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Reviews

Return from Death: I Kicked the Bucket and Now I’m Back at Square One with a Girlfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me, Vol. 2

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By Eiko Mutsuhana and Yuki Nezozuki. Released in Japan as “Shi ni Modori no Mahou Gakkou Seikatsu wo, Moto Koibito to Prologue kara (※Tadashi Koukando wa Zero)” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Alyssa Niioka.

You’ll notice that the title has slightly changed between the first and second volume. The first volume was dedicated to Oriana trying her best to alter the present so that she can once again be together with the man she loves, and earning a hard-won victory (albeit for herself, not for everyone) that is promptly destroyed by a nasty little cliffhanger. And now it’s time to try again… only this time it’s Vincent who has the knowledge of Life #2, and Oriana who doesn’t remember Life #1 *or* #2. Needless to say, he’s a bit bummed out by this, especially since this Oriana, who is not really driven to study hard to be near her beloved, is in a different class. Still, he is here to try to win her love anew and also find out why they keep looping back in time. This particular volume focuses far more on the first part of that than the second.

To be fair, that’s probably because it’s a lot harder for him to pull off the first than it is the second. He rather handily discovers that there’s a curse associated with the Dragon Tree that explains (unsatisfactorily) why he and Oriana have now died twice and why they keep “starting over”. He’s even more of an academic in this life (due to a promise he made with his father), so I think he’s got this in the bag. Sadly, romancing the love of his life runs right up against being a teenage boy, and the fact that he’s doing it for the third time (though he does not remember the first) does not really help him, he’s still a bit clueless about girls. Things are not helped by the fact that he is a duke’s son and Oriana is the daughter of a merchant… albeit a very successful merchant with noble connections, thanks to Vincent’s machinations.

This is still cute and sweet, and has lots of teen romantic agita if that is your thing. As with the first book, I found the teen agita a but *too* realistic. I also appreciated getting a bit more backstory regarding Yana and Azraq, which helps explain a lot of what was happening in Volume 1 that we couldn’t quite wrap our minds around. The main issue with the book is the fact that it’s clearly Book 1 of 2 in this arc, and is no doubt based on a webnovel, so it does not remotely have the exciting cliffhanger of the first book, but simply comes to a stop. Presumably to pick up in the third and (I presume) final volume. What’s more, as noted, this is mostly all romance, so any “why is this happening?” is also left by the wayside.

So yes, if you want to see a teenager in love trying to get the girl he loves to overcome class consciousness and feel the same, this is a good book. If you want to figure out why they both died last volume, not so much.

The Revolutionary Reprise of the Blue Rose Princess, Vol. 1

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

This book suffered somewhat for coming out on the same day as The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor, which is also about a noble young lady who is brutally murdered by a hateful mob and travels back in time to when she is ten years old, intent on getting a different result. Alicia does not have quite as many problems once she ends up back in her ten-year-old self as Jill did in Do-Over Damsel, but then Alicia is not quite sure of anything regarding her previous self. One of the more interesting parts of this book is that Alicia can only remember what happened the day she was killed. So she knows she became Queen, and was blindly defending her unfaithful husband out of love, but she’s not quite sure how things got to the point where everyone now hates her and she’s run through with a sword. The other major difference between this and Do-Over Damsel is that this is a far more serious-minded book.

So yes, Alicia is now back in time, when her father is alive, she wasn’t married off to the King of another land, and, most importantly, she’s not dead and disgraced. One of the few things she does remember is the face of the man who killed her… who has just shown up at a ball she’s attending. It turns out he has a tragic past that causes him to be shunned… but Alicia decides that the first step should be to get him as her advisor, so that she can learn why all of this happened at all. This is a big change for the princess, who before she “awoke” to her past life was pretty and beloved, but tended to avoid lessons and instead played tag around the castle. Fortunately, most of the cast takes her personality change in stride.

This is a solid book, whose main problem is separating itself from a pack that has gotten very, very cluttered with other series. (Including other series by the artist, who also drew Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter’s artwork.) Alicia is likeable, and the combination of her lack of memories from the past and the fact that she appears to have been somewhat shallow in her past life means that she’s able to mostly act her age. Clovis, her former murderer and current advisor, is also very nice when people are not blaming him for what his grandfather did, and I am also very happy that, for once, we actually get the “I’ve come from a previous time loop” confession straight away, which allows for more than one 10-year-old to try to figure out how to stop it. The rest of the cast are OK, with Alicia’s father the king seeming to be more savvy than he lets on.

