reincarnated as the piggy duke

By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

For today’s reading we have Exhibit A in “the suspension bridge effect is bullshit”. Slowe and Alicia are put into a situation where they’re supposed to band together to survive and slowly realize their feelings for each other. There are, however, a few minor problems with this scenario. 1) Slowe is in love with Charlotte. 2) Alicia is MUCH more stubborn than even those who knew her imagined. And, most importantly, 3) They’re just not that into each other. This book starts with the cliffhanger of the last volume, which has the rumor about Slowe and Alicia being engaged again, and both are determined to break it off – Slowe for obvious reasons, and Alicia because, even if she does think Slowe is not as bad as he used to be now, an arranged marriage is anathema to her. I really like Slowe and Alicia’s dynamic, but as “put upon heirs”, not as a couple.

So yes, the campus is abuzz with the rumor about Slowe and Alicia, to the point that neither of them can even have a moment’s peace without the gossip reaching their ears. And a lot of the gossip is nasty, on both sides. Plus Slowe is now having nightmares where he’s married to Alicia and Charlotte is crying. Theoretically, they should team up, but Alicia is not that sort of person. Instead, Slowe and Charlotte have to sneak off after her when she flees the campus. She’s going to one of the most dangerous dungeons in the world to get back a priceless royal heirloom that was taken by a slime monster. If she can return it to the royal family, she’ll have enough clout to get the engagement called off. To help she’ll have Slowe, Charlotte, Charlotte’s “pet cat”, and the world’s most suspicious guide.

The weak point in this book is Blau. She’s a good character, but a lot of her felt underdeveloped. Given what she’s got planned for Alicia in the dungeon, I expected her to be a lot more morally grey than she ended up being, but she was more of a dumbass than anything else. Also, her character really needed a cathartic last meeting with the one she’s been searching for, and just did not get it. Honestly, both of those problems seem like poor editing – I wonder if she was meant to be a villain but that was rejected? Charlotte is also much stronger here than in previous books, which is good, because given the cliffhanger to THIS book she’ll need that strength. And I also appreciated the repetition of Slowe never quite realizing what his reputation is with the kingdom now that he’s saved the day multiple times. He’s still trapped in that damn anime.

The next book promises a confrontation we’ve wanted to see since the start – Slowe vs. his family. Till then, this was a strong volume of Piggy Duke, and had a bunch of cool fights as well. Plus, skeleton warriors. Always terrific.

By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

I’m starting to give up on Charlotte doing anything, and I think the author is as well. Her function here is to a) have a comedy side plot where she tries to fatten Slowe up again because she’s worried other girls will thrown themselves at him now, and b) be a mirror to the new girl who’s on the cover, who actually is important. And then there’s the cliffhanger, which implies that Book 9 is going to be all about Slowe and Alicia rather than Slowe and Charlotte. It is annoying because, after 7 books of waiting to see these two idiots finally confess to each other, it feels like Charlotte no longer has a function in the story. They’re still keeping her status secret, and the main “plot” of the anime has wrapped itself up, so… guess she’s just there. Instead, we get a one-shot plot that feels like a placeholder.

The first half of the book, frankly, drags. The main plot is that Prince Neon is at the school in order to, supposedly, make friends – something so obviously false that it makes everyone uncomfortable, especially as the Prince is trying to act all buddy-buddy and getting too handsy with other girls. He also has a retainer, of course, named Suz, who is stoic but also seems to be incredibly obsessed with her charge. She’s also ridiculously strong, to the point that Slowe is beginning to wonder if something is up. Something *is* up, of course, but we’ll have to wait till after the world’s most annoying dungeon crawl to find out why, as for some reason the one person Prince Neon is really interested in is Shuya, who he seems to be trying to drive insane… or trying to stop it, we can’t be sure.

Fortunately, the second half of this volume is much better than the first once we actually start getting answers. Prince Neon is meant to be a very close analogue to Slowe himself, which of course makes Suz Charlotte, as she is also a retainer in love with her master and possessed of a secret no one must know. This is handled quite well, and I also liked the final fight, which sees Slowe kick ass, but not in a way that makes him seem OP. He still contrasts very well with Shuya, who is the protagonist of the anime and cannot stop acting like an anime protagonist, even as everyone around him says he’s too soft. Shuya actually gets a leg up on Slowe here, who is so busy trying to avoid whatever is going on with Prince Neon that he misses a lot of the danger signs. And while I want to leave the villains of the piece a spoiler, they’re very good “you know they’re not a recurring thing” villains.

