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Reviews

My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World, Vol. 3

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By Tamamaru and Kinta. Released in Japan as “Kajiya de Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Linda Liu.

Still enjoying this series, don’t get me wrong, but it’s time I face up to the face that I am skimming a large chunk of it every time simply because I really don’t care one jot about the Blacksmith Life part of this book. There is just so much detail about how to make swords correctly, knives correctly, and katanas correctly, including hilts and scabbards and the like. And of course we also get to hear Eizo talk a lot about how he’s using his cheats too, so these are essentially IKEA blueprints that contain the S. Harris punchline “then a miracle occurs” halfway through the process. It is a BIG chunk of every book, and I think the series would benefit from less of it, even if it means sacrificing a bit of the slow life pacing. Which gets a bit of a kick in the pants in this volume anyway, as halfway through Eizo is called out to help with a monster subjugation that turns nasty.

In the first half of this volume, we essentially get the same thing as the second half of Book 2, only with the elf replaced with a demon. Nilda recently suffered a crushing defeat battling against a mere human, and the mere human had a very familiar sword. Now Nilda wants a sword of her own to challenge her, so basically stakes out Eizo’s hometown till she runs into him. What follows is a lot of slow life sword building and all the girls admiring Eizo’s muscular blacksmith body. After this, Marius asks that Eizo go monster exterminating with them, so that he can repair the swords and armor when they’re broken in battle. This battle ends up being more personal than he expected, as he runs into the elf Lidy, who just left his shop with her own magic sword. She’s here to help them take out the main monster boss… and avenge her brother.

I gloss over it a bit in these reviews, but this is still very much that genre of “a harem series without any actual sex or even kissing” that is so popular in Japan. Nilda clearly likes Eizo. By the end of the book, Livy has gone back to his shop and moved in with everyone. We meet a young woman, Frederica, who is in charge of logistics and can best be summed up as “small insecure accountant” but also clearly is in love with Eizo by the end of the book. Hell, it’s implied that the Queen of the Demons has taken a liking to him as well, and the flashforwards we occasionally see very pointedly say he has a wife but never say who it is. This book is written for folks who love seeing a man surrounded by a dozen women but who will be making precisely zero moves. I know this upsets some light novel fans.

Still, it is what it is. It’s slow life, adding girls one by one, and smithing. So much smithing.

Nina the Starry Bride, Vols 1 and 2 by Rikachi

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Nina the Starry Bride Volumes 1 and 2 by Rikachi

I’m really bad at buying digital volumes of manga and then totally forgetting to read them, but I got a new tablet recently so I’m hoping to start getting caught up on some digital series that have been out for awhile. Nina the Starry Bride is likely one of those series that I would have glommed onto immediately if it had a print release, but I’m coming to it a bit late.

Nina the Starry Bride Vol 1

Royal duplicate plots are fairly common in fantasy manga, but Nina the Starry Bride is a solid example of the genre, helped a great deal by charming and detailed art. Nina is an orphan with unusual blue eyes who has found a family of sorts with a couple brothers. They spend their days hiding out and stealing occasionally to support themselves. When they fall on hard times, Nina is betrayed and handed over to slavers and her unusual eye color leads to her being recruited to be a stand-in for a recently deceased princess by the amber-eyed Prince Azure.

After some initial resistance, Nina works hard to develop her knowledge of etiquette and ability to behave like a princess. As only Azure and a few trusted servants know her secret, Nina grows closer to the second prince as she learns more about the royal family. Azure has a younger brother who is the acknowledged heir, a snarky stepmother, and his mysterious father is king. Nina and Azure share a certain loneliness, and it is nice to see how they begin to open up to each other. This series is fairly fast-paced as by the second volume Nina has a strong grasp of geopolitics and decides to save Azure, even though he’s attempting to prevent Nina from being sent off to a neighboring kingdom as part of a political alliance.

Rikachi has attractive character designs, with Azure looking particularly cool with his standoffish manners and asymmetrical earrings. Nina shifts from orphan to princess, and the lush detail of her life in the palace contrasts with the sparseness of her previous life. While Nina might not have the royal background of the people surrounding her, she’s true to herself in a way that makes it easy for her to deal with the political and family issues that she she encounters. While the elements of Nina the Starry Bride aren’t used in a particularly novel way, it is overall a strong fantasy manga that should appeal to fans of Dawn of the Arcana

When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace, Vol. 3

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By Kota Nozomi and 029. Released in Japan as “Inou Battle wa Nichijoukei no Nakade” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tristan K. Hill.

