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Reviews

The Hero and the Sage, Reincarnated and Engaged, Vol. 1

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By Washiro Fujiki and Heiro. Released in Japan as “Eiyū to Kenja no Tensei Kon: Katsute no Kōtekishu to Konyaku Shite Saikyō Fūfu ni Narimashita” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Joey Antonio.

So, I have good news and bad news about this title. Let’s start with the bad news, as I suspect that a lot of you were suspect some really good AO3-style Enemies to Lovers with this book, based on the title and premise. And, I mean, before reincarnation, they were on opposing sides in a war and really loved to fight each other. But “enemies” is the wrong word, as both of them turn out to be kind people who always end up making the battle all about them in order to minimize casualties for everyone around them. They’re secretly sweetie pies. And once they’ve been reincarnated, there’s no awkward reunions or tsundere denial in sight. They’re both on the same side now, they can (well, with a few conditions – see below) fight each other, and they can be utterly goddamn adorable and ludicrously badass. That’s the audience that this book is for. OP Sweethearts to OP sweethearts.

Years and years ago, the hero Raid Freeden and the sage Eluria Caldwin fought each other for ages, both equally matched – he with his ludicrous strength, her with her incredible elven magic. Then one day he hears that Eluria has died. In sheer disbelief that anything could kill her (she was young for an elf), he runs straight into their country, taking multiple mortal wounds, just to arrive at her coffin, confirm her death, and then pass away himself. Now it’s centuries later and everyone can use magic… everyone, that is, except Raid Fredeen, commoner in a small village, who ends up breaking magical devices when he touches them. Then, when he’s about 16 years old, Eluria (now a human) shows up at his village. Like him, she was reborn with all her old memories, and she’s spent over a decade searching the country to try to find him. Sure, his lack of magic means he’s a second-class citizen. But she’ll do anything to make sure they can fight each other again… even get engaged!

This is cute and fun, and that’s all it’s trying to be. Don’t expect amazing plot twists here. The plot is basically that it’s unclear how Eluria, who was perfectly healthy, suddenly died in the past, why they were reincarnated with all their memories, and if someone is behind that. But we’re reading it for Eluria being so “floaty” when she’s half-asleep that she hangs all over her new fiance, and Raideen being cool and suave. We get the standard one (1) male friend, with glasses and a fondness for magical support equipment; one (1) female friend who’s also from the country and is mostly there to be comic relief, and one (1) obnoxious noble who thinks he’s better than everyone and needs to have reality beaten into him. Fortunately, this is a noble who learns his lesson pretty fast and actually *is* competent, which already ;puts this over other cliched magical academy books.

Most modern light novels let you know if you’ll like it or not by the cover art and premise. If you like cute, fluffy romance between two people who could kill you a million times over, this is right up your street.

The Royal Hostage Has Vanished: The Black Wolf Knight Yearns for the Persecuted Princess, Vol. 1

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By Ajigozen and Yura Chujo. Released in Japan as “Hitojichi Hime ga, Shōsoku wo Tatta. Kuro Ōkami no Kishi wa Rinkoku no Shiitagerareta Hime wo Zenryoku de Aishimasu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Emily Hemphill.

This is another in the Heart imprint that is primarily narrated by the male love interest, though the princess does get several POV scenes throughout. It’s important in this story because it helps drive the narrative more if we’re following the Knight gradually realizing what has happened to the princess and the circumstances she’s had to live with before we move to her side and get her own thoughts on this. It also helps sell the love a bit better, which is good, as this is a series that very, very much runs on “love at first sight”, and if that’s not a favorite of yours you should be very aware. But it’s fine, they’re both good kids, and frankly it’s a lot less terrifying than the power couple that may have happened if the royal hostage had not vanished. Sonia and Alphonse are, at their core, far too similar to work in a series like this.

Brigandia and Sylvario were at war, and Brigandia has won. Now it’s time for reparation, but Sylvario suggests that in return for less of those, they offer their fourth princess in marriage to Brigandia’s third prince. Which is fine… but the princess leaves Sylvario and never turns up in her new country. Ark, the head of the knights, goes to figure out how in God’s name a princess’ carriage with full guards and accoutrements could have been waylaid by bandits or other such reasons for “vanishing”. Unfortunately, he rapidly finds that no one in the towns along the way even noticed a royal carriage. And when he gets to the royal residence, he finds to his horror that Princess Sonia was an unwanted child who was abused by everyone around her. The reason she vanished… is she left in an unmarked carriage with two servants and zero guards.

This book assumes that you are familiar with and enjoy the tropes associated with this sort of series, and therefore does not need to go into great detail about them. Sonia’s only loyal servants, Laura and Tom, are both clearly far more than they seem and trained as spies/fighters/etc., but that never comes up in the actual narrative because “battle maid/butler” is just what you’d expect from the only loyal servants of an abused princess. I also appreciated Sonia’s intellect and craftiness, with possibly the best scene in the book having her take on a rival love interest in what amounts to a rapid-fire quiz game. She’s a sweet girl, and the dorky love that she and Ark fall into is cute, assuming you like dorks who blush a lot, but I also appreciate that she’s not the usual “nice and forgiving” trope we tend to see, and that she really does want to see her abusive family destroyed, and will happily do what it takes to help that along.