Again, the main drawback to this is: there’s no reason to read it if you’re already reading 8 other “girl goes back in time to change her fate” light novels. But if you like that genre, this is another good one.

The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor, Vol. 1

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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 Jenny Murphy.

This has really become the year of Sarasa Nagase. Last month J-Novel Club released one of her earlier one-shots, The Disowned Queen’s Consulting Detective Agency. One of her two biggest hits, I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, just had a semi-successful anime, and is being released by Yen Press. And now we get her other big hit, whose webnovel is just as long as Final Boss. The two series are somewhat similar. While the first one is a take on the basic Villainess book, where our heroine has knowledge of a game and discovers she’s the antagonist, this one is what’s called in Japan a “Yarinaoshi” genre, which we in the West call a “Peggy Sue”, after the 1980s movie Peggy Sue Got Married. Our heroine is killed and finds herself going back in time to try to get things right this time. That said, both Final Boss and Do-Over Damsel have one big thing that’s exactly the same: their heroines are both completely bananas.

Jill Cervel is fleeing for her life, having been betrayed and wrongfully accused by her fiance. (Try to contain your shock.) Cornered, she leaps off a tall castle wall to her certain death… and wakes up back at the age of ten years old, right when she’s about to get engaged to the fiance that murders her. And said fiance really, really wants to get engaged to her. To avoid this, she grabs the guy behind her without looking and says that she’s already pledged herself to this guy. Of course, this guy happens to be Hadis Teos Race, emperor of the Rave empire, a gorgeous young man who IMMEDIATELY accepts Jill’s proposal and whisks her away to his country. Has she gone from the frying pan into the fire?

I mostly loved this, so let’s start with a few caveats. Jill is ten here, regardless of her mental age, and spends a great deal of the book worrying that her new lover is into little girls. This is not helped by the plot, which requires him to take someone under 14 as a bride (not for sex reasons, I promise). The other caveat is the reason that her fiancee is out to murder her, which is that he is sleeping with his younger sister and she just discovered this. Frankly, Gerald is one of those “so evil it’s laughable” guys we often find in light novels, and so it’s no surprise that he’s the worst. Hadis is the biggest surprise, as I expected him to be similar to Claude from Final Boss and he is very much not. He’s kind of a mess. As for Jill, she is a hoot, she’s overpowered as hell, and she’s trying her best to not die even when the universe really, really wants her to die. The author’s heroines are always the main reason to get the book, and this is no exception.

Cross Infinite World is fast-tracking this one a bit more than their usual schedule (possibly as it’s more than 2 volumes long), so we’ll get the 2nd book in about 3 months. If you like reset novels, or strong heroines, or “eccentric” lead characters, this is a great choice.

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, Vol. 13

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By Ryo Shirakome and Takayaki. Released in Japan as “Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen.

The last third of this very long final volume of Arifureta is a giant victory lap. We get lots of cleanup after, the apocalypse, lots of comedic stuff involving the Haulia, some vaguely amusing jokes, and Hajime finally gets around to having sex with most of the rest of the harem (offscreen, sorry to all those wanting your “snu-snu”). It probably goes on far too long, frankly. But I was so happy to be reading it, because it meant that I was not reading fight scenes. After last volume being 175 pages of fights, this volume is 220 pages of fights, and frankly I would rather chew my own arm off than read more of the battle first going one way, then the other, and the occasional nameless person that we don’t know actually dying. The only named people we know who die are the evil God, and Eri, who was killed off last book. We know how this final battle will turn out, this is not Arifureta Zero.

Even the fights in the book are divided neatly in half. The first third of the book shows us Ehit’s apostles versus the rest of the cast that weren’t fighting in Book 12, including Kaori, who frankly gets the MVP for that battle easily. That said, it shows off everyone’s cool moves, shows everyone almost winning and them almost losing, etc. It’s very much a final battle. Then we cut to Ehit vs. Hajime for the second half, and the same thing happens, only every time it appears that Hajime is almost losing, he pulls some new “I was only fooling” bullshit out of his ass, because, frankly, this is Arifureta, and if you didn’t think this was coming you’re reading the wrong series.

So yeah, the first two thirds of the book is basically fight now grr. the only emotional moment is the one pre-designed to be a tear-jerker, which is where Miledi shows up to save the day and also die, because now that Ehit is finally defeated there’s no reason why she cannot finally pass on and rejoin all her friends and her true love. (There’s an additional short story that adds a nice even happier ending to that, if you like). The last third is a bit more varied, as we see Kouki trying to deal with apologizing to literally everyone he’s ever known, Kousuke unlocking his inner chuuni and ending up with a rabbit girlfriend, and Liliana pouting because she’s still too young to get the sex that the rest of the girls all get. And there’s a nice little epilogue where Hajime finally returns home to his family, which is heartwarming.