Imagine that you are an Olympic sprinter. It’s the final race. All eyes of the world are on you. You’re feeling great. Your fiancee is cheering from the stands. The starter pistol goes off, and you take off, quickly putting all the other runners in the shade. It’s smooth sailing till the end of the race. You smile, confident and proud. Then you trip on absolutely nothing and fall flat on your face. All the other runners trample over you as they fly towards victory. You have humiliated yourself and your country. The medics don’t even want to treat you. Your fiancee leaves you, sobbing. The team bus leaves without you, as does the team plane. And so there you are, broke and starving, wondering where it all went wrong. If it wasn’t for that one horrid misstep right at the finish! If you can imagine that, then you can pretty much imagine how I felt on getting to the climax of the third volume of When Supernatural Battles Become Commonplace.

As has become the norm with this series, the first half is basically a bunch of fooling around, goofy gags, and Andou being incredibly irritating. The club plays tennis, and has a cosplay roulette tournament, which gets everyone into embarrassing outfits. That said, as you may have guessed by the cover art, Chifuyu is the featured girl of this volume. She seems to be having difficulty at school, which Andou drops her off at one morning, and trouble dealing with her best friend Madoka Kuki, aka “Cookie”. Well, best friend is probably the wrong word. Partly because Chifuyu is so helpless at doing anything that Kuki ends up acting more like a mom than anything else. And partly as, well, Chifuyu has the club, and talks about the club all the time. Which, naturally, makes Kuki mad.

For the most part, this was a lot of fun. Andou has become tolerable for the most part, especially when we contrast him with his loathsome “friend” Sagami. He and Tomoyo go on what is, to all intents and purposes, a date midway through this book, and it’s cute as hell. There’s some ominous foreshadowing of a character from Andou’s past (who might be trans?), but that’s for a future book. And Chifuyu’s problem thankfully has nothing whatsoever to do with the superpowers or the other evil organization – it’s just typical elementary school stuff, and reminds you that she really is ten years old. Which makes Andou’s “solution” to the problem really head-slappingly terrible. Even Hachiman would not quite be this self-sacrificing. It’s creepy. And it also reminds you that Chifuyu probably *is* a love interest for Andou despite being ten, because the whole club is – that’s the point of the book, ti’s a harem series. Which, whatever. But there’s no need to underline it with all this lolicon stuff.

So, 85% of a good book. Just stop before the final chapter and assume there was a sensible solution. …right, this is When Supernatural Battles Become Commonplace, there is nothing sensible here. Never mind. Carry on.

Reincarnated As the Last of My Kind, Vol. 4

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By Kiri Komori and Yamigo. Released in Japan as “Tensei Shitara Zetsumetsu Sunzen no Kishou Shuzokudeshita” on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Roman Lempert.

It’s two years after the previous book, and there’s a lot of bad, heavy things going on. Tina is now living at the captured fort, being flown around to various dangerous places to purify monsters. She’s referred to as “the holy woman” by basically everyone, and has almost come to accept it. She’s also coming to accept the fact that she’s in love with Renge, and debates confessing to him, though world events kind of put a kibosh on that. But the Sugula keeps coming closer and closer to them, and it needs to be destroyed soon. We’re getting into “this is the passing of an era” style fantasy, where one mentor close dying and another mentor actually dying off screen (how rude!). And, of course, there’s still the occasional enemy attack, and those are getting more and more dangerous. What on earth can Tina do to help things? If your answer was “have a fashion show”, then congratulations, you too may be able to write web novels.

To be fair, the fashion show *is* a side story, where Tina tries to solve the problem of newly freed slaves who still have tons of issues working them out by bullying each other. There’s also two side stories, which focus on the non-Tina romances in this book, and show off that just because a character SEEMS dense and oblivious it doesn’t necessarily mean they actually are. Unfortunately, the two side stories and the extra story run to just over half the book, leaving only the first half left for the actual plot to bubble up. This is also a problem with web novels, which are rarely written with the author thinking “now, I’m at about Page 220 if this were a Kadokawa book, time to have a cliffhanger”. But it can be very frustrating if you’re invested in how the world is going to be saved.