This will not set any originality records, but it hit all the right buttons for me. I greatly look forward to the second book (which is apparently the final book).

7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!, Vol. 6

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By Touko Amekawa and Wan*Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuukimama na Hanayome (Hitojichi) Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Amy Osteraas. Adapted by Vida Cruz-Borja.

I actually had to go back and double check to make sure that this plotline had not been done before. “Trying to catch pirates who have been kidnapping noble women to sell as ‘merchandise’ to other customers” is a plotline that so obviously fits in with the sort of series 7th Time Loop is. No one is more well-suited to having a sword fight on board a pirate ship than Arnold and Rishe. And, as usual with this series, one of the better examples of its genre, it sticks the landing with ease. This gives us a lot of what we’ve come to love from this series. Another figure from Rishe’s past lives who clearly was in love with her and who makes Arnold jealous. Rishe getting far, far more involved than she has any right to be. Rishe getting intensely embarrassed and blushy whenever the idea of genuinely being in love with Arnold comes up. It’s all just adorable.

Rishe tells Arnold that she needs to go to the country’s main port city to get last-minute alterations on her wedding dress. But, of course, she has an ulterior motive. She knows that at some point around this time, Prince Arnold “kidnapped” shipbuilders from the naval country of Siarga, but kept it secret, so that when he inevitably went to war with them, they would be unaware that they actually have a real Navy. She wants to stop this in order to prevent the war, but she and Arnold also come across the kidnappers mentioned above, who are doing a trade in young, virginal noble ladies with few family attachments that can be sold to *those* sorts of buyers. The odd thing is that this sort of piracy and kidnapping is very high-risk, and would not remotely justify the sort of reward they could expect from selling off the women. If there something else going on here?

We get a few more details about Arnold’s past here, and see how his mother was killed by his own hand. Needless to say, it’s even more tragic than was hinted at previously. I honestly kind of wish that we were getting more. The series is clearly leading slowly up to its climax, especially given the cliffhanger with Rishe wanting to speak to Arnold’s father. But for all that Arnold clearly has fallen for Rishe, and you would expect that everything Rishe has done has managed to change the future, the plot requires that we worry that it will all be for naught. So every once in a while, usually when he’s looking at Rishe’s sleeping face, we get the occasional narration showing that his eyes are cold and unfeeling, just in case you didn’t think he could still start a war and kill everyone. It’s meant to keep the tension up, but… I would like a bit more insight into what’s in his head, to be honest.

Despite that, this is still another excellent volume in the series. Fans of the anime who were waiting for more will be delighted. Unfortunately, the 7th volume is not out in Japan yet, so be prepared for a long wait to see what Rishe has to say to the king.

A Surprisingly Happy Engagement for the Slime Duke and the Fallen Noble Lady, Vol. 2

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By Mashimesa Emoto and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Slime Taikō to Botsuraku Reijō no Angai Shiawase na Konyaku” by HJ Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Minna Lin.

Oh dear, Slime Duke is going through that Difficult Second Album. I get the sense the author was unaware of exactly why we liked the first volume so much. First of all, there is far, far less attack duck, with Alexandrine only getting to appear at the very beginning and the very end. Unfortunately, the lack of a duck around her also makes Francette far more conventional in this book, which feels at times like the writer bought a connect the dots with a light novel as the picture. There’s “communication is important if you’re going to be in a relationship!”, complete with a side of “I misheard a conversation and now believe my loving fiancee is still in love with someone else”. We get an adorable crown princess who likes to run away from her minders and get into less adorable danger. And when Francette returns to noble society, there are Evil Noble Girl 1, 2, and 3, all lined up to ojou at her in unison. It’s… predictable.

Francette and Gabriel are visited one day by one of the other Dukes, this one the Siren Duke. Who, much to the surprise of everyone, has the kingdom’s princess with her. It turns out this is all related to Francette’s duck bakery sweets-making enterprise, which has everyone demanding more of these delicious treats. The Slime Duke and the Siren Duke seem to get on well. A bit too well, maybe. But there’s no time to dwell, as they need to go to the capitol for the meeting of the seven dukes, and Francette wants to make sure that they have a unique gift for everyone. This ends up involving trying to un-grump the grumpy local porcelain maker, and take out the slime that’s been stopping him mining for the exact stuff with which to make it. With all this going on before they even get to the capital, will Francette and Gabriel ever get a chance to really talk to each other?

The best part of the book was probably the porcelain stuff. I do appreciate a grumpy old widower whose heart can be melted by nostalgic sweets (honestly, sweets in this book seem to solve almost every problem that does not require extreme violence). And I really enjoyed Gabriel taking Francette with her as he goes to fight this dangerous slime ina cave, mostly as it gives her a chance to think outside the box, which everyone admits in this book is her best feature. Given the genre of this series, it’s no surprise that a great deal of time is spent telling the self-deprecating Francette that she needs to have more confidence in herself. I would also like to see more of Constance, the steward who dresses in butler clothes but, as we see here, can wear a nice dress if the situation requires it. I need her tragic backstory, dangit.

