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Reviews

Lucia and the Loom: Weaving Her Way to Happiness, Vol. 1

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By Hisaya Amagishi and Esora Amaichi. Released in Japan as “Fukushokushi Lucia wa Akiramenai: Kyō kara Hajimeru Kōfuku Keikaku” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Osman Wong.

When you have a hit series, there’s always the temptation to do the exact same thing. Most publishers do this by having a different writer do something with a very similar plotline, or the same vibe. But there’s also the spinoff route. If you have a character who’s flitted in and out of the series so far, supporting our hardworking heroine, why not write the same sort of book only focusing on her? It would mostly deal with her career but there would also be the potential for romance! That said, Dahlia in Bloom, the parent series, is very much a one-man book. Dahlia may be surrounded by handsome men, but there’s only one man she’s prepared to be in denial over. That may be an issue with Lucia as well, as she’s clearly set up to be the love interest of Forto, her employer and clear frontrunner in the handsome man sweepstakes… and also married. Fortunately, the books always put career first.

Lucia is a young couturier with dreams of owning her own boutique, but at the moment still helps out at her parents’ gloves and socks business. All that changes when Hurricane Dahlia hits the city and the family is approached by Fortunato to go to the Merchant’s Guild with him to see if they can help with Dahlia’s new “toe socks” invention. Since the men of the family are all massive cowards, Lucia is the one who goes, and this ends up leading to her becoming head manager of Forto’s magical garment factory. As the book goes on, we see her overcoming adversity and handling the fashion dilemmas of an old man who wants to look less scary to his granddaughter, twins who have always been treated the same wanting to look different, and a man feeling awkward about wanting his clothes to be a bit more flamboyant. Lucia handles this all with aplomb.

Most of this book takes place at the same time as the second Dahlia in Bloom novel, and we see one scene from that book from Lucia’s perspective. That said, this was clearly meant to be read between the 6th and 7th Dahlia books, which means that sadly licensing difficulties have struck once more, and the book has lost a lot of its impact, because we know what Lucia’s reaction to “will you become my second wife?” will be from that book. The other odd thing in this book is a running theme of the city Dahlia and Lucia live in being LGBT-friendly. Lucia discusses wedding dresses for two brides, says to one of the twins that her partner might be a man or a woman, etc. That said, in terms of the main characters and the romances, the series sticks to what its audience wants and remains very heterosexual. I was sort of expecting the guy who wanted flamboyant clothes to be secretly gay, but no.

That said, this is a very solid spinoff, obsessed with clothes as much as the main series is obsessed with alcohol. It’s a must read for Dahlia fans.

Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord, Vol. 2

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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.

Sometimes I am surprised when a book is not QUITE as cliched as I expected. This is a Villainess book, and the first novel had the supposed heroine of the game as the antagonist, so I was naturally expecting her to break out of prison and be an antagonist again. But no, she’s still there, still not recovered from mental trauma, and isn’t in this book at all. (As it turns out, the webnovel version of this book simply killed her off, but I assume the Kadokawa editors asked the author not to do that.) Instead, the “heroine” role is filled by Yumiella’s “friend” Eleanora, a girl so naive that you can sometimes hear the wind whistling through her head, and that works fine. Plus it’s not like we don’t have other cliches waiting in the wings. Eleanora’s father is trying to topple the kingdom, and he’s gathered all the evil nobles together to do so. What a bad guy… OR IS HE?

Yumiella and Patrick have graduated, and she is now returning to her county in order to run it now that her evil parents have been exiled. Patrick, of course, comes along, and seems to be trying to tell her something about the nature of their relationship – what, she can’t possibly guess. Unfortunately, the county is a mess, with poor roads, high taxes, and unhappy people. Fortunately, Yumiella may have very little common sense but she is quite compassionate and also ludicrously powerful, so she sets about fixing things immediately. Minus a few eccentricities. Like selling wooden swords. Unfortunately, she also happens to come across the evil plan I mentioned above, and has to tell the King about it and deal with the fallout – the fallout mostly being that, as the one behind all of this, Eleanora’s father is probably going to be executed. Which would make Eleanora sad.

The core of this book is the classic “two characters think they are having one conversation, but they are really having two conversations that do not interact”. Yumiella can be surprisingly obtuse, and it takes the entire book – during which she walks around with an engagement ring on her finger and also during which invitations to her wedding are being mailed out – to realize that Patrick is in love with her. We get a bit more of her past in Japan this time around – namely, that she was a massive chuuni, and in middle school she used to wave around wooden swords and also wore an eyepatch. If you think of Yumiella as Megumin from KonoSuba, you won’t be too far off. Thankfully, Patrick is NOT Kazuma, and therefore can be there to stop her worst ideas, like regarding the barrier stopping the church from dark magic attacks as a rival she has to destroy. Though, um, later she does indeed destroy it.

This remains fun if you like this sort of character, with the only real issue being that it was far too long. Hopefully the next volume will be a bit snappier.

Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower, Vol. 11

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By Miri Mikawa and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Ikka Kōkyū Ryōrichō” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hunter Prigg and piyo.

I was a fan of Fruits Basket back in the day, when the manga was still running. When we got to the chapters where Yuki and Tohru define their actual relationship, I remember being somewhat baffled at the negative reaction by Yuki/Tohru fans. (Yes, I still use slashes. I’m old.) But of course I didn’t get it, I was a Kyo/Tohru shipper. There’s a reason people ship one pairing and not another, it’s because they don’t GET the other pairing. Now, to be clear, that’s not really what happens with Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower. I absolutely get Shusei/Rimi, it’s the primary pairing. But the last couple books have had Shohi have to assure both himself and everyone around him that Rimi ends up being just like a mother to him, and I found myself thinking “Ah, yeah, that’s why they were mad”. In the end, there really isn’t a choice between two love interests. It’s fate aligning so that one love interest can win and nothing else matters.

