heroine? saint? no i'm an all-works maid

By Atekichi and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Heroine? Seijo? Iie, All Works Maid desu (ko)!” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Michelle McGuinness.

I’ve said this before about TO Books’ output, but it bears repeating: a lot of their books are just too long. Now, I don’t mind this when the writing justifies the length, with series such as Ascendance of a Bookworm, where you could argue they needed to be even longer. But as I was reading the latest volume of All-Works Maid, I kept checking the page count to see how long there was to go. Like a lot of webnovel-to-print books, tighter editing is required but not always given. This is especially frustrating given the clever conceit of this book, where we start a whole new setup and then discover over the course of the book that the setup is not going to work at all and we have to go back to basics. I like the idea of starting a plot only to stop and say “nah, nevermind” when it’s deliberate, but combined with the flabbiness of the volume it does feel a bit frustrating.

After the attack the last volume, Melody has decided on a course of action. She – or rather Cecilia, her alter ego – is going to transfer into the academy, so that she can protect Luciana from whatever darkness is coming after them. Now, getting in is not a problem – she has people who can pull all sorts of strings for her, and she is a natural genius. As for the dark mana monsters that we saw last time, they too are lying low… mostly as their mistress is busy figuring out that otome gaming is hard when someone’s already broken the plot. It doesn’t help that there are simply too many villainesses walking around, and the narrative can’t contain ALL of them. Unfortunately, what ends up crippling Melody/Cecilia is something that a lot of AP-course high school kids have to deal with – overextending herself and not being able to be who she really is as she’s too busy being who she isn’t.

As I said, I do like the conceit of the plot twist here. As good an idea as Melody joining the students as Cecilia is, it detracts from the theme of the books as a whole, which is MAID. More Cecilia means less Melody, and that’s very bad for Melody. This is handled comedically at first, as Melody is horrified to find that Micah and Rook have been trained so well that, strictly speaking, she doesn’t have to be a maid in the evening at all. As the book goes on, though, and we see continual scenes of Melody going to bed and being unable to fall asleep, we start to get an idea of where it’s headed – collapse. I did also appreciate that while turning back into Melody full-time did temporarily give her a boost of adrenaline, it did not completely fix the issue, and she still needed sleep and food. I also really liked the new addition to the cast, an artist who wants to avoid her father’s struggles but also is consumed by the ART… and who may be able to spot the thread connecting Cecilia with Melody.

This is 8+ books in Japan, so they’ll have lots of time to plot and scheme in the future. But when they do, it will with with Melody maiding it like she’s never maided it before.

By Atekichi and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Heroine? Seijo? Iie, All Works Maid desu (ko)!” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Michelle McGuinness.

This is still primarily a comedy, and it enjoys seeing its main characters be goofy. But with each volume, The Game is making itself known more and more. Now, this world may not actually literally be a game, but certainly something is trying to make sure that events happen the way that they did in the game, and if it has to create a new heroine from scratch – and make her evil – then so be it. Meanwhile, it’s becoming apparent that it’s not just Melody, Christopher, and Anna-Marie. Everyone on that plane that disappeared is in this world, and the more Melody works her huge magic, the more they suddenly realize it. Schue, the “smiling villain” I mentioned who showed up out of the blue last time, turns out to have a far nobler background… that he’s desperately trying to escape. And that also means that the incoming Prince from a foreign land is now a Princess, and she’s straight outta Takarazuka. This game is off the rails!

Melody, Luciana, etc. are done with saving Luciana’s holding and are ready to return to their mansion and to school… which is good, as they both completely forgot that the Summer Ball is coming up. Lect will be taking “Cecelia”, and Maxwell has invited an increasingly panicky and embarrassed Luciana. Lect, meanwhile, is very confused, as after returning to the Count he finds that… they found his missing daughter. Who has the hair, and the eyes. And is named “Celedia”. Not suspicious at all! What’s more, to the annoyance of Christopher and Anna-Marie, the game has thrown them another curve, as the handsome lothario prince who’s there to cause a war has been replaced with a handsome lothario princess… in male clothing… presumably there to do the same. Oh yes, and what about the monster attacks on the heroine? Still going on, unfortunately.

