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Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian, Vol. 8

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By Sunsunsun and Momoco. Released in Japan as “Tokidoki Bosotto Russia-go de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Matthew Rutsohn.

I’ve talked many times before about the stark contrast between the backstory of Masachika and Yuki and their family drama, the romantic plots with Alya and Maria both being in love with Masachika, and the wacky comedy shenanigans. The drama gets more attention this volume, and the shenanigans are confined to the middle of the book for the most part, and almost feel perfunctory. They read like the author watched a random anime and used that plot as the antics of the book. When I say “there’s a party with chocolates that have a small bit of alcohol in them”, the average fan could write the rest of that scene in their head and be 100% accurate except that it’s only one girl who gets drunk, not all of them. And there’s also an invented game that involves penalties, but since we already had the sexy antics earlier, these punishments are more just silly. The drama, though, is the main reason to get this.

The festival is over, but the aftermath of its events are still reverberating. Masachika’s mother was ill after his performance and had to go to the nurse’s office… and what’s more, Masachika found his father comforting her! Oh, and she’s also now sleepwalking. Masachika himself is filled with all-new self-loathing about his piano playing, which briefly impacts his ability to play until he gets some good advice which is basically “stop overthinking everything you do”. Oh, if only that advice would stick. As for Alya, well, she’s admitted that she’s in love with Masachika, at least to herself, and is briefly really, really happy. Can’t have that, of course. Enter Nonoa, who levels up here from minor supporting character to possibly the main antagonist of the entire series.

The big news here comes right at the cliffhanger for the book – Masachika is finally going to admit the truth about him and Yuki to Alya. This is good, because after overhearing him saying that Yuki will always be the most important person in his life, Alya has spent most of the volume dealing with agonizing unrequited love issues. These two are, frankly, very similar, which is why they’re such a good couple – or at least they will be, eventually, when the series is allowed to end. As for Yuki, she gets less to do here, but is also part of the cliffhanger. I’m not sure if her relapse will last longer than the next book, but it’s a reminder that she’s just as tied into the dark backstory as her brother, and is not simply about being a tease and making incest jokes. There is also a lot of Maria, of course, but even though she’s clearly deeply in love with Masachika, all her plots here are comedic. We know what that means.

And then there’s Nonoa, but let’s save her for another time. Till then, I enjoy wading through the most predictable comedy ever to get to the good bits.

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 20

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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 Tara Quinn. Adapted by Maggie Cooper.

One of the very first things I observed about this series, back in the first volume, is that it gives its heroine a supporting cast and then replaces with with another, seemingly similar supporting cast. Now, as the series has gone on, we’ve found that this works fine: the Wonder Trio, for all that they came first, are basically three very similar girls who are “upper class”, “middle class”, and “lower class”. Reina, Mavis and Pauline have been given far more opportunity to show off they are more than just that and also they are lunatics. As is Mile. The Wonder Trio can be a bit eccentric, but compared to our main girls they are common sense personified. That said, now that they’re here, they can help develop the main cast, as they are nearly perfect at everything – and Reina and Pauline, as it turns out, are not.

Our two groups have settled into their new country, and are able to easily fend off merchants who are trying to lowball them on jobs. That said, there is an elephant in the room: Mile has her fantastic Storage Magic. Mavis can now also use it. The Wonder Trio has Inventory, which they are quietly pretending is Storage. But Reina and Pauline, since they’re not Nanomachined up, are struggling. Perhaps… the problem is how they’re being taught? After this, everyone decides to take a quick trip back home to check in on folks, only to find that when you’re the heroes who saved the world, a lot can happen in the little hometown you came from. This hits Reina especially hard.

This was a solid volume, with the usual good points and bad points (Mile once again tells us how AWESOME child labor is if you’re an orphan). I liked how the difference between Mile’s teaching (teaching magic as it’s learned here, trying to convey the power of imagination) and Mavis’ methods of teaching (we must use the power of EMOTION and FEAR to make your storage POWERFUL!) and, as it turns out, this is exactly what Reina needs. She gets the climax of the book, which has some wonderfully black comedy (what’s happened to her parent’s graves in the interim) and some triumphant power-ups (about to be murdered when trying to save a group of children being sold into slavery, she unlocks her inner storage through the power of not wanting to die), and you really feel great for her. Pauline also gets some nice development (quiet, you) as she realizes that maybe, with the Crimson Vow’s weird party makeup, she needs to learn how to direct a battle rather than be the support.