Tina doesn’t really have a fun book. We don’t even SEE the inn that she and her father used to tend here, and she’s pretty much resigned herself to being the savior of many (though her sister and others also yearn for a day when she can just lie around and make incredible healing potions, something she doesn’t have time to do anymore). She gets more information on her parents’ background, but this comes at the cost of losing a new found family member just when she realized she was a family member. And of course there’s the revelation that falling in love with Renge may actually produce a stone that could lead to a war that lasts centuries – again. As plot macguffins to stop a confession go, it’s certainly a strong one. That said, I think that the 5th book is the last? So we may not have more to go before an actual confession.

This is the second book in a row that felt like it was just marking time, and as always YMMV on the romance between a 15-year-old with the mind of a 30-year-old inside her and an immortal who rescued her as a baby. Still, I’ll soldier on. This was OK.

My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex: “Childhood Friends No More”

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By Kyosuke Kamishiro and TakayaKi. Released in Japan as “Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

Given that I’ve said how much I don’t care for Akatsuki, and how I prefer it when the series focuses on its main couple, this third volume was always going to be a hard sell for me, as it gets into the nitty gritty backstory of her relationship with Kawanami, how it changed, and her own personal issues, with Mizuto and Yume once again being pushed to the background. That said, it does a decent job, showing me that Akatsuki is aware of her dangerous personality issues and is doing her best to change them, even if she thinks of it as “wearing a mask”. And frankly Kawanami has just as many issues, some of which were brought on my his tortured past relationship but most of which are his own damn fault, and he seems to be as obsessed with his friendship with Mizuto as Akatsuki is about her friendship with Yume. They have a lot more baggage than our two leads, and I’m not sure they need to get back together.

The first half of the book focuses heavily on Isana Hagashira, who has now been rejected by Mizuto but oddly takes that as an invitation to be even more blatant around him, since she knows he’s not interested in her romantically. Essentially, she still has some difficulties working out how normal girls react around normal boys. And she’s probably not getting any help from the people around her – for one thing, Kawanami takes an instant dislike to her as she says she’s Mizuto’s best friend – that’s his job! The second half of the book gets into the backstory of Akatsuki and Kawanami when the group all go on a “study camp” sponsored by the school, and we discover, as Hagashira points out, that the “childhood friend” trope is something best reserved for fiction.

Explaining the backstory of those two is pretty easy, actually: they’re both latchkey kids who lived next to each other, and Kawanami was naturally extroverted anyway, so they simply grew together. Unfortunately, Akatsuki’s lack of boundaries proved to be crippling – we saw a lot of that in the first volume, and it creeped me out. Here we see Akatsuki acknowledge she was backsliding, and she really is trying not to get so obsessed with those around her (Yume as well) but the sheer loneliness that settles in when she does this is crushing. The intervention towards the end of the book that led the two of them to break down in front of each other is good for catharsis, but I’m not sure it will lead them to grow closer again just yet. As for Hagashira, she’s pretty hilarious, but I do think her shtick only works, as she knows, because of Mizuto’s lack of interest. As for Mizuto and Yume themselves… the biggest romcom thing that happened to them takes place entirely offscreen.

The anime of this has started, and the verdict so far seems to be “OK but flatly animated”. We’ll see how it goes. Till then, this remains a decent romcom but I wish we would return to our main couple.

Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love, Vols 1 and 2

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Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love Volumes 1 and 2 by Ayuko Hatta

In today’s stressful times, reading determinedly uncomplicated romance can be quite soothing, which is why I’m enjoying the angst free and sometimes silly series Ima Koi. Satomi was too shy to confess her feelings to a crush in middle school, so she’s determined to be different in high school and seize her next chance for love. When stoic, incredibly tall Yagyu saves her from a train groper and she finds out that he goes to her school she follows through on her vow and asks him out. He says yes, and thus their romance begins.

Ima Koi

Satomi is cute, with her quick entry into dating she’s fulfilled her main goal, but she’s still figuring out what to do now that she’s in a relationship. Yagyu is a bit more enigmatic, but he’s won over by Satomi’s forthright nature and her tendency to fling herself on top of him from the subway stairs. He’s interested in getting to know her, and they soon start dating. They deal with complications that beset any new couple as Satomi has to navigate around Yagyu’s suspicious best friend and his obsessed younger sister. While this manga doesn’t reach the hilarity of My Love Story!! there are plenty of funny situations, such as when Yagyu and Satomi go on a date to the zoo and his younger sister Juri tags along. Juri becomes more and more enraged as Satomi keeps not reacting to her attempts to undermine the date, until she transforms into a menacing side character from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Ima Koi is a fun escape, and the way most issues get resolved by the end of every volume makes for a relaxing shoujo series.