I had thought this was the final volume, but apparently not. The third has a wedding picture on the cover, though, so that should be it. More duck, please.

Management of a Novice Alchemist, Vol. 2

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By Mizuho Itsuki and fuumi. Released in Japan as “Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

It has to be said, either you are reading this series because you cannot get enough of Sarasa, or you dropped the series in disgust after this volume because of what Sarasa does in it. There’s not really a happy medium here, you’re not going to find anyone who mildly likes Sarasa but has some issues. The issues are the reason to read this. She is, on the surface, a brilliant young alchemist whose odd sense of modesty manages to somewhat hide the fact that she’s a huge powerhouse who (to the shock of everyone in the cast) is apprenticed to the most famous alchemist in the country. In the first volume, we saw her overpoweredness, and also her ruthlessness with money. Here we also see her merchant side. We still don’t get that anime flashback, but we know her parents are dead, and were merchants. This is why, towards the end, when she is accosted by bandits, she beats the shit out of them. And then, when they beg for their lives, she murders them all. And takes their stuff. This is your heroine, please get used to it.

After spending the first part of this book fixing up her shop after the damage from the hellflame grizzlies, she decides to add a few necessities to the house, such a a magic stove, a fridge/freezer, etc. To Sarasa, these are sensible items. To everyone else, they’re mind-boggling luxury, and the inn owner they know is absolutely willing to pay through the nose for a magic stove if it means she and her husband don’t have to constantly get new wood all the time. Sarasa is also after frostbite bat fangs, which she can essentially use to make portable fans for hats. This involves going to a very smelly cave and killing a lot of bats, some hilarious but dangerous consequences. Unfortunately, Sarasa looks like she stepped out of the pages of a Kirara manga. Which means a rival merchant is in town, and is treating her like a sucker. But it’s fine. Sarasa’s not the type to crush someone. Oh, wait, he’s actually a louse who’s blackmailing others. OK, yeah, destroy his ass.

Lest people think that this title is filled with nothing but Sarasa being ruthless, rest assured the bulk of it is still cute girls doing cute things. Lorea firmly sets herself up as not only Sarasa’s shop assistant but also her conscience, and we get a crash course in why shop assistants tend to stick with alchemists forever (along with a smidge of no homo, which I will blithely ignore for the moment, the one potential marriage partner we meet in this book spends his entire page count getting emasculated b y his childhood friend). Kate is cool, Iris is goofy, and the two of them are absolutely not from a suspicious background that they’re not talking about right now, nope. There’s also a lot of talk of how alchemy works, how business pricing works, and how the two combine. It’s pretty nerdy, actually, but very readable.

If a cute 15-year-old girl killing ten bandits because they tried to rob her and they may prey on others bothers you, this is not the series for you. On the other hand, I know it’s fiction, and frankly, I find Sarasa too delightfully weird (in a good way) to worry too much.

Guardian: Zhen Hun, Vol. 3

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By Priest and Marmaladica. Released in China on the JJWXC website. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Yuka, Shry, amixy. Adapted by Ealasaid Weaver.

After finishing this series, I do feel vaguely guilty. This is an epic tale of reincarnation romance, with gods, demons, battles for souls, and huge fantasy action set pieces, and they’re really quite well told. It’s also the story of two incredibly hot guys being in love and having massive amounts of sexual tension, and that’s also terrific. But when it comes right down to it, the thing I will always love most about Guardian is the police procedural aspect of it. Show me Zhao Yunlan doing detective work as he tries to figure out which of Shan Wei’s lies about his own past memories are true and which are lies in order to throw him off the track. Show me Lin Jing investigating what looks like a minor live-extending case that turns out to be the end of the world. Show me Gup Changcheng finally coming into his own as a cop by doing what he does best: help people without any thought of reward. Guardian is at its best when it’s Barney Miller.

The bulk of the first half of this book, as I noted, involves Zhao Yunlan trying to figure out how much of himself is tied up in the world’s past. This involves, among other things, realizing that an ancient stone mortar of Shennong’s is possessing his father, which is a real subplot that I actually just typed out. As for Shen Wei, well, he’s doing pretty much what he did in the first two books, which is torturing himself with guilt and hatred, being incredibly powerful, incredibly tricky, and incredibly dickish, and trying to hold on to his lover for as long as he can while at the same time arranging their separation forever. It all comes to a head at a resort where a mysterious death had occurred, which turns out to have its entire staff and customers turned into both8ing more than bone ash. Bad things are afoot.