All this plus our heroines asking each other about marriage and gradually realizing that they’re all gay (no, not really, but yes, really). FUNA fans will have a ball.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online: Invitation from Vivi

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By Keiichi Sigsawa and Kouhaku Kuroboshi, based on the series created by Reki Kawahara. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

After fourteen volumes, it has not escaped my attention that the volumes of GGO that I enjoy the most are the ones that do not have the words “Squad Jam” in the title. Possibly it’s because of their one-off nature, possibly it’s due to them being a change of pace, and possibly it’s because the Squad Jams all tend to combine a VRMMO game with the most annoying aspects of reality TV where we’re all watching waiting to see when they figure out who the traitor is. So this volume was always going to be starting off well for me. It finished well, too – this may be my favorite volume of the series to date. There’s some really cool game battles, lots of ludicrous things happen to Llenn, everyone’s reasonably funny, and there’s even a surprise or two. This may be Keiichi Sigsawa’s vanity project, but since we’re never getting his main project (thanks, Tokyopop), I’m cool with seeing him work his chops here.

After the events of the last Squad Jam, our core cast are celebrating in a virtual karaoke room when they get a request from David, the leader of MMTM. Vivi, the leader of the machine gun squad XEMAL, has issued a challenge, and if David wins he’ll get to meet her in real life. The challenge doesn’t say that he can’t invite others, so of course he’s turned to our girls, who are reasonably happy to help him with his live life – after all, this is just a game, so if they lose badly, it doesn’t mean anything. Miyu, aka Fukaziroh, is especially excited for this – she’s lost time and again to Vivi in ALO, and thinks she has a good guess as to who she is in real life. That said, first they have to clear Vivi’s challenge… which ends up being nearly impossible. Fortunately, they have a Llenn.

I’ve always been a fan of Fukaziroh as comedy relief, and we get a lot of that here, but this is a really fantastic volume for her in general. She gets to do clever and explosive things during the challenge, and her guess as to Vivi’s identity is… well, it’s wrong, but it’s only wrong by a very little bit. (There is also the joke that she and one of the machine gun players share a name, and will get married in the future, which makes me wonder if Sigsawa has been sitting on that for ages or if he just realized he used the same last name twice and decided to make it into a joke). As for Vivi, not spoiling too much, but this not only makes for a satisfying reveal, but also ties back into the main series. It can sometimes be hard to remember this takes place in the world of Kirito and company, and that VRMMOs can be used for reasons other than just having fun and shooting each other.

There’s no new volume in Japan yet, and if the author wanted he could probably end it here, but I suspect we’ll get another Squad Jam at some point. In the meantime, this is pretty much the series hitting on all cylinders.

Notorious No More: The Villainess Enjoys Feigning Incompetence, Vol. 2

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By Hanako Arashi and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Kitai no Akujo, Sandome no Jinsei de “Musai Munou” wo Tanoshimu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Jeremy Browning.

As with the first book, it frequently feels as if our main character is in a different book from everyone else. This makes sense, of course. Here is a woman who loved as a princess and died young, then lived for 85 years in modern Japan before dying and being reborn as the granddaughter of… well, the backstory of the “villainess”, while a lot clearer than it was before, is still missing a lot of data. In any case, she’s got the mind of an old woman, and she also really does not care for all the drama that her kingdom wants to throw her into again. As such, it makes sense that she wants to spend her time writing smutty romance novels and avoiding anything to do with responsibility and consequences. Unfortunately for Laviange, there’s someone manipulating things behind the scenes, and they’re not done trying to screw everything up. And they get a willing accomplice in Sienna, who is simply terrible.

After the events of the first book, Sienna is rapidly becoming persona non grata, the second prince is basically no longer in this series, and Heinz has been reduced to huddling in his room and avoiding everything. Unfortunately, a mysterious hooded figure is still trying to manipulate things, and gives Sienna an egg that she promises will allow her to get all that she desires. As for Laviange herself, she’s busy composing new books, getting rare and hard-to-cook meat from her friends, and working hard to at least show up to school (if not bother to try to get good grades) so that she can get the lunch special from the cafeteria. Unfortunately, Heinz shows up looking near death, Sienna is in full “I am a bratty younger sister” mode, and students are dropping like flies, their magic appearing next to them like a ghost. How can this be solved? If your answer is “giant paper fans”, you get this series’ vibe.

I understand that this series is not for everyone. Laviange makes a lot of her own problems by her sheer willful desire to not care, and the fact that she’s turned her older brother into a tsukkomi factory does not really offset that. It also clashes badly with a lot of the vile abuse of children that appears in the pasts of several important characters, especially her own past. There’s also a section about 3/4 of the way through the book where the characters stand around for a good thirty pages while the plot is explained to them, and it’s even more irritating that it’s still not the whole plot. This series has not once flashed back to Laviange’s first life, and I suspect it really wants to keep it vague. On the other hand…; Christ, Laviange is just a HOOT. The paper fans and ofuda, as well as her desire to have everyone shout out anime catchphrases as they’re used, cries out to be animated, if this ever gets one. I’m almost ready to forgive her everything. As are a lot of people, really.