My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, Vol. 14

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By Wataru Watari and Ponkan 8. Released in Japan as “Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatte Iru” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

I will note that the ending to this series feels very much like you’d expect. The whole thing has involved people avoiding the subject, ducking the real issues, and trying to take care of everything without getting anyone else involved – all things that are impossible if you want to be an actual romantic couple. So somebody is going to have to take a step up here. It’s not going to be Yui, who communicates her feelings to Hachiman in the best “Hachimanese” she can, but he knows and won’t say anything. It’s also not going to be Hachiman, who will never do anything the honest, straightforward way if he can possibly duck out of it. No, it’s going to have to be Yukino, still trying to get the approval of her mother, and putting on a very nice compromise prom that has no problems… but still is not good enough. It’s going to require working together to get a happy ending… and possibly an actual confession.

So yes, they have the prom, and it goes well. Yui gets to dance with Hachiman. Yukino gets to validate herself in front of her family. Iroha gets to feel important and be really annoying. It’s good… but is it good enough? There was a bigger, cooler prom that got shot down, right? Shouldn’t they have fought harder for it? What’s more, it involved another high school, and they’re busy asking “hey, what about that joint prom?”. It’ll take a lot of work to fix this, as well as some brazen lying and bluffing. Fortunately, they have someone who is fantastic at hard work and someone who is fantastic at brazen lying and bluffing. Unfortunately, they’re both acting as if, once this is over, they’ll drift apart and never see each other again. Can Hachiman and Yukino be kicked in the ass enough to confess to each other?

This doesn’t spoil too much (if you think it’s a spoiler Hachiman and Yukino are the final pairing, I urge you to reread Vols 1-13), but it feels absolutely right that Yukino is able, after the 2nd prom, to finally come out with a sincere “I love you”, but Hachiman’s confession to HER is about as oblique as “the moon is beautiful tonight”, basically saying that he wants to continue to get involved with her problems and be in her life. But that’s huge, for him. He wants to be close to someone. He even admits he’s going to get a job after college, rather than the bullshit “househusband” thing he’s always said before. As for Yui… I’m sorry, this is not the sort of series that was going to end with an OT3, though at least she is still trying to stay friends with them. In the end, the only one who exits the story here is Shizuka, who gets transferred to another school, but not before one last dance with her favorite student.

This is the final volume… except there’s a short story collection coming after this. It’s mostly “bundle up the short stories that came out with Blu-Ray boxes”, but has one taking place after this book. In the meantime, this feels like a very appropriate ending for the series.

My Happy Marriage, Vol. 2

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By Akumi Agitogi and Tsukiho Tsukioka. Released in Japan as “Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon” by Fujimi L Bunko. Released in North America Yen On. Translated by David Musto.

The late lamented manga Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei had as one of its characters a girl named Ai Kaga, whose name was a take on “guilt complex”. She constantly blamed herself for anything that happened around her, even if it had nothing to do with her. This was mined for considerable humor, as was everything in that manga, to the point where Ai’s apologies could actually be weaponized to take out soldiers. Now, take that sort of person and play it 100% seriously and tragically, and you have an idea what reading another volume inside the head of Miyo Saimori is like. Yes, the title continues to be the most ironic one ever, as just because we’ve removed Miyo from her abusive family does not mean that we’ve actually solved her problems, especially since her husband is also a past master at non-communication. The result is that this book feels a lot like the first one did: beautiful and well-written, but not something to read if you’re in the mood for a “light” novel.

Having settled in at the home of her fiance, Miyo is trying to learn the art of being a bride, complete with lessons on “how to act at parties” from Kiyoka’s bright and outgoing sister Hazuki. Unfortunately, she’s started to have horrible nightmares every night, which has made it hard for her to get any rest and has caused her mental health to once more deteriorate. This is not being helped by the fact that she has no idea how to ask for help or to say she needs to rest, and Kiyoka himself has no idea how to offer help if Miyo does not ask for it first. The result is that both of them are once again doubting their partner’s feelings. So it’s a very bad time for a man to show up and turn out to be her cousin, related to her mother’s side of the family… which has as many dark secrets as her father’s side.

