers the nations of this world that haven’t had war in a long, long time something they crave – new land in another world.

The author says they love to write Millis as she can lighten up any situation, and it’s true that she still gets the bulk of the comedy. Especially when she finally figures out what everyone else knew in Book 5, which is that supposedly she married Wisel – something that shocks and embarrasses her in equal measure. I did appreciate that Eluria took the time to sensibly talk with the freaking out Millis about what to do next, and guided her towards the right solution – put it on hold till she’s ready to deal with it and decides whether she really does like him romantically. Eluria can be a smart cookie when she’s not being used for comedy relief herself, as not only does she have her usual trouble waking up, but also her brilliant solution to the monsters attacking from across the sea is so brilliant it means she can’t go wild in combat… unlike Raid, who gets to terrify everyone by showing off.

This series is never going to get deep or tragic, but if you want more of the same, it is absolutely that.

The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor: The Official History of the Continent of Platy

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By Sasara Nagase and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Yarinaoshi Reijō wa Ryūtei Heika o Kōryaku-chū” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

There’s no afterword in this book to confirm it, but I imagine writing this book must have been so cathartic for the author. They not only write this series but also I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, and both of those series rely on the basic fact that our heroine is one step away from everything falling apart, and that if she doesn’t save the day when a Bad End will ensue. This book, which is a short story volume but also serves as a prequel to the whole series, is that Bad End. The end of the book features a cast of characters page, and it’s a big cast. Almost everyone has a “Died Age xx” next to their name, with only three exceptions. This ends up being quite refreshing. You don’t need to worry about how they’ll get out of this one because you know everyone’s gonna die tragically. This is why Jill ended up back in time.

Speaking of Jill, she’s barely in this book, though she does feature more heavily near the end. The bulk of it is showing us one of the characters from the main series whose destiny Jill managed to change by punching things very hard, and then showing us that original destiny. We see how his relationship with Sphere was, how horrible the Goddess can be, and how most people simply assume he’s a pedophile. We see Risteard, desperately trying to make sure Hadis becomes a good ruler, end up being forced into a revolt and being unable to save his little sister from killing herself. We see what happens when Natalie goes through everything she went through in the main series but without Jill’s interference. (It goes much the same way, apart from her dying.) Minerd dies. The entire academy Jill taught at is slaughtered. Vissel’s misplaced love for his brother leads to Hadis finally snapping. And then we get the Kratos side of things. It doesn’t get any better.

For all that the book is filled with people dying full of regrets when they’re not possessed by evil, there are heartwarming moments in here where we see that, with the presence of a dragon consort, things can be different. Hadis’ family is capable of affection for each other when they’re not busy living in a Game of Thrones. The Cervel family are all battle lunatics but also love each other deeply. Rufus and Gerald are both seen as noble and good princes who want to find a way to break the whole “incest curse”, before the curse takes hold and they both turn to the dark side. Zeke and Camila remain exactly who they’ve always been no matter what the timeline. And then there’s Jill, who may be in love with Gerald here (somewhat to her detriment), but is otherwise exactly the same. She’s so great.

This is nearly 400 pages, so there’s a lot of Bad End here. Now that we’ve gotten it, though, much of the main storyline is recontextualized, and I hope we get back to the main series soon so we can stop a lot of this happening.