So if your need in a villainess book is “complicated but funny bitch on wheels”, this is for you. If not, reader beware.

Engaging with the Plot: A Former Cat’s Attempt to Save Her Now Temporary Fiancé, Vol. 2

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By Usagi Hoshimi and Qi234. Released in Japan as “Konyakusha-sama ni wa Unmei no Heroine ga Arawaremasu ga, Zantei Konyaku Life wo Mankitsushimasu! Anata no Noroi, Kiraware Akujo no Watashi ga Toicha Dame desu ka?” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Minna Lin.

If I’m going to be honest, this series is, for the most part, fairly generic villainess stuff. We meet the heroine in this volume, and she’s very similar to most heroines who are not either evil or gay: she’s simply too earnest. Needless to say, this makes her face off badly against Lucille, who was a cat in her past life and is a cat in this one, even though she’s walking around in a human skin. Everything Lucille does is informed by her being a cat, including slapdash explanations, poorly thought out plans, and of course the inability to really recognize romantic love when it’s planted in front of her. She’s what makes the series worth reading, even as the plot rapidly advances towards the apocalypse… well, not really, but at least the destruction of their domain by demons.

Things are going swimmingly for Lucille at the start of this book, but she’s startled by the appearance of Elvira, the heroine, and like most villainesses in these books starts to try to get things to go along the lines of what she remembers even though she’s already completely messed up the events of the game. This means getting Elvira and Felix closer to cure his curse, which works on Elvira’s end, but he only has eyes for Lucille, not that she notices. Meanwhile, Lucille discovers that the “Great Sage” is her last owner, now locked into his unaging child body after making a literal deal with the devil. Unfortunately, this deal means that he’s also going to die, which is good (he’s the origin of the curse, so if he dies the curse can be removed from Felix), but also bad (he would die, and that would make Lucille sad).

The epilogues to the book may be more interesting than the actual plot (which ends with Lucille breaking the curse, in case you could not easily guess that). Felix is now free to return to see his parents again, despite the fact that his mother was driven nearly mad on hearing about the curse, and now that he’s better is dealing with guilt and misplaced anger. I liked her discussion with Lucille, who does not really believe in holding on to the past at all, despite her own past influencing the entire country. As for Elvira, she and Lucille get into an argument that amounts to “the few or the one” argument from Wrath of Khan, and no prizes for guessing who’s on the losing end of that one. I like that Elvira sees it as a learning experience (and also perhaps a way to get away from her crush who doesn’t love her back), and that she’s going off to a holy country to learn how to magic better and smarter.

Theoretically there could be more of this, despite a fairly definite “the main plot is over” ending here. After all, Lucille still regards Felix as just a swell guy, not a romantic lead. The author has written a bit more in the webnovel, but I suspect not enough for a third book, and this is probably it. It was fun.

Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother, Vol. 6

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By Chidori Hama and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō, Brocon ni Job Change Shimasu” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Rymane Tsouria.

At last, we are back at the school, and Ekaterina is back to worry about the plot of the otome game. Literally, she is worried that this plot makes no sense. As many other fans of villainess books have noted, if your family is ludicrously powerful, and you are found to have tried to murder a commoner… you’re not going to get the death penalty. At worst, you may get house arrest. But otome games in light novels (as opposed to real otome games, which until recently have rarely had villainesses in them) rely to a large degree on bad writing, which is what makes things so difficult… or easy… for the villainess. In this case, Ekaterina’s memories of her past and ability to use those memories to advance society (or write hit songs) allow her to evade this fate, but just as she can’t see that everyone is in love with her, she can’t see that getting executed is not in the cards anymore. For her, at least.

Alexei and Ekaterina are at last back in the capital, and Ekaterina can finally go back to school, catch up with her friends Marina and Olga, and do her best to avoid tripping any otome game flags. Unfortunately, given she’s the unparalleled prime candidate to be the next Empress, trouble is still going to find her. In this case, trouble is in the form of Lydia, the daughter of a marquess and another theoretical candidate for Mikhail’s hand… though he doesn’t really seem to care for her much. And she really doesn’t like Ekaterina. And since this is otome game world, it turns out that just as art is really important here, so is music. And as Olga’s barony is under Lydia’s marquessery, and Olga has a beautiful singing voice, Lydia discovers a way to make Ekaterina face a very difficult choice.