I mentioned on social media that in the first book the character of Guo Changcheng baffled me, but I rolled with it, and that by this third book, he had become my favorite. I think the author loves him too. We learn who he really is towards the end here, but as it’s totally irrelevant to him for the most part, I won’t get into it. He’s absolutely terrified when dealing with anything remotely supernatural, to the point where he needs an auto-firing anti-spirit taser because he keeps running into them. But when he sees the families of everyone who (unbeknownst to him) has been vaporized at the resort, he comes into hsi own, getting everyone to listen to him, getting all the little details he needs to save their relatives, and generally just being a really NICE cop. And it works out for him. No, he doesn’t get the cynical Chu Shuzhi, at least not explicitly, though the subtext it hot like burning. But he gets the spirits of those he went around what is essentially a radioactive zone to save literally making a net to save his life, in what is probably my favorite scene in the entire book. He rocks.

I may give the live action drama a try, though I’ve heard its “faithfulness” is laughable. But I definitely recommend this to not only danmei fans but to those who love cops on the edge and fluffy cops and goofy cops and lovelorn cops. In supernatural fantasy China, you’re allowed to like them.

Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord, Vol. 6

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By Satori Tanabata and Tea. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō Level 99: Watashi wa Ura Boss Desu ga Maō dewa Arimasen” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

This may be my favorite volume of Villainess Level 99 since the first one. Which makes sense, given that it ties back to the plot of the first quite a bit, but that’s not why I love it. I love it because the basic idea that kicks off this volume is completely, totally bananas in every way. I have no idea how the author came up with it. I do know exactly why Yumiella came up with it, it’s because she’s Yumiella, and everything is about being the strongest. But I mean, if I told you “Yumiella imagines her left side and right side fighting each other, and wonders who would win, and the idea causes her to think *so* hard that her left side *dies* and goes to purgatory, where she is literally shown as only her left half in the illustration”, you might think that this is either a dream sequence or a minor subplot. Nope. this is what kicks off the majority of the book.

While listening to Eleanora tell her about a legendary perfume maker, Yumiella, as I noted above, thinks about her separate halves fighting. Her left side wakes up the next “morning” in the “Kingdom of Twilight”, a place for souls of the dead who still have unfinished business. Meanwhile, Yumiella *also* wakes up back in her own bed, but her left side has no feeling whatsoever… in fact, as a particularly obnoxious Lemn points out, her left side is literally dead. Now Yumiella, Patrick and Eleanora have to research the Kingdom of Twilight and that means going back to the very origins of the kingdom… which is appropriate, as the left side of Yumiella discovers that among those with regrets in the Kingdom of Twilight are the Hero, aka the first king of Valschein, and the Demon Lord… who definitely remembers Yumiella.

This book, like the last, continues the trend of “Yumiella is slightly more sensible except when the author needs her to be over the top”, and unlike the last, it succeeds. Leaving aside the actual premise, the way that they resolve the Kingdom of Twilight thing is so funny I laughed for a good 30 seconds, and also definitely falls into the category of “Only Yumiella could do this”. As for Yumiella’s relationship with Patrick, well, they’re still not quite married, but this is the strongest I’ve felt about the two of them as a loving couple. Well, OK, a loving couple and Eleanora. The three of them have fallen into being a throuple without really realizing it, and while the attraction is more friendly/familial on Yumiella and Patrick’s part, I think they both realize that they can’t really be together without her there. Eleanora, by the way, also shows off her more mature side we saw in the 5th book. (Patrick has always been mature.)

We’re caught up with Japan, so that wedding may be a while off. Till then, I was pleased to see this book give me exactly the sort of Yumiella, Patrick and Eleanora that I want.

The Former Assassin Who Got Reincarnated As a Noble Girl, Vol. 1

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By Satsuki Otonashi and MiRea. Released in Japan as “Moto Ansatsusha, Tenseishite Kizoku no Reijou ni Narimashita” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

This one is definitely a slow starter. It’s taking a while to make its point, and in order to make it effectively we need to get deep into the mind of its heroine, whose reincarnation has not changed her mindset all that much, and who tends to regard almost everyone in this new world as a terrible person. Unfortunately, she’s not wrong. The main reason this is such a slog to begin with is that the only other characters in the book who are not Selena are either people she’s saved who are now devoted to her, her absent father, and terrible, terrible nobles. If this is meant to be a critique of villainess books, good job, as it felt like it was mashing together quite a few of them, with terrible adopted “heroines”, frivolous princes, arrogant ojous, etc. Even the love interest, the first prince, is in the “everything bores me except you, you’re fascinating” camp. Fortunately, things do eventually pick up once Selena is faced with something where she has to protect.

