i could never be a succubus!

By Nora Kohigashi and Wasabi. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Succubus Ja Arimasen” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

I feel a bit guilty that I don’t think this series is going far enough anymore? I mean, I was getting mad at it for going too far only a few volumes ago. But man, this seems tame compared to the “Girl Time (in Darkness)” robots from the prior books. And I say this despite the fact that part of the climax (hah) of the book involves everyone in the Hero’s party who does not have memory loss all having far too much sex with each other in order to lower their libidos. There are two “past” chapters here, fewer than ever before, and both are devoted to being law abiding in your fetishes. Lolicon play is fine provided everyone involved is over the age of majority. Exhibitionism is fine only when you can get away with it being an “accident”, such as a public pool. The hero’s party are all law-abiding heroes, it’s just they’re also really into sex thanks to their succubus. Who, alas, is still mostly sans memories.

Liz is being taught how to use her powers by fallen angel Lilith, which mostly involves throwing her into near-fatal situations and having her try to use both her holy and hell powers without going berserk and losing her mind. They’re also still trying to figure out what’s up with Cain’s sword, which researchers have managed to figure out almost nothing about. Cain mostly uses it on instinct. The next step is to take on an ultra-hard SSS dungeon, which is rumored to have a way to get to the demon king (current) if they beat it. Unfortunately, once they reach Level 50, they discover the level is actually… Hell! Even more unfortunately, once they hit level 60, this turns into a completely different sort of parody.

I jokes about the lack of sex jokes compared to prior volumes, but there’s also a distinct lack of Liz in this book, as she gets some stuff to do at the start but for the most part is functioning as a narrator as the most interesting things are happening to Cain. Cain is, for the most part, defined by his general grumpiness and also his lack of curiosity about much of anything besides “fight villains win”, and it comes back to haunt him. The back half of this book is a massive parody of Japanese game shows, something for which Cain is singularly ill-equipped, and I admit it is fun seeing him get more and more angry. It also forces him to actually strategize, and when he does things go much better. More importantly, he has a sword that seems to be the same as the demons are using and a very vague background. He is literally prevented from winning the dungeon because he doesn’t know enough about himself. It’s a good, if somewhat heavy-handed, lead-in to the next book.

…which isn’t out in Japan yet. Time to wait! Let’s hope Liz gets to go a little more wild next time.

By Nora Kohigashi and Wasabi. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Succubus Ja Arimasen” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

When I finished this volume, I went to the Hero Bunko site to see its status, and discovered that this volume came out in 2023. I worried that it had been. y’know… (whispers) cancelled. Then I discovered that it was just Hero Bunko not bothering to update their site, the 7th volume came out in July of last year. Still, if the author had been told “can you write an ending that might pass if there aren’t any more of these?”, this would be close to what they might have come up with. We get to hear a lot about the war between Heaven and Hell years and years ago, and the hero’s sword (which, in case the last volume didn’t clue you in, is definitely Altina’s rather than Cain’s). We also get an explanation for Liz, and why she’s super powerful and super horny. We don’t get her memories back, but we get a WAY to get them back. This could be an “our fight has only just begun” Jump ending. Luckily, it isn’t.

Cain and Liz show up for a planned trip to the seaside… only to find that the entire rest of the cast bailed on them. On purpose. So they could date. Deciding to have fun anyway, Cain and Liz show off swimsuits, frolic in the surf, and then go back to their hotel… to find their friends got them a hotel room with a hot spring in the room, but only one bed. They’re not subtle. Unfortunately, it turns out that Liz has been having a massive attack of self-loathing that she’s been keeping from everyone, and when Cain tries to press his suit and say that he’s absolutely fine with loving her, she snaps and essentially becomes a weapon of mass destruction, throwing off holy powers and devil powers that no one knew she had before. can they stop her before the power burns her life away?

This was slightly less horny than previous books, but it makes up for the lack of pages with past Liz’s invention, Girl Time (in Darkness) Mk. I. and then, after Cain destroys it, Mk. II. Which is, not to put too fine a point on it, a robot covered in dildos and vibrators that is supposed to show guys how good anal is. I mention this mostly because I worry that my reviews may entice innocents into reading this series, and if they want to, please don’t. Other than that, this was very good, working Altina The Sword Catgirl into the regular cast and showing how good Cain and Liz’s chemistry is while also showing why Liz feels like she’s so weak compared to everyone else. We also get a new character here, who is Liz’s ancient ancestor, and she’s going to be mentoring Liz from now on, because though they know how to recover her memories it’s not going to be easy or fast.