This is not nearly as silly as Bakarina, but it’s coloring in the same lines, and one of the ways that it does that is that anyone who comes into contact with Ekaterina seems to fall under her spell. In this case it’s not the God of Music,. mostly as he’s found two prodigies, but it is the former Emperor and his wife, as it turns out his wife is also one of the best singers in the country. And, oddly, it even turns out to be Lydia, who is smart but runs on anger and being told what to do by her parents, and after a hefty dose of humility, appears to actually learn her lesson. This series doesn’t like to have villainesses fall, lest Ekaterina join them. On the bright side, romance is resolved here. No, not that one. But Olga meets a music nerd and the two of them fall in beautiful music nerd love together, only we barely see this because the series is filtered through its protagonist, who has to literally be told they’re a couple by the prince. If only he could be more explicit about his own feelings, but I get it. It won’t work while she’s like this.

As long as there’s no sexual attraction, she and her brother can say they love each other and jump into each other’s arms as much as they like, IMO. A good villainess series for fans of “otome game analysis”.

Duchess in the Attic, Vol. 4

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By Mori and Huyuko Aoi. Released in Japan as “Yane Urabeya no Kōshaku Fujin” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by piyo.

So first of all, I need to tell you all something important: despite being kidnapped here, Opal is not locked in an attic. The only sign of the title of the series are at the start, where she waxes nostalgic about the old attic days with her husband, and later on, when she waxes nostalgic about being locked in the attic while she’s being kidnapped. For the most part, what this book is about instead is Opal passing on her wisdom to the generation after her. We meet a troubled young royal, who is trying to avoid an engagement to someone she doesn’t love, and is a bit difficult and hard to deal with. Everyone except Opal spots the similarities immediately, and even Opal eventually admits it. That said, Ellie is a lot more naive and childish than Opal was in the first book, so has a much higher bar to clear. Also, she’s a princess, while Opal was just high nobility. Still, it’s never too early to learn how to get kidnapped.

Opal and Claude are on vacation when they are called back by the King, who asks Opal to mentor the willful princess of Lumeon, who has lost her parents and grown up with bad tutors and has basically become a spoiled brat. After being half-cajoled, half-blackmailed into it, Opal sets out on a sea voyage, first disguised as a commoner (where she meets a troubled woman and her adorable daughter and tries to help get them some work), and later on posing as a flighty airheaded duchess, where she enchants the guy who is trying to con the princess (also incognito) and switches to conning her instead. Fortunately, as Opal gets to know Ellie, she finds that a lot of her spoiled brat is just a very lonely girl acting up as it’s all she can do. Unfortunately, this series is still about the difference between the haves and the have nots.

There’s a lot of Opal being smug and solving her own problems here, but the series also is very clear that she has a tendency to “be one step behind”, as shown by the troubled mother and adorable daughter she meets on the boat, who we later find ended up working in a sweatshop. This is not Opal’s fault, but it does show that someone like her, who does try to save what’s right in front of her, can’t be everywhere. Her brother Julius is still better than her at most of these things, though he fails to be better than her at villainess-type parties, as she absolutely crushes the two ladies who are trying to destroy her reputation with the King. Essentially it’s telling us that even in her early 30s or so (I think that’s her approximate age), and with a husband and kid, she still has a lot to learn.

Fortunately for her, this series still isn’t over. This isn’t essential shoujo light novel, but it’s a good one for those who like women trying to march shoujo light novels into the 20th century kicking and screaming.

My Magical Career at Court: Living the Dream After My Nightmare Boss Fired Me from the Mages’ Guild!, Vol. 6

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By Shusui Hazuki and necomi. Released in Japan as “Black Madōgushi Guild o Tsuihō Sareta Watashi, Ōkyū Majutsushi to Shite Hirowareru: White na Kyūtei de, Shiawase na Shinseikatsu o Hajimemasu! ” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Mari Koch.

It’s been more than a year since the last volume of this, the dangers of catching up. I was looking forward to more romcom shenanigans, but unfortunately, this is the serious, peril volume, and the romcom is saved for the very end. I also noticed that my last review talked about the villains all being cartoonishly evil and trying to destroy the Crown, which is true, but I’m starting to think that maybe it would be for the best if the Crown were destroyed. Michael has always been a bit of a dick, trying his damndest to get Noelle working at the palace even though that’s not what she wants. Here he seemingly tries to have her love interest killed (I don’t know if he was behind the kidnapping, but he was definitely behind the “he’s a traitor” rumors), and the 7th book promises a big confrontation, and hopefully the prince gets kicked in the nuts.