Our protagonist is 9956, a nameless assassin who dies trying to kill a prince, and ends up reincarnated as the daughter of a duke, Selena Violette. Unfortunately, she was reborn with her old memories, so she acts, as a child, like… well, like a former assassin (she tries to kill a dog with a cake knife). As a result, while her husband is away (something that happens a lot), her mother adopts a commoner girl into the family, Rosemary, who is far nicer ans sweeter and nothing like Selena at all. Unfortunately, Rosemary proves to be a holy terror, being a spoiled brat who uses tears to get her way, and if that doesn’t work she’ll order servants to attack Selena. Selena is fairly blase about this, and in fact keeps trying to hammer home to the adopted daughter that she actually needs to behave like a noble and actually study. This does no good at all. Then the nation’s two princes get involved…

So yes, the first 2/3 of this is a drag, as everyone is SO unpleasant, and also because the narrative is filtered through Selena, who has to force herself not to kill people. This is what fascinates Evan, the first prince, who had her investigated as he found it impossible to imagine someone with her background behaving the way she does. He’s clearly smitten, but also realizes that she, at the moment, is not capable of feeling much of anything, much less love. Unfortunately, before he can slowly show her what love is, one of the terrible nobles who Selena has been destroying over the past hundred pages decides to incite a monster rampage at their hunting party, forcing Selena to fight for her life… and also, much to her surprise, fight to protect the other nobles. Yes, even the nasty ones. I will admit, I wish this had been a single volume. There’s a point near the end where you can hear the author stop and add the number 1 to the cover in their head, and it makes the end a bit less dramatic than I’d like. But oh well.

So yeah, this was eventually a very good read. Just be prepared for some of the world nobles in the world before you get there.

The Abandoned Heiress Gets Rich with Alchemy and Scores an Enemy General!, Vol. 3

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By Miyako Tsukahara and Satsuki Sheena. Released in Japan as “Suterare Reijō wa Renkinjutsu-shi ni Narimashita. Kaseida Okane de moto Tekikoku no Shō o Kōnyū Shimasu” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

Sometimes when you get into a habit because you’re trying to project a certain image, it can feel very different when your image becomes the real you. Chloe, through the first two books, has buffed herself up to the point that it was aggravating, describing herself as the world’s strongest alchemist and a beautiful maiden. Well, now she’s managed to go toe to toe with a demon who pretty much wipes the floor with everyone else around, and she also gets to be dressed to the nines at a victory banquet to the point where Julius gets visibly jealous at the looks she’s getting. She really is a fantastic alchemist and beautiful maiden now. Thus… it’s starting to be a little embarrassing to use the phrase. It used to restore her self-confidence, but now it’s like she’s recalling her chuuni phase. This is, of course, adorable. Sorry, Julius.

We pick up right where we left off, with our heroes losing badly. That continues for a bit, though they eventually turn things around thanks to the arrival of a few surprise allies. Unfortunately, some of the villains get away, and there’s no doubt we’ll see them again. After that, though, Chloe recovers from mana depletion, then it’s shopping trips, dress fittings, drunken binges, and endless discussions of her flat chest, a staple of Japanese light novels that we simply cannot get away from. Julius is also more comfortable with her, if with no one else. Now she just has to return home, get a shop assistant who was one of her former rivals, and set about building a Hot Springs Town. While *still* being the world’s greatest alchemist and world’s most oblivious attractive young woman.

The biggest flaw with this book, which you may have figured out from my attempt at a summary, is that it suffers from Webnovel Syndrome. This is a condition that happens when webnovels, which are written in chunks a couple of times a week with little thought as to a natural volume break, are then picked up by a publisher and put out as books which require a book to end after a certain point. Let’s face it, the first quarter of this book should have been at the end of the previous book – it’s all front-loaded here. That said, if the publisher HAD done that, this book would have had zero plot at all, so I suppose it’s a relief that we get some cool fights out of it. The rest of the book very much depends on how much you enjoy Chloe and Julius’ getting closer and closer to a confession but not there yet relationship. Julius thinks his actions (and kisses) make it clear without saying it. Chloe keeps being reminded that she bought Julius and he still wears a slave collar, so confessions might not be reliable.

I assume that the next book is not just going to be building a hot spring, but who knows? Till it happens, this wasn’t as good as the previous two books, but is still good.

Let’s Get to Villainessin’: Stratagems of a Former Commoner, Vol. 1

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By Hiironoame and Misumi. Released in Japan as “Sa, Akuyaku Reijou no Oshigoto wo Hajimemashou: Moto Shomin no Watashi ga Idomu Zunousen” by PASH! Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Dawson Chen.

I’m not sure if we’ve reached the point in 2024 where more villainess titles are licensed than isekai titles. Possibly it just feels that way to me as I read a majority of the villainess titles, while most isekai titles are ignored by me unless there’s a good reason. But this is definitely a book that is intimately familiar with the genre – the author has written several, unlicensed villainess series already, as well as the licensed Seriously Seeking Sister! book. The protagonist says she’s a fan of light novels, and has read villainess books in the past. She’s also backed by serious money here, so you’d think that things would go swimmingly. But as ever, it’s easier to avoid your doom than cause your doom as a villainess, and I appreciate that Mio is trying really hard to be a terrible person but just comes across as a big ol’ tsundere. It turns out being a bad person isn’t easy with a conscience.

Mio is a teenage girl who is working an extra job in order to pay for her sister’s hospital care, as she is dying of a mystery disease. Then, after stopping a purse snatcher, she is introduced to the owner of the purse, who has a deal for her. Shizuki, the rich girl Mio meets, says this is the world of an otome game! (It’s similar to Modern Villainess, in that it’s in a modern Japan but one that still has zaibatsu families.) Shizuki wants Mio to play the villainess role, bullying the heroine, making sure the heroine gets with the correct capture target, and fall to ruin. This will, for reasons not revealed in this book, save the country’s economy. In return, Shizuki will help get Mio’s sister advance treatment that might save her life. Mio thus goes all in on villainessin’.