My favorite subplot of this series is that Melody has accidentally resurrected the soul of her dead mother and put it into a robot maid that she created. The doll seems to be 100% aware of this, but isn’t saying anything, but Melody does not consciously realize it. Consciously being the word, as one scene that is very heartwarming shows that she may be leaning that way anyway. I’m also amused at Anna-Marie, who the book can’t seem to decide if she’s just a massive game otaku who loves to look at the CG of the heroine or an actual lesbian… honestly, I think she’s not sure herself. She gets a full quarter of the book side story where she (in disguise) and Melody go on an extended date, but for the most part she’s unable to penetrate Melody’s maid facade enough to check to see if she’s really the heroine. And then there’s Luciana, who keeps attracting important nobles by virtue of hitting everything she dislikes with her giant harisen as if she’s Kaname reborn from Full Metal Panic!. Nobles like a feisty heroine that beats things up.

This remains a fun series that generally runs in the “villainess” genre at a fast clip, though the Villainess plot has been broken by Melody so much that the bad guys have to invent a new girl to start doing game things. For fans.

By Atekichi and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Heroine? Seijo? Iie, All Works Maid desu (ko)!” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Michelle McGuinness.

This was the best volume in the series to date, mostly as a) it managed to actually get through to its heroine/saint/maid and make her realize that her “aw shucks, this is just normal maid magic” thing is absolute hogwash, and b) it actually started pushing back on her omnipotence and perfection, showing her screwing up several times over the course of the book, and also having another crisis of faith, this one even stronger than the one she had in the second book. Melody loves maids, and loves to be a maid, but at heart this is a heroine reincarnated in a fantasy world book, and nine times out of ten when that happens the main character is a workaholic. Melody does not know what to do with time off. She literally has no outfits other than maid uniforms. And, despite riding her way through an obvious event flag, she remains completely uninterested in romance. She is not here to be a romance heroine, thank you very much.

It’s summer break, and time for Luciana and her entourage of servants to go back to the main estate and tour their lands. Though this journey is thrown off slightly by the arrival of Maxwell, who is here to invite Luciana to the Summer Ball, something that absolutely flummoxes her, and she asks for time to think it over. After this, they head off on the long journey there, and watch Melody literally build a two-story mansion from scratch… and also store it in a snowglobe for later use. You know, just Melody things. Unfortunately, as they’re almost there, an earthquake rocks the land, and her family estate is totally destroyed! Even worse, the three villages that make up what remains of their domain are suffering from a blight AND a poor harvest. Will this finally be a problem even Melody can’t solve?

This has a classic otome game dilemma at its heart, which is that the game’s plotline wants to happen even though Melody has completely broken it. It keeps trying to ruin and kill Luciana, to the point where the poor girl is literally dreaming of the game creators discussing her death, though she has no idea who they are. We meet another love interest here, and he’s a smiling villain if ever there was one, and he also falls hard for Melody (who is uninterested, but less uninterested than she is with everyone else.) Most of all, Melody spends an exhausting night curing all the blight and poor crops… only to have it come back almost immediately. Some dark force wants this family and region destroyed, and I suspect we’ll get more of hat as the series goes on.

So while there is still a lot of ludicrous maid stuff, Melody *and* the series itself are getting more serious. Which is good, as it’s a long-runner, and you can’t get by on oblivious OP maid forever.

By Atekichi and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Heroine? Seijo? Iie, All Works Maid desu (ko)!” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Michelle McGuinness.

If anyone still reads the site TV Tropes, there is a page devoted to what is known as a “Gambit Pileup”, where a storyline is derailed by multiple people who each have their own plan to take control of the narrative. This is frequently used for comedic purposes, but All-Works Maid really takes it to a higher level, as everyone is desperately trying to resolve the plot of the otome game they’ve found themslves in, only to see that Melody has solved everything, done every romantic route, and taken the main villain as her pet puppy. And that’s just in the first volume. This second one gives us an additional reincarnation from Japan, but also shows us that things have not completely been solved. The first villainess boss may now be Melody’s mistress, but the world still needs a first villainess boss, even if it has to use dark powers to create one. Worst of all, though, Melody has a crisis of faith. Maid faith.