We pick up with the cliffhanger from the last volume: Luke has been kidnapped, and it turns out that he’s in the Holy Nation of Clares, which is run by the Church. Noelle and the others not only find that their rescue attempts are cut off, but also find he’s being slandered, so they are to assume he is Evil Presumed Dead. This does not sit well with Noelle, who ends up resigning fro her post and going to the Holy Nation to track him down. Fortunately, she has allies. Her old friend Nina is adventuring in the area, and there’s always the all-powerful Elf Princess Evangeline, and even her wyvern friend. Plus, y’know, she’s brilliant at nearly everything, be it cleaning a horribly polluted creek in one day or befriending the hidden savior of the nation. Unfortunately, Luke may really *be* Evil Presumed Dead…

We’ve been waiting for six volumes, so it’s nice that we finally get a mutual confession (yes, yes, OK, Luke is not really evil or dead, though his presence in this book is confined to the last part). Unfortunately, the series is not yet over, which means that we’ve got to put off them actually becoming a couple for even longer – especially since Michael is trying to make her his bodyguard/personal mage. But yeah, right now Noelle has a goal, and that goal is not “marry Luke”, it’s “become the greatest mage in the world”. I mean, the title of the series is My Magical Career. As for the rest of the book, it’s decent considering it’s a rescue book. We meet a drunk nun and a gambling-addicted nun, who provide most of the humor. And the savior of the Holy Nation is, frankly, adorbs, and I hope we see more of her.

What’s that, Lassie? Series? Caught up again? No new volume in sight? Ah well, back to waiting. Still, glad we got this.

The Beauty’s Blade: Mei Ren Jian

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By Feng Ren Zuo Shu, Xiao Tong Kong (Velinxi), idledee and Gravity Dusty. Released in China on the Jinjiang Literature City website. Released in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. Translated by Yu. Adapted by Aysha U. Farah.

This is, I believe, the first baihe novel to be published in North America. From what I can gather, it wasn’t the most popular to be found (those ended up with another publisher who has not yet released them), but it had a small but devoted following. I can see why: the two leads are excellent, and the reason to read this. Watching the push-pull between the fiery, emotional, vengeance-driven Fu Wanqing and the cool, icy, and very emotionally masked Yu Shengyan is like watching a long, drawn out dance, and while it may be frustrating given how long they take to admit feeling for each other out loud, I found their relationship very satisfying. I wish I could say the same thing about the book. This may just fall under “not my genre”, but I ended up lost and uncaring in this tale of various sects with an axe to grind and a treasure map that turns out to connect to a past rather than a future.

Fu Wanqing is the heir to the House of Valor, the strongest of the five families that stand on the side of “good” in their community. She’s met one day by Yu Shengyan, the high priestess of the demonic guild, whose skills with a sword are apparently legendary. Fu Wanqing wants to duel her. Yu Shengyan has no interest in dueling, as once her sword is removed from its scabbard it has to kill. She’s there for a rare medicine that can heal her underling, who was permanently crippled in a sword battle… by Fu Wanqing. Fu Wanqing, who is also immediately attracted to the other woman, makes a deal: Stay by her side for three months, and she’ll let Yu Shengyan have the medicine. Of course, it’s not just them: the rest of the plot goes on around them, as a statue with a map is stolen, and everyone wants it.

There are some other subplots in this that are vaguely interesting, particularly the other “yuri” one involving the heir of one of the families and their burgeoning crush on, frankly, a cipher. The biggest issue, though, is there are simply too many characters to keep track of, and most of them are quite unlikable. To a degree this includes the two leads at times – sometimes you want to smack Fu Wanqing for being a smug asshole, or Yu Shengyan for closing herself off. That said, the times I was most invested in the book was watching the two of them flirt off to the side while the rest of the plot exploded around them. Seeing various family faction scream at each other and fight while these two feed each other orange slices can be hilarious. The other annoying factor for me was the writing itself. Chapter breaks feel entirely arbitrary, which I should have expected from a webnovel but it’s still annoying. Sometimes the POV shifts without a marker to tell us it’s now someone else. Another edit would have been good.

If you like baihe, I’d get this. I’d like to see more from this genre, and hopefully better.

I Want to Be a Saint, But I Can Only Use Attack Magic!, Vol. 2

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By Fuyu Aoki and Bodax. Released in Japan as “Seijo-sama ni Naritai no ni Kougeki Mahou shika Tsukaenain desu kedo!?” by GC Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Kashi Kamitoma.

The first volume was also very funny, but this one really, really leans into broad as hell comedy, to the point where I felt it was overdoing it a bit. That’s for a very good reason, though, as frankly this world is very dark, and if it weren’t for Yuffie doing her Bocchi impersonation we’d genuinely worry for her. The school is being attacked by demons who think nothing of killing everyone in order to find Yuffie. Her burdock root buddy Catherine finds out her secret and is honestly terrified for a bit, as she points out that it’s scary seeing Yuffie casually breaking the laws of magic physics. And when the powers that be discuss what to do about her, their first thought is to expel her and basically put her under their control. Thankfully they choose not to do this, but there are very good reasons for Yuffie to continue to hide her powers beyond “because it’s funnier that way”.