The webnovel this was based on has an After Story that would probably run about 13 more volumes, but Overlap has shown no sign they plan to release any of it, so this might be it for Arifureta. Which is fine, frankly. It ties up well, and I don’t need the wacky adventures of Yue in Japanese high school. To the end, Arifureta was the “I’ve got the lamest power and everyone hates me, but it’s secretly THE COOLEST” that every other similar series tried to be, and none of them really could ever touch it. I won’t MISS it per se, but I’m glad I read it. Mostly.

7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!, Vol. 3

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By Touko Amekawa and Wan*Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuukimama na Hanayome (Hitojichi) Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Amy Osteraas. Adapted by Vida Cruz-Borja.

Sometimes, particularly when it’s a villainess book, all of which take place in “vaguely Europe in the days before cars”, I struggle to remember how supernatural the series is meant to be. Now, obviously there’s SOME supernatural content going on, namely the fact that Rishe keeps looping around to try to not be horribly killed, and this particular book has talk of a girl who can supposedly “curse” those close to her, but for the most part it is content to otherwise be vaguely realistic. That said, I do wonder if the author is having fun with our expectations a bit, as two of the book’s emotional climax rely on the fact that Rishe and Arnold are vampires. They’re NOT vampires, of course. But neck biting is such a thing here that it even gets a color page. That said, there’s a rational reason for it. But still. Vampire Arnold. Mmm-mmm.

Rishe comes to Arnold with some news: it turns out that running away does not actually break an engagement when it involves religion and royalty, so she’s still engaged to Dietrich. Fortunately, Dietrich’s new partner is fine with them breaking it, so that just leaves the Church. She’ll have to go to the Grand Basilica and have a long, involved ceremony designed to make sure this is OK in the eyes of God. Of course, all this is part of Rishe’s next plan in “find out why Arnold keeps turning evil”, as she’s there to see why Arnold was so dedicated in her past lives to wiping out the entire Church and most of its believers so thoroughly. And along the way, she also runs into a spoiled duke’s daughter… one who she’s very familiar with from her fourth life.

Gotta say, the more we hear about Arnold’s father the more we can probably explain the reasons behind Arnold’s actions as “I just snapped”. Not to get too gory here, but the actions taken on newborn children who don’t “pass the test” that Arnold is forced to watch are are the stuff of nightmares. Which, as it turns out, Arnold has frequently – his only respite in this volume is when he’s sleeping next to Rishe, who is sleeping off a poison. As for Rishe, it’s interesting seeing how the memories of her past lives still drive her present circumstances. She’s not Millia’s maid and minder in this world, but she still very much feels the same way about her, and is thus puzzled at the changes in this universe compared to her past one. Fortunately, those changes end up being a big clue, and lead up to an exciting ending that once again revolves around talking Arnold down from committing murder.

I’m not sure how many volumes this will run – 7, for the 7 lives? – but there’s a 4th one out in Japan, so definitely one more. I enjoy this series mostly for Rishe, who’s a lot smarter and savvier than many of her villainess counterparts.

Secrets of the Silent Witch, Vol. 3

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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.

It’s not just the Silent Witch, really, everyone in this series has secrets of some form or another. The most obvious one is the Second Prince, who everyone calls a puppet and certainly has “I must obtain the throne” as his goal, but one gets the sense that “And them I will let my grandfather rule with me as a puppet” is NOT on his agenda. Monica, of course, has her main secret mission, but there’s also the fact that she would really rather NOT have Prince Felix find out her real identity given how much it consumes him. And there’s also her time at Minerva Academy before this series, which comes back to haunt her in a big way this book, as it turns out intermural sports are still a thing in this world, and that does not just mean the school sports teams (I don’t even think this school has sports). Monica is about to come face to face with another secret – one that haunts her.

Monica is still recovering from the events of the previous book, but at least she now has her two “sports” classes. Horseback riding is a bit awkward now that her friend Casey has withdrawn from school in a concerted effort to not be executed for an attempted assassination on the second Prince. Fortunately, Felix is there to help her discover such impossible talents like “how not to fall over immediately”. Then there’s her chess class, where she proves to be a prodigy – but that comes back to bite her, as she’s now part of the three-person chess team facing off against her old school. But there’s no way that anyone from her old school would recognize her, right? She has a disguise! Unfortunately, the worst POSSIBLE person is on the other team – a guy who helped turn Monica into the complete wreck she (mostly) is today.