So, I know this is a “translated into English” problem more than a problem with the original work. And I think the author did it deliberately in some ways to show off the “otome game” cliches of this world. But this book has important characters named Ruki, Riku, Ruri and Rikka. (I suspect the translator added the extra ‘k’ so that I would not lose my mind.) Oh yes, and Mio’s sister is Shizuku and her new sister by adoption is Shizuki. Fortunately, once I got past the names, this was a very good read. It’s a “we have to match the game’s plot but we keep changing it” sort of book, but this time everyone’s being serious, with nary a dumbass in the cast aside from the token “those two girls” who serve as the minibosses of Book One. A lot is being kept from Mio by Shizuki, and I for one am very concerned with her true motivations. But seeing Mio desperately try to be bad and accidentally helping the heroine out… look, I love a good Maria Campbell plot, OK? It helps that the heroine isn’t evil this time, possibly as this isn’t our original villainess either.

Assuming that we’re not introduced to Kiki, Kiko and Kiku next volume, I’m definitely looking forward to it, if only to get some answers, and see if Mio really will fall in love with the guy she’s trying not to fall in love with.

Sasaki and Peeps: Fake Family Formed! ~The Youngest Daughter Dreams of a Warm Family in This Hodgepodge Household~

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By Buncololi and Kantoku. Released in Japan as “Sasaki to Pi-chan” by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

I do feel that this series might have a conclusion in mind, but it really is meandering towards that conclusion, to the point where I was actually a little bored somewhere in the middle of this volume. Which is surprising given it’s an isekai-lite book, and I usually tend to prefer those. For the most part, the bulk of this book is spent integrating Type Twelve into the main cast, which has Futarishizuka and Sasaki making decisions that make sense in a “we’re trying to save the world” sort of way, but narratively in a book makes them sort of terrible. It doesn’t help that the idea that all of this is secret is really being blown apart, with Neighbor Girl’s classmates all discussing whether aliens are real or not after spotting the huge obvious flying saucer. Each book tends to set up the next book, and I suppose that’s true here. And to be fair, the end of the volume definitely was excellent. But I’d like to know the author has a final volume envisioned.

Type Twelve wants to learn more about humanity from Hoshizaki, and has decided the best way to do this is to pretend to be a family. Hoshizaki is the mother, Sasaki is the father, Kurosu and Abaddon are her older siblings, Elsa (returned from isekai land) is the next door neighbor who’s always dropping in, Sasaki is the family pet, and Futarishizuka is the crotchety grandmother, a role she takes to with gusto, to be honest. They go shopping, they buy a house – well, OK, Type Twelve steals a house – and they go to the amusement park, which Futarishizuka, with the reluctant help of Sasaki, tries to depress the robot so that she’ll give up and return home. Everything changes, though, when Kurosu says there’s a new death game coming to a mysterious island, and she wants their help in going after the big prizes that come with said game. Alas, when they get there they find that things will not go that well…

As noted, the death game is the best part (the worst part may be when Kurosu, running away from interaction with her classmates, comes across her teacher screwing her bullied classmate, and she just sort of stomps away in a fit of pique that she’s not able to get that with Sasaki). They arrive assuming that everything will be much the same as the previous games, but not only is everyone on the angel AND demon teams now trying to kill her and Abaddon specifically, but there are also a lot more random elements. A psychic is killing people because he can, the magical girl rips a hole in reality to go kill psychics, and Type Twelve has to literally blow herself up 9she gets better) to save the main cast. And, oh yes, the entire death game has been co-opted by rich assholes. Because of course.

I greatly enjoy this series when it’s being ridiculous, but when it’s down to earth it can sometimes lose me. The next volume… has everyone going to Kurosu’s school. Oh well, we shall see.

Observation Records of My Fiancée: The Misadventures of a Self-Proclaimed Villainess, Vol. 1

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By Shiki and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Jishō Akuyaku Reijō na Konyakusha no Kansatsu Kiroku” by Regina Books. Released in North America by Hanashi Media. Translated by Ethan Holms.

I am, frankly, a little sick of every new villainess book forcing me to say how much it reminds me of My Next Life As a Villainess. And given that this book stars a dumbass who everyone loves, that’s a trap that I want to avoid. So let’s try something else. You know the works of Sarasa Nagase? The kind where the clever heroine has to think on her feet and not let her guard down for a minute or else fate will slot everything back into place and she’ll be killed? And this is helped along by an evil but equally clever heroine? This series is the mirror opposite of that. Both the villainess and the heroine are desperately trying to NOT fight fate, for reasons that we don’t really find out in this volume, but the problem is that they are both not particularly clever, so fate is constantly changed so that things are better. Congratulations on falling face first into success.