So a middling volume of Piggy Duke this time… which I think I’ve said a few too many times before. We’ll see if focusing on Alicia rather than Charlotte helps things any next time.

By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

The Piggy Duke series has always had a tendency, much like its title character, of avoiding difficult confrontations. We’ve seen in the last few books Slowe trying to work up the courage to confess to Charlotte and failing miserably, and the revelations about Charlotte’s past and how much everyone knows about it, while they have been coming out, are almost inevitably interrupted by some crisis needing attention, and by the time it’s over the moment has passed. Well, those who have been waiting seven books for Slowe to get off his ass and say something will be pleased to see that it finally happens here, as a stupid series of “high school drama” events manage to force his hand. The confession scene is excellent. As for the aftermath? Oh, sorry, it’s crisis time. The aftermath will have to wait. Sadly, Charlotte gets little to do in this volume, despite her heritage being one of the reasons for the crisis.

The title once again is a lie, as, in order to get rid of the stress he’s been dealing with recently, Slowe has taken to working out by lifting weights all over campus – something that the student body actually finds a bit terrifying. That said, he’s slimmed down again, so is attracting looks, and his “commoner” friend Tina tries to get him to branch out by actually interacting with other women besides her, Charlotte and Alicia – something that sadly proves disastrous for his reputation. Fortunately, a distraction comes along. The Witch, fresh off the last book, has gone to attack the Queen, and the fallout from that means that the Queen, her Guardian Knight, the Princess, and the Royal Knights are ALL now at the school, trying to bait the Witch. Unfortunately, this is also a family argument between mother and daughter… who do NOT get along.

We’d met the lazy princess before, but the narrative is a lot more sympathetic towards her this time, putting her behavior in much-needed context. Her behavior also ties into Charlotte’s past, which (of course) is not nearly as secret as Slowe would like, and I really enjoyed that this was part of the bargain made. That said, most of this book, as with the other books in the series, relies on you finding Slowe’s behavior amusingly annoying rather than just annoying. Again, I really wish we had more of Charlotte’s POV in this series, as she’s still technically Slowe’s retainer, and is having to deal with him being the talk of the school – again – and also some incredibly nasty rumors about him – again. If you add in his accidental confession to her, you can see why she spends the last quarter of the book unconscious. I’m sure we’ll find out what she thinks of Slowe’s confession of love in the next book… maybe.

I have been accused before of caring more about the romance in a book than the plot, and that’s probably true, but a lot of the plot in Piggy Duke is the romance, so I think I have the right to be a bit annoyed. Still, the Princess made this book worth reading, and I hope we see more of her in the future.

By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

There’s a bit if a soft reset with this volume, if not in terms of plot than in terms of tropes, and I must admit that I found the first half of the book quite irritating because of it. Slowe is trying his best to stop the anime plot and to manage to confess his feelings to Charlotte, but he does NOT want to be a hero, and the world seems determined to put him in that slot. As does Charlotte, much to his chagrin. It’s frustrating and you sympathize with him… but going home and eating himself back to nearly his original weight is not a good response to that problem, and you feel even more for Charlotte and the others who have to deal with him running away from his problems. Even when he gets back to the academy, things are mostly “why does no one understand how I feel” for seventy-odd pages. Because you don’t tell them being the answer Slowe does not want to acknowledge.

Having asked to think about the Queen’s request for him to be a Guardian Knight, Slowe then returns back to the Denning domain… which proves to be a mistake, as everyone is assuming that he will naturally accept it. Including Charlotte. After trying to overeat his way out of the problem, he manages to strike a deal to return to the academy… but everyone else there (except maybe the headmaster) expects him to accept it as well. There’s also a new teacher (this school goes through teachers like Seven Spellblades) who has a chip on her shoulder and seems to despise Slowe. Meanwhile, to the shock of nearly everyone, Nanatrij has called off her war with the South after events in the previous two books. Unfortunately, some of her subordinates are not willing to accept this.