So yes, Volume 7 is out in Japan! But not here yet, it hasn’t even started pre-pub. So we may have a bit of a wait. Fortunately, I’m sure Liz will send the Girl Time (in Darkness) Mk. IV to help everyone endure the wait. For fans of horny romantic comedy

By Nora Kohigashi and Wasabi. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Succubus Ja Arimasen” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

(This review assumes you want to be spoiled about the last third of the book.)

I will always love the fact that this series is “come for the horny, stay for the funny”. And rest assured, this is still a very horny series. But there are several points in this volume where it appears that the book is finally going to take a bit of a serious bent, and then it absolutely takes a wild leap back into the broadest comedy. And that’s good, as this is one of the few light novel series that does broad comedy really well. Even the horny – especially the horny – works so well because it’s so over the top that you can’t really kinkshame it. So yes, Liz really will wear those panties with the magic-infused elephant trunk that can act like a real penis, because it means the artist will have to draw art of it, and make it funnier. And thus, when we resolve the cliffhanger from the last book, with the new hero menacing everyone, it turns out to be hysterical.

Dia the new hero, shows up and proceeds to not only give Cain a serious wound, but also kidnap Liz. That said, once Liz finds out what’s going on, she realizes that not only is Dia not nearly as villainous as previously advertised, but she’s also a cute young catgirl, which sets Liz’s heart throbbing, though she’s not quite sure why. Liz is rescued soon enough, but finds herself teleporting back to Dia’s location (basically figuring out a teleportation spell on the fly and instantly doing it perfectly, which reminds you how powerful this horny succubus really is), where she finds that Dia not only does the bare minimum of cooking and cleaning, but wears… bloomers! With holes in them! And no bra! This will not stand! It’s time for a lingerie shopping trip!

I ended up trying to overthink this. Yes, as it turns out, Dia’s story about her having the “real” hero sword and Cain’s being a suspicious fake does in fact turn out to possibly be the case but that’s not what drives the climax. The entire climax is driven by the scene where Cain walks into the lingerie shop and sees not only Liz but also Dia, and we realize that he already knows the new hero very well. Once all the identities are revealed, this gets even funnier… at least until we get to the fight to the “death”, which, of course, Cain wins. Again, this should be a dramatic scene, either tear-jerking or heartwarming, and it’s 100% undercut by Liz literally holding up cue cards for the reluctant Cain to read aloud to resolve things properly. Hell, even the sad finale where she leaves to find herself is ruined by Liz, albeit unconsciously. The main reason they want Liz’s memory back is so that when they punish her she actually a) knows why, and b) enjoys it again.

Again, I don’t recommend this to anyone who is not ready for our heroine to be dressed in panties with a working penis shaped like an elephant trunk on the front. But if you are, this remains 10% cool, 10% heartwarming, 30% sex-obsessed, and 50% LOL.

By Nora Kohigashi and Wasabi. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Succubus Ja Arimasen” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

Once I’ve reviewed about two or three volumes in a series, I really should not have to worry about new readers when I write these things. New readers are not going to start a title like this with Vol. 4, it’s only going to be read by those who read the first three volumes. That said, I also know there are some folks who read my reviews just as a matter of habit, and may not know about this series. So, as such, fans of the series can skip to below the cut. Everyone else: Christ alive. This volume is absolutely drenched in “ha ha, pedophilia is funny!” humor, and you cannot escape it. There’s no actual pedophilia in the volume, the humor is all “a 12-year-old has a crush on the 19-year-old guy who saved her life, and the entire cast proceed to drag him for being a pedophile (and yes, the translation uses that rather than lolicon) over and over and over again, to the point of arresting him. But, again. This series is like that in general, about everything.