As you’d expect with a book like this, once we reach the breaking point for Miyo and she is allowed to become proactive, she shows off that she can be a terrifyingly powerful and gorgeous young woman. It’s just that we kind of have to get through 150 pages, a break-up, more family abuse, and a heaping helping of despair first. I’m not surprised that Miyo’s actually not just powerful, but one of the most powerful Gift-Users around, as this was signposted in the first book. Possibly the most interesting part of the book was Miyo’s feelings towards her mother, who had deliberately suppressed Miyo’s powers in order to protect her… but this also led to Miyo’s abuse by her family for years. She finds this very difficult to simply accept with just a “she did it because she loved me”. I also really enjoyed Hazuki, a desperately needed outgoing and extroverted young who also has a sad backstory but is still strong.

I’m still looking forward to the next volume of this series, but I suspect it will once again be “no, this is still not a happy marriage”, because the plot seems to be “overcoming obstacles”. As such, let the reader beware.

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 6

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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.

It’s become a commonly known thing by now that Slow Life books, for the most part, aren’t really. They’re “I started with a slow life and then” books. No one is going to read 200 pages of JUST farming beans. You need to get a wide variety of cute young women, old friends trying to drag you back into fighting, monsters threatening your peaceful farm, etc. That applies even to a seies like this, where all the hero work was at the start and now Red and Rit are just trying to run a small apothecary shop and find the time for occasional hot wolfgirl sex. But Ruti is different, and the book is continuing to let us know that her deciding not to have her entire life destroyed for the sake of her hero blessing is not something that is simply going to be accepted. The world needs a hero.

Yes, Rit can turn into a wolfgirl, though honestly that’s the least important part of this book. On the heels of the three assassins seen at the end of the previous book, a massive ship appears in the harbor, there to block all trade until they get what they want. What they want is to search the church records of everyone in the town till they find a specific blessing, something the Church finds abhorrent. Ruti and Tisse start to investigate, and find the story of a prince who is searching for his birthright, a kingdom in turmoil, and a pirate elf woman who just wants to protect what she already has. Now Ruti has to try to play detective without simply solcing everything the way the hero would, and Tisse has to go after some former assassin classmates who have gone rogue.

You may notice I did not mention Red and Rit there. They’re both very much still the stars of the book, but are content to leave the dangerous stuff to Ruti and Tisse – their own job is to try to find alternatives to the things that the town can’t import anymore, like oil. It’s refreshing and heartwarming seeing them deliberately not help out with the monstrous plot on the horizon. Now, yes, this is clearly the first of a multi-book arc, and I know they will both be dragged into it in the next volume, especially since Red seems acquainted with the current Queen of Veronia, who has all the signs of being, if not a Big Bad, at least the gateway to the Big Bad. But that’s next time. For this, it’s about finding out how to get oil from coconuts, trusting your sister and her wife and their spider to handle things, and investigating new fetishes you’ve just discovered.

The book feels a bit slight, but that’s not uncommon with the first book of an arc – or of this genre in general. The slow life may go away eventually, but it’s winning for now.

My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me!, Vol. 7

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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.

Sometimes you can concentrate so hard on your goal that you lose sight of basic things like resting, recuperating, and daily life chores. This is the dilemma we see Akiteru facing here, as he realizes that he needs to have the game team do even more if he wants to get popular… but they’re honestly working pretty hard already. Does genius still work when it’s too tired to function? What’s more… can he really rely on just his core team of brilliant specialists? Most game studios would use more people and sacrifice a but of quality, y’know? And it does not really help that he’s having to deal with his fake girlfriend’s mom hiding out at her daughter’s home, or his friend’s little sister’s mom also moving back home for a while. they both seem very aware of the relationships between the group. In fact, honestly, I think the mothers between them have both figured out everything. Which is probably not very good news for Iroha.

So yeah, Akiteru’s got problems. Leaving aside Mom #1 and Mom #2, both of whom seem to be very suspicious of him in general, he’s running up against the fact that their game has plateaued in terms of popularity. Now he’s got to think of other ways to get around that, and do it fast, as the class trip is coming up soon. He could try getting a popular Instagram star to be seen playing their game… except she’s a incoherent mess of a girl. He could try getting his illustrator to create even more really awesome art for the series… except doing that, combined with planning for the class trip, ends up hospitalizing her. He could try doing what Iroha’s mom suggests and actually hire other people for his niche game company composed only of geniuses… but that would involve compromising his vision. What’s the best solution?