The main reason that Slowe is dragging his feet only comes out halfway through the book, which is the fact that Guardian Knights are meant to be celibate. (Presumably as they’re guarding the royal family, and you want to avoid “situations” with the Queen and princesses.) Indeed, the current Guardian Knight had a lover he had to abandon. So to Slowe, hearing Charlotte’s enthusiasm for his taking the position is like a knife to his heart. Of course, it’s his own damn fault, as he knows quite well. He’s too cowardly to confess his feelings, and he has not actually told Charlotte what being a Guardian Knight entails. He actually gets close to a confession this time around… but sadly the plot messes it up. As for the new teacher, well, I was also annoyed at her a lot of the time too, to be honest. She was far too much of a sucker.

So yeah, this wasn’t bad, but I had a sort of low-grade irritation while I was reading it. We’ll see what happens next with the Guardian Knight thing when the next book comes out.

By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

If there’s one thing that these villainess stories make clear (and this is definitely a villainess story, even if our hero is the “piggy duke”), it’s that “you can’t fight fate” is not an option. You HAVE to fight fate, because fate has already written the otome game/webnovel/anime in question, and it has you being the villain and dying. Much of this book involves Slowe trying his best to stop the anime plot from happening and war from breaking out, and it’s very, very difficult. It does not help that Shuya, who has merely been a minor pain in Slowe’s side in the first few books, is an active antagonist here, being the ultimate in stubborn, wrongheaded anime “heroes”. Unfortunately, that will lead to disaster, so Slowe not only has to try to stop the city from being destroyed, but also has to try to stop Shuya from being possessed and massacring all his friends. Remember when this was just goofy classroom antics?

Slowe and Charlotte do NOT return to their home country, much to Charlotte’s annoyance, but instead are headed to the Dungeon City, Zenelaus, where Slowe hopes to stop war from breaking out. Unfortunately, he can’t exactly tell Charlotte that he knows how the anime went and that’s why they’re here. Alicia is here as well, mostly as Shuya has decided to help everyone in the city out as an adventurer, and is feeling like he’s really achieving something. Alicia just wants to go home, but she can’t convince Shuya to leave. Nor can Slowe. As for the event that kicks off the war, it involves a lich, a dullahan, and the Eye of the Crimson Lotus, who will stop this insidious plot even if it costs his life… in fact, he seems to regard the loss of his life as a fait accompli.

Most of this book is taken up with what is essentially a siege, but it also gives us a lot more insight into Shuya and how his mind works (even if it’s semi-possessed a lot of the time). As with a lot of anime antagonists, he wants to get strong and protect everyone he cares about. Also like a lot of anime antagonists, he mistakes “being the best” for “being strong” and every time he sees Slowe’s effortless OP powers he gets upset. Gotta be honest, Shuya is really goddamn annoying in this book, and I hope we get less of him in the next one. That said, another very interesting part of this book is the interlude we saw with Slowe seeing Shuya in school for the first time and taking an interest. It’s interesting because this is Slowe before he gets his memories of his past life, and, while passive and grumpy, we also see his insight that shows us why his downfall was such a tragedy.

This was not my favorite in the series, mostly as it relied a lot on a) big fights and b) Shuya being a dumbass. But it was still pretty good.

By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

As each of these books have happened, the title has been less and less accurate, because Slowe has slowly but surely been losing a lot of that weight. It’s possible the author realizes this, as in this book Slowe spends the majority of the time disguised as an orc – which means he has pig-like features. That said, everyone seems to think he’s turned the corner in terms of popular opinion – everybody but Slowe, who is not really ready to take up the mantle of the heir after blowing it off in the past. For one thing, he still needs to stop the anime plot from happening, and for another, he has a much better idea than his old friends as to just how much he torched his reputation, and how much more it will take to get that back. Especially if he blows off the Queen because another disaster is about to take place… yet, the books aren’t self-contained anymore. Cliffhanger time!