While visiting his fiancee on her eighth birthday, the Crown Prince Cecil is rather surprised to hear her say that she’s actually a villainess, and she will do her best to grow up to be a fantastic one so that he can dump her and her family will fall into ruin. And she can go ‘GAH!”. (The “GAH!” is very important!) Cecil is baffled by all this talk of “otome games” and “routes”, but he finds Bertia amusing and interesting, which frankly almost nothing does as he’s the most jaded ten-year-old in the world. Each chapter in the book is “one year later”, and we see that Bertia’s schemes and plans do things like tell everyone where those trying to overthrow the country really are, or making sure that people get together with their true loves, or telling Cecil enough information that they can stop a deadly plague. Isn’t she actually sweet as pie? Why does she want to be a villainess? And what’s with the new girl named (sigh) Hironia?

I read the first volume of the manga when AlphaPolis put it out here, and reviewed it in a Bookshelf Brief where I mentioned Cecil was who interested me most. That goes double for this first book, though Bertia is also interesting for reasons that I don’t think we’ll get explained till the next book. Cecil regards Bertia as a fun toy when he’s a kid, but as he grows older and grows to appreciate her as a person… he’s still not quite there. It’s mentioned many times that Cecil is fundamentally broken, and that gets more clear as we get closer to the climax, when we realize that Cecil has never expressed any affection for Bertia besides “you are my fiancee”, and that he doesn’t really get that he’s fallen in love with her at ALL. We never get Bertia’s POV, for reasons that, again, I think will make more sense in Book 2, but I think she has realized her feelings, but is desperate to avoid them for the sake of the greater good.

This is a series that will end next time, though I think there’s a sequel that Hanashi Media has also licensed with their marriage. Till then, this is a fun Villainess book that starts off very wacky and gets increasingly less so as the book goes on.

The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along!, Vol. 3

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By Almond and Yoshiro Ambe. Released in Japan as “Mujikaku Seijo wa Kyō mo Muishiki ni Chikara o Tare Nagasu: Imadai no Seijo wa Anede wa Naku, Imōto no Watashi Datta Mitai Desu” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Dawson Chen.

It’s never a good sign when I’m checking Amazon Japan to see how long a series has left to go. Fortunately, this series looks like it ends with the 4th volume, so I guess I’ll finish it. It’s not doing anything wrong per se, and doesn’t have random slavery or the usual light novel turnoffs, but it’s a damp wet towel of a book. Our heroes hear of a setback, think of a plan, and the plan, for the most part, goes swimmingly. The bad guys are really bad, the good guys are really good, with the exception of Teodore being a standard “glasses sadist” for laughs. There are one or two exceptions, which I’ll get to later, but if I’m being honest, the most interesting and exciting part of the book was when this volume’s antagonist snaps and decides to start choking Carolina to death in front of royalty and hundreds of people. Dumb, but exciting.

Carolina’s father arrives with bad news: Archbishop Mills is on his way to the kingdom and wants an audience with Carolina, likely to try to get her to come back to Celestia. Unfortunately, they’re not quite ready to reveal how powerful she is to the world yet. So they try several stopgap measures. She puts off her decision while she “thinks about it”, they investigate the bishop for his horrible crimes (can’t have a light novel without a Church of Evil, though in this case it’s just one Bishop of Evil), and create a Saint for their own Empire. Unfortunately, while they get enough support to do this, they can’t just make it Carolina, especially since her power is a secret. There’s going to be a magic competition. And her main opponent is Monica, the noble girl who despises her.

So there are a couple of bits that weren’t too bad, most of which revolve around accepting that sometimes people change, and sometimes kids can’t change situations because they’re kids. Marisa and Owen both had terrible childhoods that left them with many regrets, and indeed we saw Marisa’s younger sister of terrible in the last book. But they need people to vote for their new Saint idea, and that means she has to talk to her OLDER sister, who also treated her like crap. Then she finds… her sister happily married, and love has softened her, and she deeply regrets what she did and apologizes. Marisa really doesn’t know how to take this. As for Owen, it turns out that his brother’s disinterest was not that in the slightest, but just a massive miscommunication, and now the two of them are getting along again. Now, both of them credit Carolina for basically making them nice enough to reach out and make amends, but I’m used to perfectly pure heroines.

I didn’t mention Flora at all, but the final volume has basically one question: will she be saved or will she die? We’ll find out. Bet the answer is the obvious one.

The Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival, Vol. 2

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By Harunori Biyori and Hitaki Yuu. Released in Japan as “Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyō Survival” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Camilla L.

Fans of this series may be surprised that I’m reading the second volume of this book, but they’ll be even more surprised that I’m looking forward to the third. It’s rare I get a series I enjoy so much which is filled with things that normally annoy me. First of all, Villainess fans must be going nuts reading this, as there’s really very, very little of the actual otome game plot here, though we do meet another villainess (more on her later). There are stats. So many stats. I raised my endurance stat +2 just reading this volume. And of course this is an incredibly dark book in which we meet a cast of about twenty new minor characters and by the end of the book almost all of them are dead by the hands of our heroine, who perhaps does not quite deserve that moniker anymore. They even get little backstory flashes right after they’re killed to make it more tragic. So why do I like it? It’s compelling.