This is a solid volume. The romance, oddly, feels a bit on the back burner here, partly as there’s not much that can go on with both moms present. That said, Book 8 promises a lot of Akiteru and Mashiro, as Iroha, being a first year, cannot go on the class trip with them. (And yes, I am fully expecting the author to get around that somehow.) Most of this volume focuses on the game and Akiteru’s future plans for it. It’s not surprising to see the direction he takes, but it is rather relieving, as I was worried he was close to napping. This is not a major game for a major company – that’s his goal. It’s a indie project. And the game DOES have enough fans so he can get away with it. I was also amused at Mashiro’s mom and the revelation about what’s going on with her and her husband, which is both hilarious and also twistedly heartwarming. I am really looking forward to seeing what happens with her and Iroha, especially as the moms clearly have a bitter rivalry of their own.

So yeah, good romcom stuff. Anime coming soon, I believe.

The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-Up, Vol. 1

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By Rino Mayumi and Machi. Released in Japan as “Jimihime to Kuroneko no, Enman na Konyaku Haki” by M Novels F. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Evie Lund.

First off, this isn’t a villainess novel, and no one has any memories from Japan. That said, there is a certain sub-genre of villainess novels we’ve started to see more of recently, which is the “noblewoman breaks up with her fiance” genre. These are often a part of the villainess genre, usually with a big public break-up and possible exile/ruination in the offing, but not always. And this particular book looks as if it’s going to head in that direction. Our heroine, who the title has already conditioned us to believe is the mousy, plain one, overhears a group of teenage boys, including her fiance the prince, praising her pretty younger sister to the skies while disparaging her. We know what’s happening here. What a bastard. He doesn’t deserve someone as good as the heroine. And while that may be true… is that really what she overheard? Or did she overhear a bunch of teens who have no idea how to say they like someone?

Seren is the older sibling and has spent most of her life preparing to be the Queen, engaged to Crown Prince Helios. Sadly, she’s now heard how he really feels about her (or so she thinks). Devastated, she runs off to cry, and is discovered by the court mage Viol, who has long black hair and is gorgeous but has a reputation for being aloof and unfriendly. That’s why it’s a problem when she sees him grinning at a cupcake he’s about to eat. She ends up blackmailing him into finding her a magic teacher something she has a talent for. If she’s a court mage, she can break up with Helios, he can marry Marietta, her younger sister, and everyone will be happy. As for Viol, he decides to teach her himself, by turning into his “familiar”, a black cat. Except… she’s not just good at magic, she’s a prodigy!

So many books in this genre have a narrative trick where you see the heroine narrating something, and the next chapter is the same thing narrated by the love interest. This does that as well, though Seren and Viol alternate POV. In between those, though, we see POV of some other characters which explains things and gives them depth. Helios turns out to be an earnest young man who had never really understood what his fiance was like until recently, and he’s head over heels for her. His friends, including the son of the prime minister, ALSO love her. The fact that all that “Oh, Marietta is so great” at the start was all of them trying to push her onto another one of the boys so they could have Seren to themselves is hilarious and also really sad. Even Marietta, who seems at first to be the stock selfish and jealous younger sister, fares well here – she *is* jealous, and does want Helios for herself, but it stems from a love for her sister and a desire not to see the two of them, who have similar personalities, work themselves to death.

The book is not perfect. Seren’s low opinion of herself may be textually justified, but that does not make it less irritating to read, as she gives herself no credit at all for nearly 300 pages. The other problem is that this is Volume 1, and we’re just setting everything up. We haven’t even had the break-up – she’s said she will, but hasn’t done it (and good thing too, as the King and Queen love her and have planned everything out 4expecting her to be royalty). So the narrative car crash I expected didn’t happen. Still, I enjoyed this well enough to get another volume.

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 3

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

One of the conceits of many villainess novels is that the heroine is not aware that she’s already achieved the goal almost from the start. The love interests in the game who shun her are besotted with her, the commoners and servants all adore her, and she’s got this in the bag, even though she insists that one false step and she’s toast. That is not a problem that Aileen has to worry about here. She is reminded over and over that one false step and she is indeed toast. The threat of execution hangs over her head for this entire volume, her demonic allies are on the run and trying to avoid the kingdom performing a mass murder, and the Queen Mother is literally plotting against her. But that’s OK, because she has Claude and his incredible powers, not to mention his love for her. Except… Claude’s lost his memories. And his powers. Um… uh-oh?