I note I haven’t even been able to mention the back half of the book, which has some really good stuff involving Felix, and also a tear-jerker involving Monica’s father. But honestly the middle of this book feels like the real climax, with Monica finally facing the asshole whose petty jealousy and overweening pride trampled on any feeling she might have, and realizing… why do I have to care about this guy anymore? Why is he worth my time? Now, to be fair, the nature of the plot means that he actually does do one or two noble things here, and we probably WILL see him again, but I appreciated the effort, which is more than some other books make. We also get to see more and more how people at her school DO value her as a friend and care about her, though I think if you asked her about it she’d think that it will all vanish once her “mission” is over. We’ll see about that.

I had thought this series was three volumes when I first heard about it, but now we not only have a 4 and a 5 but a short story volume as well. It makes sense, the writing in this is fantastic, and Monica herself is someone I could cheerfully read for 800 pages. If I were Kadokawa, I’d ask for more as well.

Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~, Vol. 21

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

As I said last time, this book starts off a new arc but is also a continuation of the previous one, which is both good news and bad news. The good news is that we don’t really get a huge new cast to remember like the previous arc’s start: all the main characters here are familiar faces with the only new person showing up at the very end. The bad news, of course, is that I don’t get a whole bunch of new faces to talk about in a review, just the old familiar ones, which is a problem as this book is very much “clearing an obstacle” as a plotline. There is a place our heroes have to get to, it’s considered impossible to get there, but they do get there thanks to some old familiar faces, some nice gossip from an innkeeper, and of course Subaru’s Return By Death, which comes back gloriously in this volume, featuring some of the goriest deaths to date.

Yes, yes, look at the cover’s Rem’s back. Except she’s not, she remains in a coma the entire volume, so don’t get too excited. But she’s one of the many things that Subaru is hoping the Sage of the Watchtower can fix, along with Julius and Anastasia (who Subaru now sometimes calls “Foxidna”, i.e. Echidna wearing a fox stole. Anastasia/Echidna is not fond of that). Unfortunately, this involves making a journey so impossible even Reinhardt couldn’t manage it. Towards that end, they go back to the mansion and grab Rem (and thus Ram as well) and also Melia, the minor villain who can control beasts from a prior arc, who agrees to help them as basically she’s reluctant to go back to the person who hired her and pay the price of her failure. Unfortunately, not only do they have to deal with sandstorms, twists in time and space, and terrible monsters, but the Sage of the Watchtower seems to want Subaru dead. And she has lasers.

Rem may be in a coma for the volume, but that does not mean that her presence does not influence the others. Subaru and Ram both have very complex feelings of love and loathing regarding her, and Ram’s are even more complex as she’s the one who can’t remember her. One of the “death” endings involves everyone losing control of their emotions and killing each other, and Subaru and Ram both scream at each other for not caring enough about Rem’s wellbeing. And then there’s Emilia, who is sure that she loves Subaru, but has not quite gotten the hang of what that kind of love is. Everyone boggles a bit when she suggests she’s 100% fine with her and Rem both being objects of Subaru’s affection… till she throws in every other close friend he has, and we realize she means as a big family. Hang in there, Subaru.

So yes, a good volume, but it’s basically a long prologue to what’s actually going to be happening, which will no doubt involve Shaula, the character introduced right at the end, who seems far more delighted to see Subaru than is reasonable under any circumstances. We’ll see what happens next.

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 8

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By Zappon and Yasumo. Released in Japan as “Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasaretanode, Henkyou de Slow Life Surukoto ni Shimashita” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

The main thrust of this series is supposed to be the quiet life, but of course we also need to kickstart the next arc, which is basically “the new hero is broken”, and so this volume tries to have it both ways, with half the book being Red, Rit and Ruti on vacation doing things like making curry for the first time, or doing emergency appendectomies. The other half shows us the new hero’s party, and his arrival in Zoltan and interaction with the cast that remain in that sleepy town. Unfortunately, this created the main issue I have with this book, which is that the dissonance between the two plotlines is too great. I was unable to enjoy Red’s mountain vacation because I kept waiting for the evil things to start happening, and it put me on edge in a way I was not particularly fond of. Slow Life is there to be enjoyed, after all.