We open back in Japan, where a grandmother in hospital, Maika, is talking to her granddaughter about a revival of an old otome game from years and years ago. Maika is upset, as said game was her obsession… until it took the life of her brother and his not girlfriend, who went missing in a plane disaster. Maika then goes to sleep… and wakes up as a little girl in a slum, completely confused. And then gets even more confused when her memories regress to her teenage self. Will she be able to find her brother and interact with the plot? Meanwhile, school has started and Luciana has made a friend… well, one or two. Most everyone else still seems to think of her family’s reputation first. And villain and love interest Bjork has to find a new jealous witch to make violently happy, and uses his knowledge of human behavior to do so. (I’m so sorry.)

The most interesting parts of this book are Melody and new character Micah (as she is spelled in this new world). Melody is at her best when using her talents to do things like resurrect an ancient temple with the power of horrifying magic, or accidentally resurrecting her mother into the spirit of an android maid (the latter is left vague). But at one point she’s asked “what is a perfect maid anyway?”, and trying to find the answer causes her to almost fall to bits, until she realizes how she can move forward and still be happy, even if it does disobey orders. As for Micah, she’s responsible for most of the funny bits in this book, as she goes from desperately trying to resolve plot points that everyone else resolved to simply screaming tsukkomi all the time. It’s good tsukkomi, I like her. I wish her well with her former savior turned evil possessed villain turned butler.

The ending promises we’re still not QUITE done with the main plotline, even if the Big Bad can’t decide whether to destroy the world or play fetch. Whatever he chooses, I’m sure Melody will effortlessly stop it. Very silly fun.

By Atekichi and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Heroine? Seijo? Iie, All Works Maid desu (ko)!” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Michelle McGuinness.

It could be argued that I’m reading too many of these sorts of books. Because, not to spoil something you should be used to by now, but there’s an otome game in this novel, and a villainess. We have definitely hit the point where we’ve got burned-out fans, especially as we’re now getting at least an anime a season with that premise. And yet, I persevere. Because sometimes I get something as completely batshit as this book, whose heroine starts out OP in Japan and only gets worse when she’s reincarnated, who can accidentally solve the entire premise of the otome game she’s been reincarnated in without realizing it, who is secretly the daughter of a noble and already has a love interest who is tortured because he can’t reveal that. And the reason he can’t reveal it is that her one goal in life is to be a maid. The BEST MAID EVER. And nobility will, frankly, just get in the way of that goal.

Ritsuko was an incredibly talented child in Japan. So talented she grew jaded… until she discovered MAIDS. The concept of maids fascinated her and became her obsession, to the point where she traveled to England to become a maid… or at least, she would have if not for that plane crash. She’s reborn as Celesty, a silver-haired girl in a small village, and lives a normal life… until her mother dies, which fills her with grief. On reading a letter from her mother revealing her real past, she suddenly develops magic. Strong magic. Impossibly strong magic… which she quickly manages to hide, because having overflowing strong magic would get in the way of her goal. Instead, she bids farewell to the village and heads off to the big city, where she plans to find work as a maid. Because she is still over the moon about maids, no matter what the world.

So as you likely gathered, this is a broad comedy. It’s at its best when it’s leaning into its genre and feels like a deconstruction. Celesty (who quickly changes her name to Melody, which she’ll be going by from now on) is not the only person on that plane crash who was reincarnated. Yes, there’s a villainess as well, and she’s trying to change her fate, along with her “not my boyfriend” who in this world is the crown prince and “not my fiancee”. They’re in a standard otome game light novel, but unfortunately for them Melody is not a standard heroine, and they spend most of the book panicking that the plot has gone off the rails. There’s also a narrator who is quite happy to point out that Melody’s maid-obsessed head is mostly full of air, and they seem borrowed from Tearmoon Empire. Oh yes, and all the girls in this series seem to be bi, despite the chance of yuri being zero. They’re just all really attracted to pretty girls. I can roll with that.

If you’re not yet tired of these sorts of books, this is a winner. It’s funny, knows its genre, and loves maids. Also, it has a cute puppy! OK, sort of a puppy. You’ll see what I mean when you get to it.