The book starts in medias res, with Aileen and her allies trying to infiltrate a secret high society auction of Bad Things… where she’s surprised to see Serena, the villainess of the second game. She also meets Elefas, one of the love interests from the Fan Disc (which means Aileen barely knows him, as she skipped things that weren’t the main route), who asks her to ask Claude if he can ally himself with the demons, as his village of mages is being persecuted. Unfortunately, that night Claude is stabbed, and ends up as I said above. Now Aileen is in trouble – the crown does not want him remembering his Demon Lord powers, so wants her away from him even if they have to kill her – and they’ll find any excuse to do so, because they also have Lilia, the “heroine” of the games, in their corner.

Probably the most interesting part of this volume is what it does with Cedric. He’s not remorseful over the end of his relationship with Aileen, who he knows very well but does not seem to actually like,l and the feeling is mutual. But he’s come to realize that Lilia, who he DOES love, sees him as… well, as a character rather than a person. And that bothers him a lot. To the point where, throughout the book, he winds up helping Aileen surreptitiously, much to her annoyance. Aileen herself is emotionally all over the map here, at first headstrong and brash, then sulking and trying to forget about Claude (which doesn’t work for even five seconds), then cheerfully sadistic, which is our favorite side of her. the actual fear she’s truly feeling throughout the book only comes out near the end.

The book ends with a wedding, and it would make a very good ending to the series itself if I didn’t know there were 5+ more volumes. And once again, the illustrator has failed us in terms of duck drawings. That said, this is in my Top 5 Villainess series, and I can’t recommend it enough. The anime is coming soon as well.

The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes, Vol. 4

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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 Tom Harris.

It could just be that I’ve grown so used to it that I’m actually starting not to notice it, but this volume seemed a bit less creepy about most of the cast being in love with Rosemary. And that’s despite the fact that a chunk of the book revolves around one of the cast kidnapping her to be his bride. (It turns out to be a lot more complicated than that.) But for the most part there’s less leering and more worshipping, as we get another of the classic reincarnated villainess tropes in force here, that of the villainess as messiah. Rosemary’s can-do attitude, combined with her knowledge from Japan and minimalist knowledge of the plot of the game (which is getting increasingly unreliable) has led to her winning over everyone around her (shades of Katarina Claes) and inspiring them to also be the best person they can possibly be (also shades of Katarina Claes). She’s savvy, too. (Sorry, Katarina.)

We pick up where we left off last time, with Rosemary being kidnapped. The book is about 60% her narration as we follow her… and she ends up in the village that she’s been looking or anyway, which is having trouble surviving (fewer children are living past infancy) for unknown reasons (Rosemary figures out pretty fast that it’s inbreeding). Now she has to win over the village, explain why she’s there, and get them to help her. And she has a time limit, as the other half of the plot involves her brother Johan, as well as Princes Nacht and Licht of Vint, discovering that the disease Rosemary has been trying to head off at the past has already ravaged this area of the kingdom… and is being covered up by a desperate noble. Will Rosemary make it in time to save everyone?

The best scene in the book is the one where the village chief convinces Rosemary to act the part of the Goddess from their past, using some stuff she has that can pass as “magic”… and she simply cannot do it, admitting she’s just a princess and winning them over with her earnest pleading instead. Over and over again we see that what matters most about Rosemary is not her past knowledge, but her ability to plead her case and get across how much she cares. She struggles at the daily physical tasks of the village, but she does them anyway, rather than complaining or half-assing it like a princess normally would. To be fair, this is not unique to her, and a lot of villainess books are like this, but it works quite well. It works for other characters as well – Nacht is beloved by his people, even though he’s a pessimistic grouch, because he clearly cares a great deal about everyone and everything. Deception does not win anyone’s heart here.

Fortunately, we don’t get a cliffhanger of “will the doctors arrive in the nick of time”, as Rosemary manages to gather everyone around her and get to where Johan is… even if that requires fudging how time works in a very Shakespearean way. That said, I won’t complain. I like Rosemary as well, and want to read more about her.

Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower, Vol. 6

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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.

Sometimes there are series that start as one thing and become a completely different thing. That’s normal narrative progression, but it always seems to be a shame when they lose sight of what drew people into the series in the first place. Good news, however, that is not a problem with Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower. Sure, we may now be watching the world’s slowest coup, filled with danger and soldiers lining up for war and betrayal and famine and more betrayal. But, in the end, Rimi still solves the entire problem by delicious food. And that’s the series’ brand, it’s what makes it different from others of its ilk. Rimi has OP powers, but they’re not ‘to make everyone fall in love with her’ (though yes, there is a love triangle), they’re ‘cooking will automatically make everything better and easier to understand’. Even in this book, when she goes full artisan, giving the Emperor and his administrator a 100-plate meal with one bite of food on each plate.