The start of the book is definitely in Slow Life mode, as Danan has recovered from his injuries and wants to celebrate by fighting Red in a spar, mostly to make sure Red hasn’t lost his edge by retiring to this backwater town. While this is happening, the Hero’s Party advances towards Zoltan, and we get a good look at Van, the new Hero. One gets the sense that The Gods were a bit annoyed with Ruti’s pesky ethics and morals, as Van does not have any of those. Hero is a job, and his only goal. Saving people is not part of that goal, nor is even being nice to them. Their job, according to him, is to battle the demon lord and die. And, in Zoltan, he finds an entire town full of people who don’t want anything to do with the battle against the demon lord. Uh-oh.

There was an interesting prologue to this book, showing the villain of the previous arc, Leonor, being shown the future that “should” have been, where she feels remorse at the end. (Said future also has Gideon being dead, and I get the sense that is what God wants more than anything else.) Leonor’s reaction is to basically say “fuck your redemption” and refuse to repent for anything. I respected that. But yes, “we have to kill God” definitely looks like it’s going to be the endgame of the series at the rate we’re going. Van is frankly terrifying and difficult to read, he makes your skin crawl. On the bright side, I continue to enjoy the author making Mister Crawly Wawly a genuine supporting character in this book, getting his own dynamic entrances and moments where he saves the day. In any other series he would be the adorable spider mascot there to show Tisse is a bit weird, here he helps humanize Tisse, who’s still probably my favorite character.

I would love to see more relaxed slow life stuff next time, but that’s not going to happen. Van vs. Ruti, coming soon. I just hope I can plow through it.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life: A Casket of Salt

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By Mato Sato and nilitsu. Released in Japan as “Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

You will pardon me if I am just a bit exhausted after reading this volume of the series. It consists entirely of payoff, which makes the plot more interesting, but also means that we don’t really get to relax and take in anything. And, frankly, we’re still inhibited by the actual writing. The anime was quite successful when it was released, and I think it showed off that the ideas and concepts in this series work best when they’re taken away from the author’s control. This book is a slog, no mistaking it, and while I realize some of that is simply because the events in it are unrelentingly grim that’s not the only reason. It doesn’t help that I get the feeling this series was supposed to end with this book (and Flare’s plan), but the upcoming anime had the publisher tell the author “we need to extend the series, can you make everything worse instead?”.

This book is about the battle between Menou/Akari and Flare, and it does not need supporting characters getting in the way, so Ashuna quickly departs (after confirming what we all knew already, that it’s Momo she’s really into). As for Momo herself, she falls for a fairly obvious trap and spends most of the book in a literal cage. This is not to say that Menou and Akari are getting all the cool and awesome things to do, though Menou does pretty well. Unfortunately, the new character from last volume has shown up, and she is absolutely the new antagonist and wants to let you know it by removing Akari from the board. The one thing that Menou has been trying to avoid this entire time has now happened, and what’s worse, she’s not a wanted traitor. Can she possibly find a way to set things right?

It’s hard to talk about this book without spoiling everything (as you can see by that awkward paragraph above), but I do want to say that a lot of the ideas and themes here are really good. We finally get revelations about Menou’s past, as well as Akari’s past, and they fit thematically. Everything about the Pandaemonium subplot was fantastic, and almost made me have an emotion. That’s probably the part of the series I look forward to seeing most in the next book. There’s generational stuff here, as we see the relationship back in the day between Flare and one of her isekai’d victims was similar to Menou and Akari’s. An anime of this would probably kill. It’s just… it all feels so flat on the page. I kept checking to see how long it had to go. The author’s writing has no style, no pep, no verve.

There’s enough here for me to grudgingly continue, if only to see if Ashuna can actually do something next time. But for the average reader wanting to see what comes next, I recommend waiting for a Season 2 of the anime.

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Lost Singer

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By Hajime Kamoshida and Keji Mizoguchi. Released in Japan as “Seishun Buta Yarou wa Mayoeru Singer no Yume wo Minai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

As we hit double digit volumes for this series, and we start what is basically “Rascal: The College Years”, it’s probably a good time to ask ourselves what we really want out of the series. Let’s face it, I’d be perfectly happy just watching Sakuta interact with the rest of the cast, no plot or dangerous supernatural phenomenon needed. Add in 40-50 pages of descriptions of subway stations, which is about the average with this series, and you could say that we don’t NEED the main premise of the series anymore. The main cast, for the most part, has accepted their past and trauma, and made a good effort at moving on. Sakuta and Mai are adults in college, and even Kaede will probably be graduating soon. There’s no NEED for what has been termed “Adolescence Syndrome”. And so, until the last page of the book, I assumed that this was the point of this volume. That the problems Uzuki had were totally normal.