Slow is disguised as an orc, and Charlotte as a pixie, in order to infiltrate Charlotte’s old kingdom, which is now overrun with monsters. Slowe is there to try to head off the next big event of the anime, where one of the antagonists murders a pixie ambassador and helps to jumpstart a war. To do so, he makes contact with an Orc King and his village, as well as the ambassador, Elyas, passing himself off as an Orc Mage – something that is theoretically impossible, given orcs are barely above goblins on the fantasy monster hierarchy. Elyas is trying to have all the monsters unite to defeat the human who’s destroying them. Unfortunately, not only is the human stupid powerful, but Shuya and Alicia (well, just Shuya really) decide to take a shortcut through the monster-infested country and end up in the mix as well!

I’ve said before that I think this series is solid, not great, and that trend continues, though it’s still very readable. Having a “monsters are people too” volume after the previous three is an interesting way to go, and you get the sense that we’ve reached the “the series is successful, you can plan for the long future” part that most Japanese media face. That said, Shuya and Alicia are still very generic, as fits the anime that they belong to, and Slowe and Charlotte’s fight is filled with teenage angst that is more interesting to have read than to be reading. That said, the ending fight is really very well done, and the book promises more of that sort of thing in the next volume. There’s some good humor too, as Slowe is both drawn to and exasperated by his “orc brothers”, who are cliched as heck but in a good way. I hope we see them again.

If you like fantasies with this sort of cliched plot, you could do a lot worse than this.

By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

One argument that I’ve gotten into a few times is whether it’s a good thing to always tell the truth 100% of the time or not. I’d say no, myself, as I’ve seen the truth used as a very cruel weapon at times. That said, I can see the opposing view, and the idea comes up a lot in this book. Charlotte has been hiding her identity as the lost Princess for years now, and the impact on her has been great. Not only is she getting somewhat crushed with worry and doubt about lying to Slowe, as well as worrying that if she does reveal herself it will start a war, but there’s also the fact that the spirits who inhabit this world are angry with her for lying and won’t help her with magic. Combine this with the PTSD she still has around monsters, and this really is not a great book for Charlotte’s psyche. Fortunately, we have a dragon.

There’s a new dungeon right near the academy, and the students are all preparing to go into it and get some loot… erm, kill some monsters. Meanwhile, Princess Carina has arrived at the academy as well, supposedly to see if the dungeon can produce a legendary dragon to protect her, much the same way Charlotte’s old country USED to have. Slowe is charged with being her guide around the campus… and comes to find that the polite and affable princess presented to the public is a front for a girl who would rather lie around in her underwear and eat snacks. Frankly, it’s exhausting. Unfortunately, that also means that he’s quite far from campus when the worst case scenario happens – a monster clears the dungeon before the humans do, gains the core, and becomes super powerful. And is the dragon of Huzak really gone?

The book balances itself almost precisely between a funny first half and a far more serious second half. Princess Carina is a lot of fun, essentially being an introvert forced by circumstance to present herself as an extrovert, and getting so much attention all the time (especially towards her chest) is exhausting. Slowe, of course, is perfect at dealing with her because, while he is not immune to her physical charms, for the most part he’s not going to be swayed by her trying to whine her way out of things. The second half, on the other hand, is far more harrowing, as the entire school essentially experiences a siege. The terror of the students is portrayed very well, including those who manage to fight anyway. Charlotte also seems to find her resolve, and she and Slowe at last are honest with each other. (I think. There’s some vagueness at the climax that makes me suspicious.)

The books have been improving with each one, and I’m definitely looking forward to the fourth one. A good read for those who like fantasy with an engaging protagonist.

By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

When one is reincarnated as the villain in one’s favorite anime or manga, of course, the natural desire is to change things so that the appalling fate is avoided. This is how most villainess stories go, and it’s how Piggy Duke goes as well. Slowe knows how this ends for him, and he’s determined to try to a) lose a bit more weight, and b) confess to the girl he loves. Neither of those things really happen in this volume, though it is occasionally remarked that he is a bit slimmer. That said, Slowe seems to be just as prone as other light novel protagonists to not realizing that changing a personal timeline might mean that other things get changed as well… which makes the anime that his past self watched pretty useless. In this case, he already knows that one knight will turn traitor down the road… and is thus rather surprised when it comes early.