The humans and the demons, after the events of the last book, are holding a peace conference. This means the arrival of Princess Sylphonia’s siblings: older brother Anzel and younger sister Remiphinia. What’s more, Remiphinia is specifically there to meet Wolfe, who saved her life three years earlier when she was kidnapped by the demon forces. She’s fallen for him hard, and tries to get advice on how to make herself attractive to him (don’t be twelve, kid). Meanwhile, the main cast do a maid cafe… including Miter, who it turns out looks really good dressed in women’s clothing. Unfortunately, not everyone wants the humans and demons to make peace, and those who desire the extermination of all demonkind may be closer than the royal family thinks…

Liz is still, of course, the star of the show. For once she doesn’t get a late in the book power-up where she gains her memories briefly. Instead, throughout the book, her true self is just seeping through more and more, to the point where she’s unable to stop it most of the time. Taking photos of everyone as maids, giving salacious suggestions on how the young princess can get her man, or just using her forgotten hero training to perform superhuman acts and save the day, the line between the Liz who’s a student at the academy and the Liz who’s a horny succubus with insane power is growing thinner and thinner. That said, I’m not expecting her to be back for good until the end of the series, so it’s mostly just tease. As for the rest of the book, if you ignore everything about Remiphinia and Wolfe, it’s fun and funny, exactly what readers want. And, if I’m being honest, most readers of this series probably laugh at the pedophilia “wacky” humor as well.

The book has a cliffhanger that will presumably tie into the next in the series, which promises to have 100% more catgirls than this book. I the meantime, if you love maids or precocious twelve-year-olds, this is fine.

By Nora Kohigashi and Wasabi. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Succubus Ja Arimasen” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

Sometimes this series can be heartwarming, and sometimes it can be horny. But the one thing it cannot be for more than two pages is serious. The prologue to this volume suggests that the demons are ready to make their comeback, and we anticipate a serious, gripping battle. What we get it… well, it’s a battle. But this series is also dedicated to being funny as well as heartwarming and horny, and I will admit, to its credit, it did much better at cracking jokes than a lot of its light novel contemporaries. You could argue the final battle was a bit TOO ridiculous, but the basic premise of this series, as well as every single chapter that begins “Then”, is just as bad if not worse. There may very well be a serious final battle, but I doubt it will be till then end of the series. Which this isn’t. So please enjoy +20 Squeaky Mallet Of Doom.

The hero’s party are doing their best to include a rather puzzled and exasperated Liz in their party and their training, and if this means that she has to train while wearing a bunny girl outfit, well, technically that’s her own fault. One of the demon lord’s minions has started attending school, which worries her, though it’s a different transfer student who she should be concerned with. And she also goes to a drag bar which turns out to be a secret information bureau for top secret missions, which… is handled much better than I was expecting when I saw it was a drag bar. Unfortunately, the demon lord sends the hero a challenge to duel at the demon castle, and the hero’s party can’t just ignore it. That said, of course Liz is staying behind… except she’s not allowed to.

There are fewer and fewer chapters set in the past as this series goes on, mostly as we’ve now met all the main cast. But it does help to not only show off what a shameless pervert Liz was back when she had her memories, but also why she was so beloved by the party anyway, and why they’re desperate to get her healed. After the final battle in this book she gets to have her old self back for the rest of the day/evening, and while she ends up making a big thing about turning it into roleplay (helped out by Sylphie, whose masochistic depths we have not begun to plumb, though this volume helps a lot in that regard), she ends up spending the night making love to Cain, because they DO love each other, and not having her around to get exasperated by but also be at her side is killing him. The others may tease him the next day (next to a baffled, re-amnesia’d Liz) about his nighttime activities, but they’re all really happy for him. This was not just getting his rocks off, there was more to it.

If it sounds like I’m making this silly series too serious, well, probably. One of the “good” horny light novel series.

By Nora Kohigashi and Wasabi. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Succubus Ja Arimasen” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

In the first volume of this surprisingly fun series, we meet Lisalinde, the beloved, perfect and pure student at the academy, and over the course of the book we discover that she has amnesia, and is actually Liz, a succubus who was part of the hero’s party to defeat the demon lord but also a raging pervert who slept with half the party and can turn anything into sexual innuendo… or indeed just sex, period. The contrast is what makes it funny, and that’s still true here. Here, though, we also get an added dimension, and it’s the reason why this series works beyond one volume. Liz is a perverted succubus, yes, but she’s also a hero, and is basically kind, good, and wants peace in the world. We see that kindness a lot more here too, and yes, it’s tied in with a lot of the sex stuff, but that’s the point of her character, and it’s why the hero’s party are frustrated by all this. They want their Liz back.