You can sum up the plot of this volume as follows: “What measure is a non-airhead?”. Sakuta and Mai are now at college, and living the blissful couple life (well, except they barely see each other due to her job). He’s also tutoring two students from his old high school at a cram school, and hasn’t had to worry about any supernatural phenomenon in a year and a half. Uzuki and Nodoka, from Sweet Bullet, are also there, and Uzuki is in a lot of Sakuta’s classes, as they share a major. Uzuki is, of course, her usual lovable ditz self, and seems to get along with everyone in the class. “Seems” being the operative word. Because one day, Uzuki shows up at class, and something is… off. She’s making efforts to fit in more. She’s picking up social cues. What the hell is going on? This is so unlike her!

There’s actually a whole new mini-cast introduced here, which no doubt will get more of a look-in in future volumes. We meet Miori, who honestly seems to be Rule 63 Sakuta a lot of the time, and her obvious attempts to insert herself into his life. Ikumi, who we briefly saw in the last book, is briefly seen again, and Sakuta is still vaguely uncomfortable around her. There’s the cram school kids. I feel the author is apologizing for a lot of the old cast only making token appearances, but such is life. As for Uzuki and her issues, I thought it was very well handled and sometimes very sad, and the climax of the book was excellent. The actual resolution, though, feels not QUITE as happy as I’d have liked… especially given the OTHER new character we see at the end, who implies that this really WAS supernatural, not just Uzuki suddenly maturing. Enter Touko Kirishima.

No, it’s Touko, not Touka, this is not becoming a Tokyo Ghoul crossover. Exactly what it’s becoming is still undecided. But I will admit feeling unsatisfied that the catalyst for Uzuki’s issues was actually a third party. I will have to content myself with the fact that the conflict and resolution of it was all Uzuki, and she did very well.

Sword Art Online, Vol. 26: Unital Ring V

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By Reki Kawahara and abec. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

It’s not clear how much ;longer this arc of Sword Art Online is going to go, or if it really is the final arc in the story. I don’t think even the author knows, especially given that his afterword talks about how he gets distracted by side stories and diversions all the time and can’t advance the plot. But I think he’s thinking about it, and we get a little of that with Silica here, who gets to have most of the narration that isn’t Kirito’s when he’s in the Underworld. She’s been one of the original SAO gang for so long it’s sometimes hard to remember that she’s three years younger than most of the others, and she’s noticing that Asuna and Lisbeth aren’t playing games quite as much as they used to. It’s not framed in a “put away childish things” sort of way – indeed, Silica notes one of her friends think she’s the weird one for continuing to game so much after SAO – but hey, adulting is necessary. The real world beckons.

The plot here is neatly divided in half. On the Underworld side, Kirito, Asuna and Alice finally get to see Alice’s sister frozen in time, awaiting her return… along with two other surprise guests! Unfortunately, unfreezing them will involve Kirito and Eolyne becoming astronauts, going to one of the satellites where Kirito, pre-memory wipe, hid the information. But, of course, while there they find bad guys doing terrible things. On the Unital Ring side, the rest of the main cast need to find more ore in order to keep up with the other gamers, and doing so will involve facing off against a giant wasp nest! Can they use a dangerous flower that the SAO players know very well to try and swing the battle a little more their way? can can we really get to see a scene with Silica sitting on top of a giant bear fighting a wasp? Because that sounds pretty awesome, frankly.

This book not only thinks about the future a little bit, but also manages to recall the past. We get more “what measure is an NPC?” philosophy, but this also involves Asuna clearly thinking of Kizmel, and almost having a little breakdown. Those reading the Progressive books will know that Kizmel is hugely popular and I think the author is dragging things out a bit to use her more, but it’s also plainly obvious that she’s not going to stick around till the 75th floor, so we can guess what likely happened. And of course, we get more Underworld stuff, though of all the minor characters from that arc to make an emotional reappearance, the elevator operator was not the first one I would have guessed. It works well, though, and also allows our heroines to have a nice long bath, satisfying both Asuna’s love of bathing and also abec’s love of drawing fanservice.

So yes, the plot progression was minimal here, but this was a solid, fun read. SAO fans should be happy.

Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower, Vol. 9

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By Miri Mikawa and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Ikka Kōkyū Ryōrichō” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hunter Prigg.

This is one of those volumes where the audience knows the answer that the rest of the cast are searching for, but even by the end of the book they still have not quite figured it out. So much of this volume is about sacrificing personal hopes, dreams and happiness for the sake of the country, and the assumption that, deep down, everyone else will also be doing the same thing. Unfortunately for them, we’re able to peer inside Shusei’s head, and we’ve already read the previous eight books, so we know why he’s so determined to burn the entire country down to get what he wants. His birth father was able to throw it all away for the sake of love, but Shusei cannot do that, given Rimi’s position. He has to throw away everything else so he can have Rimi. And even Rimi still doesn’t quite get that, mostly as she still has the self-worth of a bent blade of grass at the side of the road.