After the events of the last book, Yuffie is trying to double down on learning how to improve her healing magic, though it’s slow going. Very slow going. She ends up getting some good pointers, though, when she meets up with Jack, who after the events of the last book wants her to train him in how she uses attack magic. Unfortunately her advice amounts to “use your magic till you run out of mana, over and over again, for nine years”. This actually does end up helping him, as he realizes that his determination was as nothing compared to HERS. And she’s going to need it, as they’re going to do a demonstration of healing magic, and have paired the best student (Erina) with the worst (Yuffie). Is she going to be able to be a saint when it takes her an hour to heal a small cut?

As with the first book, I could do without the “ha ha, it’s funny because she’s a predatory lesbian!” jokes. Other than that, though, this is a solid book, once again giving Yuffie a bit of character development. We meet both her parents, which helps to explain some of her apology tactics if not her introversion, and I get the feeling her mom being a former student council member will come up in a future book. And much as I spent most of the book annoyed at Erina, she does give us the book’s most heartwarming moment, when she says that Yuffie’s pathetic healing attempt did help prevent a man dying till Erina could get there and actually heal him. This book is still dark, though. Yuffie kills demons, and is not feeling upset about it at all. These seems to be Frieren-type demons, no sympathy here.

So this is a lot of fun, and I’m not too worried about Bocchi the Mage, but she has a long way to go before she’s accepted by anyone other than her own generation.

Love & Magic Academy: Who Cares about the Heroine and Villainess? I Want to Be the Strongest in this Otome Game World, Vol. 2

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By Toyozo Okamura and Parum. Released in Japan as “Renai Mahou Gakuin: Heroine mo Akuyaku Reijou mo Kankeinai. Ore wa Otome Game Sekai de Saikyou wo Mezasu” by GC Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

This was the second book in a row I read where the narrator is essentially a very powerful, emotionless void who casually breezes through everything. Fortunately, with this book, we do get the occasional hint that the author is going somewhere with this other than “isn’t he really cool?”. Now, a lot of this is the standard romance novel shtick of “the girls all like him but he is too dense to notice it”, though with Arius it’s less dense and more does not even understand the emotion at all. He once realized he liked a girl, discovered she was engaged to someone else, and since then the part of his brain devoted to love was simply turned off. But there’s also a sense that Arius has to remember that just because he can do everything himself so the others don’t have to endanger themselves doesn’t mean that’s always the best choice. That said, he can be dull sometimes.

Eric is still trying to find concrete evidence to prove that Duke Jordan is evil, but hasn’t quite got it yet. To help things along, he’s asked the duke’s hotheaded son to participate in the upcoming fighting tournament – third-years normally don’t – so he can beat him, force him to throw a tantrum, and see if the Duke then tries to kill Eric. This works incredibly well, of course, mostly as Arius is not the only one who is trying to make it through this world while depending on absolutely no one. Arius, of course, wins the tournament itself, and in his spare time also solos extremely hard dungeons and teaches his friends and not-quite-love interests how to fight. Unfortunately for Arius, the legendary battle between the hero and the demon lord is about to start again – and they both want him.

This world appears to attract reincarnations like flies. We’ve already got Arius, whose childhood friend was obsessed with the otome game he finds himself in. Then there’s Milia, who is doing much better now that she’s had it explained to her that she does not have to try to do exactly what the game said. And in this volume we get Alisa, who is the power behind the new hero (an arrogant idiot who wants to rule the world – we know the moment we see him we don’t have to care about him). She reveals to Arius that she’s not only reincarnated, but knows he is as well. I’m not entirely certain if there’s some sort of driving force behind all these isekai’d Japanese folks messing up the plot, but if so it’s working but also it’s not – this volume ends with the new Demon Lord kidnapping Arius and spiriting him away to their territory. Which means, much as I do think the other characters get to have lives of their own and concerns of their own, that the book itself still has to revolve around him. He is the main character.

Despite the narrator being another of those poker face/poker voice sorts, this is an improvement on the first book. If you like otome game narratives and don’t mind that it stars a guy who can do literally everything (except understand that women are attracted to him), it’s a good one.

Re: Monster, Vol. 1

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By Kanekiru Kogitsune and YAMAADA. Released in Japan by Alpha Polis. Released in North America by Hanashi Media. Translated by Harris Hayes.

Another day, another review where I have to start by saying “Yeah, yeah, I know”. A classic example of a Dead Dove: Do Not Eat series, I remember this got a fan translation when it first came out almost fifteen years ago. At the time, light novels from the POV of the monsters were a relatively fresh concept – even Overlord was only a year old. It’s not really the fault of this series that its grim and gritty, mature because it has rape and violence-style novel series feels a bit tired now after so many others that came after it. It *is* the fault of this series that it manages to take such a dark, edgy concept and make it terminally dull, starting with its hero, Gobrou, who is at his most interesting before he’s isekai’d and over the course of time gets more and more dull as he spends this first volume killing, getting skills, killing, getting skills, and having sex with a harem of women. He may be a goblin, but he’s still a faceless isekai guy in the end.