We pick up where we left off, with Lisalinde trying to live her normal, peaceful school life but having to deal with these occasional weird urges. She’s attending a fancy dress party (and sniffing Cain’s shirt after he’s forced to change due to a drinks spill); she’s helping to finish the combat uniforms that have been ordered at her friend’s shop (and also dress in erotic outfits provided by said shop); she’s going out shopping with friends and dealing with the hero party’s massive tsundere Rachel (and, in the past, helping her get stop denying her feelings and get together with another member of their party); and she’s dealing with Aina, who is certain that she’s making moves on Cain but is mostly just jealous… and honestly, Aina’s evilness is rather pathetic. Unfortunately, near the end of the book, the hero’s party goes off to take care of a crisis… but it’s a trap, and now the school is being attacked, and only Lisalinde… or rather, Liz… can save them.

I don’t want to make this sound TOO heartwarming. It’s absolutely not for anyone who is not ready for unrepentant horniness. I quoted a passage on Twitter where Liz (past Liz) is doing a perverse sentai performance, and demanding children love underpants, but was advised to remove the tweet as, well, it’s deeply, deeply, wrong. Honestly, I was rather surprised that it’s not the ENTIRE hero’s party who are part of Liz’s sexual polycule, and that Rachel and Mitter appear to be a separate couple (albeit sexual, thanks again to Liz). Even the final battle, which is mostly a dramatic fight showing how, when she actually HAS her memories back, Liz is stupid powerful, is triggered by her huffing Cain’s gym shorts for an extended period. Unfortunately, while she’s recovered enough to regain her memories for emergencies, she’s not recovered enough to keep them beyond that, so it’s back to horrified pure Lisalinde at the end.

So yes, better than it sounds, again, but only read it if you’re interested in what it sounds like.

By Nora Kohigashi and Wasabi. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Succubus Ja Arimasen” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

Sure, it’s always nice when a book that you have high expectations for manages to justify them, but I’ve always been even more fond of books I expected to be utter trash being… well, slightly better than utter trash. I’m not about to say that I Could Never Be a Succubus! should take its place alongside Ascendance of a Bookworm or The Apothecary Diaries. It has consent issues and sometimes suspends disbelief more than I’d like. But I mean, the premise of this series, so I’d heard, was that a noble girl, on seeing the hero who is supposed to defeat the demon lord, arrive at her academy, asks if she can have his underpants. My expectations were THROUGH THE FLOOR. I only read this as I thought it would be amusingly bad. Instead I found it amusing but very readable, and it even has a bit of depth to it. And a great deal of this is due to my completely misreading how this premise was going to go.

A year before the main events in this book, the hero’s party battled the demon lord, and only survived due to the sacrifice of one of their members. A year later, Lisalinde is a student at the national academy. Gorgeous, polite, with great academics and strong magical powers, she’s loved by (almost) all of the student body. Then the hero’s party arrives. They’re still recovering from the battle, so are temporarily enrolling as students. And yes, as I stated above, Lisalinde, on seeing the hero, impulsively asks for his underpants. She’s appalled at herself. She has no idea why it happened. And what’s more, the more she gets to know the hero and his party members, the more perverse thoughts she starts to have. Has she REALLY not met them before? What’s going on?

So, sorry to spoil (it’s on Page 3), but Liselinde, aka Liz, is the party member who sacrificed herself to save the hero and the others. As a result, she’s lost her last two years of memories. Which means she has no idea that she is, in fact, a succubus. Who has already seduced the hero. And the lady knight who is his fiancee. And the adorable cleric who is his other fiance. This book goes back and forth between the present and the past, and that’s why it’s so funny, because Liz in the present is a seemingly normal girl struggling with terrifying impulses, while the Liz of the past, well aware she’s a succubus, will seduce anything that moves, and does so. (There’s no explicit sex in this, but there is a giant pile of IMPLICIT sex.) Liz can be a lot – she’s been known to drug food and drink with aphrodisiacs – but she clearly loves her fellow party members, and it’s obvious that they all miss her and want to get her memories back. I am assuming that there is a very good reason they can’t just tell her – but we don’t get it in this book.

There are six volumes of this to date in Japan, and I’m not sure how long it can sustain its premise. But if you enjoy ecchi comedies with a lovable sex maniac girl doing the cast… or if you love ecchi comedies with a pure young maiden horrified at her dirty mind… well, Liz gives you both.