After the events of the previous book, Kojin and Renka are being politely held at the palace so that it can be determined what happened to Rimi. The only trouble is that Rimi refuses to point any figures. That said, the answer is obvious, and Shohi has his first massive temper tantrum in some time. This results in Kojin resigning and going back to his seaside estate, and Renka saying she’d like to take up the position being offered, but won’t do it without the Chancellor agreeing to it. And the Chancellor just resigned. So someone has to go to Kojin’s estate and play peacemaker, trying to persuade him to give Shohi another chance so that the country can remain peaceful and stable. The perfect choice to do this, obviously, is the woman Kojin recently tried to murder.

Fear not, those who worry about such things, there is plenty of food in this volume, and it plays the major role in reconciliation here.l Not between Kojin and Shohi, though that happens as well, but between Kojin and Shusei, as we learn that sometimes when you think the only answer is “tough love” but you’re also terrible at real human emotions, it can come off as hatred. I always love how these mysteries are filtered through Rimi, who is actually trying to understand why they’re stubborn and unyielding but can only do so in terms of imagining what foods would and wouldn’t work on them. Kojin’s breakdown is very well handled, and I also enjoyed reading about how yes, his wife really DOES love him, surprise! That said, all this is drowned out by the cliffhanger ending, as Shusei makes war inevitable.

I am assuming that the next volume will be that war. I am also hoping that we finally get a reveal as to Mars’ identity, if only so they can be killed off. (There was an attempt at a tragic backstory here, which didn’t work well because it was too similar to the main tragic backstory.) In any case, this remains an addictive shoujo thriller.

Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire, Vol. 8

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By Hayaken and Nagu. Released in Japan as “Eiyu-oh, Bu wo Kiwameru tame Tensei su. Soshite, Sekai Saikyou no Minarai Kisi ♀” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mike Langwiser.

Reborn to Master the Blade is not, I think, a series that’s really trying to do much beyond having fun and writing a lot of Inglis fighting. The author admits in the afterword that they really don’t have much of an idea of where to go next, so there’s not really an end goal in mind. Sometimes this is a good thing. We’re here to see Inglis fight things, and the back half of this book is all that, showing us Inglis coming as close as she’s ever come to actually getting killed, and actually (gasp!) needing the help of other people once or twice in order to fend off the biggest Prismer yet. On the down side, Inglis does not show up until 100 pages into this book, and as I said last time, without Inglis this book is just spinning its wheels. I’m sorry, supporting cast, you are not quite interesting enough on your own.

The front half of the book features Lahti facing off against his brother, Windsel, with the winner likely becoming the next King. Windsel has several demands, which seem at least vaguely acceptable, but the last one, “let us execute Pullum”, is a no go, so they’ve got to do battle. This allows everyone to whip out their new special moves, which range from unsurprising (Leone, Liselotte) to very surprising (Lahti). After this, we cut back to the Prismer, and though Rafael, Rafinha and Yua try their best, it’s going to come down to Inglis in the end, when she eventually gets there, which is (of course) right when all hope is lost. That said, can she really have enough power to stop it? And, more importantly, can everyone stop her trying to heal it up so that she can fight it even more equally?

This is essentially a series written for guys, but it features a whole lot of kickass women with either swords, magic, or both. As a result, it tries hard to attempt to push back on “why are women fighting, they are too fragile, the man should be protecting them” and actually embracing that, mostly because “a guy has to protect his younger sister” is a stronger cliche than “women can fight as well as men” in the author’s mind. It’s a bit disappointed, but hey, at least Leon and Leone have worked things out. I was also rather surprised, contrary to what I’d guessed in the last review, that the “turned into a magicite beast” process does NOT appear to be reversible. That said, Yua was at least polite enough to rescue the only one we’d actually seen named, and hopefully they can at least do SOMETHING for him.

After a half-volume of fighting, the epilogue features a whole lot of eating. This is definitely an “end of arc” book, and the next one promises to be far more light-hearted. That said, it also promises fewer fights. I hope I’m wrong there.