Kanata Tomokui is living in Japan, but not quite our Japan. He has telekinetic powers, and gets powerful when he eats whatever he defeats. Unfortunately, he once saved a teenage girl who became obsessed with him, and when she sees him helping a drunk co-worker home, she gets the wrong idea and stabs him to death. When he comes back to himself, he finds he’s a newborn goblin living in a cave. That said, he’s not just any old weak little goblin. For one thing, he still has his esper powers from his previous life. This means that, as he goes around killing monster rabbits, monster snakes, monster dogs, and monster bears, he gains more and more abilities and grows stronger and stronger, rapidly becoming a hobgoblin and then an ogre, till he’s de facto leader of the entire group. Basically, he’s hot stuff.

As you can imagine, there’s a lot of “problematic content” in this book, but I’m pretty sure most people reading it do not really need to be warned. There’s a couple of goblin women who grow close to him. They capture a party of five human women, and Gobrou stops the other goblins from raping them. Naturally, over the course of the book, they all fall in love with him and sleep with him, and the girl on the cover (who he calls “Redhead Shorty” – what is it with these dark books and ignoring people’s names?). They later capture some elves, and since the elves try to kill them first he’s fine with giving them aphrodisiacs and having the goblins rape them. Basically, he’s exactly the sort of person you’d write about if you were a teenage boy who wants to imagine they have cool powers and a large penis. The fights can sometimes get interesting – Gobrou versus the red bear was the highlight of the book – but for the most part it drowns in his matter-of-fact, “well, I won again” narration.

If you enjoy teenage power fantasies, go search AO3, you’ll likely find better than this.

The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain, Vol. 6

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By Bakufu Narayama and Ebisushi. Released in Japan as “Danzaisareta Akuyaku Reijō wa, Gyakkō-shite Kanpekina Akujo o Mezasu” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Alyssa Niioka. Adapted by Vida Cruz-Borja.

Last time I felt that the series got a bit too dark, and I’m pleased to see that this one is not quite as bad. Despite the fact that this volume contains ghosts, ritual sacrifices, and the like, Claudia’s worries are far more about the fact that she’s getting bullied by all the older women in the kingdom – at the request of the Queen, of course. Let’s face it, if you’re going to be the future Queen, you need to be better than everyone at everything, and that includes how to handle petty bullying. If there’s just one issue with the book, it’s that these two plots don’t intertwine as well as I wanted them to, and it felt at times as if the author had two books that they couldn’t quite make work and so decided to combine them into one. It’s still a very readable series, and I like Claudia, but I am starting to tap my fingers a bit.

Claudia continues to go on her Princess Training World Tour, with several stops organized by Lady Sunset, whose husband is the Queen’s older brother. Lady Sunset is there to ensure that Claudia does not wilt under pressure, or (even worse) snap and get angry under pressure. We see Claudia attend a tea party, an embroidery party, and a ball, all of which feature catty middle-aged nobles whose job it is to belittle Claudia and hit her where it hurts – which usually means talking bad about her stepmother. In addition to all this, she and Helen go off to a monastery for two weeks, to learn asceticism and see how difficult it can be for people who don’t have servants to do everything for them. Unfortunately, the remote castle where the monastery is has a small problem… ghosts.

There are as always some things here I found quite interesting. The embroidery party shows off how each of these catty women trying (at the orders of the Queen) to bully Claudia has territory of their own, and that territory naturally has specialties. Claudia being Claudia, she’s able to tell that the tea “accidentally” spilled on her embroidery is from the spiller’s own land, and praises it. As for the embroidery itself, she praises the wool being used, and wouldn’t you know it, the woman whose territory specializes in wool is struggling to find buyers right now. Claudia doesn’t need to make connections with these women – she’s hella powerful already – but she knows by doing so it makes the country stronger. I also liked the ghost story’s suggestion that a woman in the past may also have been living a second life, and her “precognition” was just her not being quite as good at Claudia at hiding that. Perhaps this world just does time-looped villainesses every so often, as a treat.

This was a decent book, though I felt it didn’t pull together as well as it might have. The bigger issue may be that I’m checking to see when the series is scheduled to end, and the answer is “not for the foreseeable future”. Where’s my wedding cover art?

The Bladesmith’s Enchanted Weapons, Vol. 2

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By Kazuma Ogiwara and CARIMARICA. Released in Japan as “Isekai Toushou no Maken Seisaku Gurashi” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ryan Burris.