After the events of the last book, Slowe’s reputation is… well, mostly the same, as no one can quite believe their ears when they hear it and he’s spent a lot more time being appalling then he has being awesome. That said, the headmaster knows what’s really going on, so calls him and Alicia, his former fiancee, to his office. A bandit group that killed one of Alicia’s relatives is still at large, and Alicia, along with two royal knights, are going to try to put them down. Why is Slowe there? Well, he’s been asked to participate in the selection process of becoming a Guardian Knight… despite the fact that his family and the Church don’t get along. Still, politics being politics, Slowe accepts. Now all he has to do is try to stop Alicia taking a dangerous risk while also seemingly acting lazy and uncaring. And then there’s Charlotte…

Honestly, I’m a bit amazed that Slowe and Charlotte have been able to keep her secret for as long as they have, particularly given that she comes close to spilling it to one of the knights in a drunken conversation. (She and Alicia are likely too young to have been drinking themselves into a stupor, but at least the narrative says that.) This also leads to the change in events from the anime… fortunately, Slowe is stupid powerful, so he takes care of things anyway, but I hope he now realizes he can’t coast on what he thinks is going to happen down the road. As for Alicia, her feelings are super obvious to everyone but Slowe, no matter how much she acts like she’s voiced by Rie Kugimiya. It’s clear as day that she was deeply in love with him as a child, and has never gotten over the feelings of disappointment and betrayal she felt. Well, except now that he’s literally saved her life twice, she’s getting over it. That said, she’s now in a pack of 3, along with the girl he supposedly loves and the busty commoner. (I mention busty because the book can’t go two pages without mentioning her chest, so best work it in on my end as well.)

This continues to be the definition of a solid enjoyable light novel that doesn’t wow but, aside from still fat-shaming as a running theme, doesn’t put too many feet wrong. Fans should enjoy it.

By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

For the most part, the “villainess” stories that we’ve seen a lot of lately have all been… well, villainesses. The genre began as a woman-driven creation, usually pairing the (former) villainess with various hot guys, because theoretically they live in an otome game. The male equivalent has not particularly shown up much. Visual novels meant for guys tend not to have a serious romantic rival for anyone. If for villainesses you think of sneering ladies covering their mouths with fans while laughing “OHOHOHOHOHO!”, then for villains in anime and manga you tend to think of a specific type. Short, fat, usually has a bowl cut. Son of a major noble, so can bully people pretty well, and usually will get a humiliating defeat at the hands of our heroes. That said, one of the more interesting things about this new series is that it really isn’t that. The titular Piggy Duke is actually the “Ensemble Darkhorse” of the show.

We don’t even find out how our hero died this time, but he’s been reincarnated as Slowe Denning, a duke’s son and the antagonist of the popular anime Shuya Marionette. Shuya is the hero. Slowe has spent most of his recent history destroying his reputation, to the point where he’s now despised by almost everyone around him. Of course, the reincarnated anime fan knows why: he’s trying to rig things so that he can confess to his retainer, a (secret) former princess who now lives as a commoner. That said, with his new memories of how the anime turned out for Slowe (badly, though the fans loved his stubbornness), our hero is NOT going to go down that path. He’s going to try to lose some weight. He’s going to improve his reputation. And he’s going to confess to the girl he likes. That said… easier said than done when he can’t even walk ten feet without three passersby calling him the Piggy Duke.

Not gonna lie, this book’s fat shaming is not great. Slowe’s appearance is belittled all the time, and while some of it is due to his porcine face and occasional snorts making him sound like an “orc”, most of it is mocking his weight. A good deal of the book sees him starting to work out to lose it, or searching for magical weight loss potions to help take the pounds off. But that said, I did enjoy this more than I expected. Slowe actually does sound much of the time like an anime fan would if their memories were now part of their favorite villain character. Also, unlike almost all villains of Slowe’s type, he actually has HUGE skills with magic… which, yes, means this is an OP hero story, sorry, did you expect something else? The magic system is classist (and described as such, to the point that when Slowe helps a commoner figure out how to use magic, it’s a big effing deal) but does allow for nice property-damaging mage battles. And the girls are cute.

So it’s not terrific, and I could do without the fat shaming embedded into the premise, but for the most part I found this book quite readable and the protagonist a fun guy. I’ll be picking up the next volume.