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 15

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

As many have noticed by now, this author really, really loves playing around in isekai tropes and cliches, and the more cliched the better – in fact, it comes as a surprise in this series when it ISN’T the cliche. When they’re investigating a local noble, you can guarantee that he is going to be a scummy noble who treats those he’s responsible for like crap, because scummy nobles are just what isekais do. (This is not unique to FUNA – Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear has similar ideas, though subverts them more often.) It doesn’t help that isekai’d Mile tends to regard this world as a giant bucket list full of things she wants to do, and most of this volume happens because she’s desperate to find a village of beastmen… mostly so that she can pet the little beastgirls. Let’s face it, FUNA is also not afraid to show that Mile can be creepy a lot of the time.

Mile and company start off by having a meeting with the Elder Dragons, which ends up being short on information but long on nail art. We then get the bulk of the book, as Mile really, really wants to find a beastman village, despite the fact that most beastmen are NOT like Lenny but are actually very wary of humans… and we see why when they get to the village, only to find that some of the village’s children have been kidnapped! Unfortunately, this is not a mission the Crimson Vow an take on officially… fortunately, Mile can get in touch with the Crimson Blood, who coincidentally look, act, and are the same as the Crimson Vow! But they’re not on the clock. Now it’s up to our heroines to investigate the kidnappings, which are genuinely happening, but also where each kidnapped girl ended up, which… does not go quite as expected.

So word of warning here, if you’re the sort who avoids slavery in your isekai books… well, first of all, you must read very few isekai books, but secondly, this book delves deeply into the nitty gritty of slavery in this world. It’s illegal officially, except in the “I am broke and enslave myself to pay off my debts” way, but unofficially it’s definitely around. Two of the three kidnapped girls are indeed either being worked to death for no money or imprisoned and in the process of being sold abroad. Mile and the others have no issues destroying the ones responsible. Sometimes, though, kidnapping can actually be a way out. When you’re a girl in a backwater village expected to marry a guy from the same village, which is a very misogynist one… honestly, getting taken in by the local evil noble ends up sounding like a pretty good deal. Especially if the noble, like Mile, has a taste for the fluff. Make My Abilities Average has always had an undercurrent of “sexism is everywhere, and it’s terrible”, and we even see it in a slavery plotline here.

The book ends with the Crimson Vow off to check the last item on Mile’s list… visiting a demon village. Will this advance the plot? Are we getting towards the end of the series? Who knows? But pretty good stuff.

An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me!, Vol. 2

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

In my review of the first volume of this light novel series, I said that it reminded me of an eroge where the reader was just following the walkthrough, not wanting to get remotely near any choices that resulted in a bad ending. That still applies, fear not. That said, it also is similar to that genre in other ways. This series is never going to have any sexual content, or if it is it will be much later on. But for all that it is sweet as pie, it is also here for the horny male that is its main reader. Nanami has large breasts, something that the text of this volume will absolutely hammer home over and over throughout, and she and Yoshin are clearly thinking of each other sexually, even if the closest we get is kisses on the cheek/forehead and sticking his arm against her chest as they walk. Which, honestly, does feel pretty teenage.

Nanami and Yoshin are now a couple, and naturally are going to have the standard problems that couples have. Well, to a degree. They have the problems, it’s just they’re dealt with in a ridiculously easy way. For Yoshin it’s that the teachers don’t believe he’d be dating a hot girl, so worry that she’s bullying him. For Nanami, it’s that the other girls in her class are amazed she’s dating an introverted loner. Resolving this takes about five pages at most. There’s also the matter of Nanami meeting Yoshin’s parents, but as it turns out they accidentally run into the couple while they’re sharing a bubble tea. This also goes REALLY well, the only issue being that Yoshin has been taking the lunch money his parents had been giving him every day, since Nanami is making him lunches. There’s nothing getting in this couples’ way, so clearly it’s time for an aquarium date.

The series’ strongest point is the sweetness. These two are ridiculously pure and likeable. Yoshin may be an “introvert”, but unlike a lot of titles like this that does not mean that he’s a loser socially inept dweeb sort. Indeed, we learn late in the book that the whole “dare” that started this series was instigated by Nanami’s two friends in order for her to have someone to watch over her after they graduated, and that Yoshin was their first choice. I think the author realizes that the “we dated on a dare” part is still hanging over the couple, and although most of the rest of the cast knows the truth, Nanami hasn’t confessed it to Yoshin, nor has he told her he knew from the start. That’s the ONLY conflict. Everything else is 80% adorable couple-ness and 20% sexy hot girl, look. It’s almost a perfect example of its genre.

There’s a third book coming, and I’m not sure we’ll be getting to the “confession” that is supposed to happen in a month’s time – this series moves very slowly. But if you’re looking for cute, and are OK with sexytimes that never go anywhere except rated PG, this is a can’t miss title.