Having survived, barely, her life and death battle at the end of the first novel, Alia is now apprenticed to a dark elf named Cere’zhula, who was also the master of the woman who tried to kill Alicia and take her “heroine” place back at the start of the series. Alia ends up actually confessing almost off of this to her new mentor, and ends up being a much better apprentice, if somewhat… eccentric. Unfortunately, only a few months in, a nasty guy shows up and tries to blackmail Cere’zhula into doign an assassination job for him. Rather than get used as blackmail fodder, Alia offers to do the job herself… and then discovers that the Assassin’s Guild don’t trust her a lick. So, I mean, she goes through with the initial “kill these mooks’ test, and then does the actual dangerous assassination job, but she has a far greater goal in mind: killing the entire guild, who are now her enemies.

There is one big reason to read this new book. Just as, in the first book, the main enjoyment was the relationship between the heroine and the first “villainess”, Elena, here it’s between Alia and another villainess, Karla. And while Elena stands a chance of actually surviving the books, Karla may actually end up being the final boss. To be fair, her backstory is essentially “Sakura Matou with less rape but more torture”, but she is absolutely a hoot, absolutely a psychopath, and bonds IMMEDIATELY with Alia, who she not only sees as a kindred spirit (she’s right there, Alia is not remotely an empathic person) but also as someone who will be able to kill her – and not kill her so she dies pathetically, like her family could have done, but kill her so that her death has MEANING. She’s absolutely horrible, and I can’t take my eyes off her.

By the end of the second book, Alia seems done with Assassining, at least for now. Where she’ll end up, who knows, but the 8th in the series just came out in Japan, so it will be a bit. This is dark as pitch, but I’m sticking with it.

From Two-Bit Baddie to Total Heartthrob: This Villainess Will Cross-Dress to Impress!, Vol. 1

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By Masamune Okazaki and Hayase Jyun. Released in Japan as “Mob Dōzen no Akuyaku Reijō wa Dansō Shite Kōryaku Taishō no Za wo Nerau” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Caroline W.

If I had a nickel for every villainess book that I read and thought that it was clearly influenced by My Next Life as a Villainess… well, I’d have about 50 cents or so. Which is still a lot! Fortunately, most authors know that they can’t simply straight up photocopy Katarina Claes onto the villainess of the hour, even as the whole “reverse harem starring a clueless protagonist who does not realize what she’s doing to the rest of the cast” plot is present and correct. Katarina is the cheerful, empathic oblivious type. Someone like Yumiella is the stoic, overpowered oblivious type. And now we have Elizabeth Burton (a name as subtle as you’d expect from someone with the pen name Masamune Okazaki), who is also strong, and also cheerful, but goes in a totally different direction. That’s her on the cover. In the center, between the two pretty guys. Does that means this is trans? Or yuri? Well… not really? Not yet?

So yes, as is standard for this genre, Elizabeth Burton eats a horrible bell pepper one day, which triggers memories of her past life in Japan, where she was a fan of the otome game “Royal LOVERS”… where Elizabeth Burton, the fiancee of the second prince, was a minor villain who was doomed, in the second prince’s route, to be rejected and likely live her life alone and unloved. Well, that just won’t do. Unfortunately, all the love interests in this game are bishonen, so she can’t exactly compete once the heroine inevitably arrives in ten years’ time. So Elizabeth, showing a startling, terrifying lack of common sense, decides to cut off her hair, dress in a boy’s outfit, get really buff and strong, become the perfect handsome playboy, and seduce the heroine. Oddly, her family and the kingdom put up only token resistance. That said, she has a problem: the love interests don’t care if she looks and acts like a man. They’re smitten.

Is this yuri? Not really. The heroine only shows up at the very end to be the cliffhanger. What’s more, Elizabeth has put ZERO thought into this beyond “seduce the heroine”, has no plan for what happens after that, and denies at first that she’s gay… then backs off and says she’s not sure. Is it trans? Not really that either. Elizabeth, aka Lizzie, dresses and acts like a boy but uses her real name, never denies she’s a woman, and gets annoyed when other people try to call her a man. Is this a weird little genderqueer thing? Boy howdy yes. She doesn’t fall for anyone here, thought Edward (the first prince, who is the ‘beautiful but sickly’ sort) comes close to breaking her facade, but the three male love interests (I’m ignoring her adopted younger brother) certainly fall hard for her… to the point that they all dress in women’s dresses at the big dance in the hopes of attracting her. Again, while this gets some shocked stares, there are no repercussions and no real opposition to it. It’s mentioned that men will get married but have male lovers (women with female lovers is NOT mentioned, I note). Basically, this world seems very casual about a lot of things.

I spoiled myself a bit by looking at the (still ongoing) webnovel, and the second book in the series should bring us a bit more yuri as not-Maria Campbell hits the scene. Till then, temper your expectations if you want this to be anything other than “reverse harem with clueless heroine”, but the heroine herself makes it worth the read.