Rimi and Shohi are still reeling after the events of the previous book, so much so that the emperor decides to postpone the “Nocturnal Liturgy” that would consummate their relationship. Neither of them can figure out why Shusei would do this, and he is being 100% unhelpful about it. Unfortunately, they don’t really have much time to dwell on it. An administrator from the outlying areas comes to inform the emperor that they will not be paying taxes this year. Is it rebellion? Do they want to get rid of Shohi the way so many in the Inner Court do? Or is there something deeper afoot? And whose plan is this in the first place? To solve it, Shohi is going to have to put his trust in far more people than he ever has before, and the Four Consorts are going to have to play detective.

I have to admit: I’m not sure I want Rimi and Shusei to happen anymore. I feel he’s burned his bridges too much in this book. I would be fine with Rimi and Shohi, but unfortunately that requires love on both sides, and Rimi seems to think of Shohi more the way a mom does than a lover does, which means it’s probably a good thing their Nocturnal Liturgy was postponed. Shohi really comes into his own in this volume, showing some real character development and pulling away from the clutches of his ministers to figure out what the real problem is… though unfortunately, that turns out to play right into Shusei’s hands as well. Politics is hard. As for Rimi, she’s getting sharper, despite being told she has “flowers for brains” multiple times in this book. She’s empathic, making connections based on her feelings, so when she gets much needed information everything just slots together at once for her. It’s terrific to see how much she’s grown.

I know a lot of people dropped this for being a cut-rate Apothecary Diaries, but it’s really come into its own, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Since I Was Abandoned After Reincarnating, I Will Cook With My Fluffy Friends: The Figurehead Queen Is Strongest At Her Own Pace, Vol. 4

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By Yu Sakurai and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Tenseisaki de Suterareta no de, Mofumofu-tachi to Oryouri Shimasu: Okazari Ouhi wa My Pace ni Saikyou desu” by M Novels F. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Emma Schumacker.

Sometimes your worst enemy is yourself. Sure, you could be reincarnated as a stunningly attractive noble lady. And yes, you could be married off to a cool yet attentive king of a neighboring country and end up their (temporary) queen. And you may also be possessed of truly staggering amounts of magic powers. And you could also be a genius chef, continually coming up with ideas that astound the nobility of this pre-industrial land, such as pizza toast. You could also be surrounded by cats, wolves, and other animals who all adore you and want to do your bidding. And yes, it could be that one of those wolves is ALSO your husband, the King. You’ve got a pretty good thing going on here. Unfortunately, if you are Laetitia, only one single word in the preceding paragraph stands out, and that word is ‘temporary’. She can’t get it into her head that the king has fallen for her.

The kingdom is about to be visited by representatives from the Wildam Empire, which is to pegasi what her home base is to wolves. Unfortunately, it gets off to a bad start when one of the Pegasus Knights ends up picking a fight with… a little dog that barked at him. Believe it or not, this does almost cause an international incident, but Laetitia helps to smooth things over through her negotiating skills and her prowess at flying her gryphon. Then there’s a ball where she has to meet and greet, and she discovers that… well, no, she does not discover that her husband is jealous of anyone who comes near her, please see above. Things then go even further south when a lady in Lady I-Liena’s camp supposedly helps the disgraced Pegasus Knight escape, and is now in prison. Which… makes no sense. Can Laetitia figure out what’s really going on?

I must admit, sometimes it can be hard to tell “this is background informatoin I’m giving out to give a character depth” from “this is a clue and hint for what happens later on in the book”, and as such, I was rather surprised at a revelation that happens late in the book. Mind, I knew that there was something deeply suspicious about them, and that they were likely a spy… which was true, but the rest of it was news to me. Speaking of being news to me, I had assumed that laetitia was the only one in this world who had been reincarnated from Japan, but the more we hang around her older brother Claude, the more I think that he is as well and she’s just in denial about it. Which works, given everything else she’s in denial about. Honestly, given that she already hits a lot of the “overpowered character” buttons, we can grant her this flaw.

If you enjoy romance, political dealmaking, or are simply hungry, this is a fun series to read.