Last time I mentioned that this was a very horny series, and that’s still true, though it is perhaps a BIT less. Fortunately, the sword that tells men to get aroused and kill themselves is limited to the very start of the volume. Lutz and Claudia are still a very loving couple, but for the most part it’s limited to “and then they went and had fun” asides. But that’s fine, because even more than horny this series runs on rule of cool. Every one of the main characters feels like someone who would calmly walk away from a car just before it explodes in a fireball behind them. Which is good, as we get the equivalent of that in this volume. Lutz and Claudia just want to make some cool swords and perhaps a lot of money as well, but after the events of the last volume, I regret to tell Lutz he is now Renowned, and as such cannot avoid getting pulled into kingdom politics,

Maximillion’s katana is very nice, and he’s getting more involved in politics (and attempted assassinations as well). It turns out the kingdom has been at war with their neighbor for years, and peace talks are… complicated. The other country has a fist-sized jewel, one that the kingdom cannot possibly match… unless Lutz can make, and Gerhard can craft, a blade that will be of equal value. This they do, simply as it’s the soul of the bladesmith screaming out to them to build better and better weapons. Unfortunately, the weapon ends up starting a throne war once it heads back to the Federation, as it’s just that compelling. Fortunately, Luz and Claudia have been taken into the city and given a title, so they’re no longer quite as much at risk. Shame that can’t be said for other royalty in the country…

Last time I mentioned the horny and the ridiculous, and there’s also a lot of cool here too. But it can also get quite dark and serious. A 13-year-old princess is about to be married off to the other country even though everyone knows she’d just be an abused wife at best and a hostage at worst. The throne war ends up depressing everyone, and a seemingly useless third son who’s getting executed turns out to have other sides to him that make you wish things might have been different. Most of all, the author ends with a side story asking what would have happened if Lutz hadn’t saved Claudia. The author of Re: Zero does this “IF” side-stories for fans, and they tend to be dark. This one is very dark, even though it turns out to be a story Claudia is telling Lutz – him not saving her leads to the downfall of the entire kingdom. I prefer our current reality.

Princess Listill, alas, probably does not prefer this reality. Let’s hope things get better for her next time. Recommended for MANLY MEN.

Loner Life in Another World, Vol. 13

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By Shoji Goji and Saku Enomaru. Released in Japan as “Hitoribocchi no Isekai Kouryaku” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Andrew Schubauer.

This is, for the most part, a “rest” book after the main plot that we just went through with the Church (which Haruka has re-invented as a sort of healing disco that plays Vocaloid tracks). There’s lots of dungeon crawling, of course, and leveling up our latest Dungeon Emperor. There’s lots of sex that’s written for comedic rather than erotic effect, so the book just about gets away with it. The sex, of course, only involves the three dungeon emperors, much to the frustration of the girls, who are trying to get across their attraction to h8im while also sort of admitting none of them are ready to take the next step yet (certainly not Class Rep, who gets an internal illustration of her rearing back in shock after seeing Haruka has “grown”, so to speak). Basically, this book is about hijinks. Yes, there is a hint of what is to come – there’s apparently a couple more really deep dungeons out there – but right now, let’s just watch Haruka run wild.

This cover is meant to mirror the first one (complete with the alternate cover featuring Haruka, though in this volume he has his back turned to the reader), and I suppose it feels appropriate. We’re back in the frontier, we’re back to dungeon crawling, and we even got back to the forest for a bit, to see Haruka testing his new body movin’ on some goblins. See, Haruka had most of his skills, which he spent months perfecting (a reminder that we’re still only four months since they arrived in this world), because they got folded up into other skill trees that he has most decidedly NOT mastered. As a result, he can barely move without falling all over himself, and has to learn how to walk, run, and fight while controlling his body like a puppet. Which, again, reminds us a lot of the start of the series.

I don’t have to tell you that there’s tons of unreliable narration here, but we’re at least getting to the point where the narrators are allowed to admit they know they’re full of it. The first 50 pages or so of the book are all from Class Rep’s POV, and while she tries to frame things as “oh, that wacky Haruka, how can we control him?”, there’s also moments of sheer fury when she sees the disrespect he’s getting from the locals (disrespect which he himself has engineered) to the point where the other girls have to hold her back. Even the locals are allowed to wade in the waters of overly dramatic obfuscation, as we see the guild master agonize for page after page about having to send poor innocent Haruka and his low levels into the most horrible of dungeons… all while his second-in-command says “yes, yes, we know he’ll just go there anyway, so sign the paper”. This world is terrible (as we see several times here), and Haruka and the girls are dead set on improving it while protecting each other (the girls admit here all their lecturing attacks on him by now are them testing to make sure he’s still unable to lose to them). At the same time, this world is overdramatic and loopy, and adding Haruka and the girls does not change that in the least.

The next book seems to have a festival, judging by the cover. Knowing Haruka, it may be more of a carnival. Recommended to those who know what they’re getting.