We begin with the action-packed finale, as Shohi’s forces do battle against Shusei’s forces, who (no surprise) turn out to have far more men than everyone thought. Fortunately, things work out for two reasons. One, the consorts finally realize what the Quinary Dragon thing means, and two, reinforcements arrive from Saisakoku out of nowhere, having been told to come by… well, gosh, it’s a mystery. After all of this, unfortunately, they do sort of have to execute Shusei, who was behind the entire traitorous revolt. That said, they immediately begin to waffle when it turns out that Shusei was in fact behind the ENTIRE traitorous result. On both sides. Meaning they’ve caught up with the reader, who probably realized what Shusei was doing a few books ago.

Despite my gripes, this is a decent finale. Rimi’s feelings for Shusei had been cast away as she was certain that “Lord Ho” had killed the Shusei she knew; once she realizes that it was all a massive trick, they come roaring back full force. Shohi will have to content himself with 2.5 of the 4 consorts (Ho is still going to remain loyal to Hakurei, and Yo hates men, but is starting to waffle). As for the solution of how to get out of the execution, it’s pretty clever, and relies very much on one of the past mysteries of the series also requiring a definitive execution to end it. I also liked hearing of Saigu near the end. Rimi’s one touchstone from her old country has never been seen in the series, but her presence has influenced Rimi’s maturation greatly. Still, I think the best part of the book was Keiyu, whose last middle finger to everyone was very clever.

So yeah, the shipper in me is grumbling, as I felt Shusei burnt too many bridges to have Rimi forgive him so easily. But that’s first love for you, I guess. In the end, I enjoyed this series about romance, mystery, and food.

Liar, Liar: Apparently, the Lying Transfer Student Dominates Games by Cheating

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By Haruki Kuou and konomi. Released in Japan as “Liar Liar: Usotsuki Tenkōsei wa Ikasama Cheat-chan to Game o Seisuru Sō Desu” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Gifford.

Those who have read my reviews for years know that I always try to include the Japanese publisher in some way. It’s something I’ve done before this site came about, when I used to type up the weekly release lists on Livejournal. The reasoning is that sometimes you learn about your tastes and others by knowing what books a company puts out. Hence “my eternal nemesis, Monthly Comic Alive”. And it has to be said, I don’t really get on with MF Bunko J. Sure, it has Re: Zero and Torture Princess. And The Asterisk War and No Game No Life are fun trash. But, well, I’ve dropped a lot of series this imprint puts out. Including, appropriately, Classroom of the Elite, one of those series I just don’t understand the fuss about. I bring all this up to let you know that lightning has struck again, and Liar, Liar, a series trying hard to be Classroom of the Elite, is not a very good book.

Hiroto has arrived at The Academy, a massive elite high school with 500,000 students, as a transfer student. As he tries to find his bearings, he asks for help from gorgeous student Sarasa… and then, in trying to stop her from getting hit by a truck, ends up getting her soaked by a puddle. Now furious, she challenges him to a game, and he discovers that basically the entire school is run around these games. She also turns out to be an elite 7-star student. He, on the other hand, has one star. There’s no way he can win. After winning, he goes to see the provost and finds that he is now basically the most powerful student in the school. Or rather, he has to pretend to be, because of reasons. Can he really win game after game with everyone trying to dethrone him, despite, in reality, having very little power?

The series revolves around lies in every possible way. Hiroto is possessed of a trait that allows him to keep a straight face no matter what he’s thinking, which seems to be part of the reason he was scouted to the Academy despite relatively terrible grades. Sarasa’s backstory is changed, and then changed again a little later, and her personality also does a 180. She should probably get the cover art for the first book, but the publisher knows what readers really want, so we get Himeji the maid, who has much larger breasts, to sell it. Both of them are clearly falling in love with him by the end of the book. The trouble is that the shifting sands and changed priorities throughout the book make it hard to care what happens. Especially when the series revolves around games you know Hiroto has to win, because if he loses it is implied he will be quietly killed off. Oh, have I mentioned that the two girls are both possibly his long-lost childhood friend?

If you want to combine No Game No Life, Classroom of the Elite and Strike the Blood, go read those three series instead, honestly.

Revolutionary Reprise of the Blue Rose Princess, Vol. 2

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By Roku Kaname and Hazuki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Aobara-hime no Yarinaoshi Kakumeiki” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by JC.

This second volume of the Blue Rose Princess trilogy has the same strengths and weaknesses of the first volume. On the bright side, Alicia remains a very compelling heroine, who manages to achieve the goals she’s striving for without really feeling too “overpowered” – indeed, she loses her temper at one point and bad things happen. In addition, the fact that things don’t seem to be going the way they did in her previous life means she has to do more detective work to figure out what really needs to be changed, and how things came to her dying last time. On the less positive side, this book remains very serious and earnest, with what minimal humor it has reserved for fairly obvious points, such as “the guy is in denial that he’s in love and shouts angrily while running off”. That’s fine, of course – not all villainess books have to be funny, of course. But this one just is a bit… boring? Not bad, just… satisfactory.

Alicia and Clovis have almost achieved their goal, getting their trading company that will help save the kingdom off the ground. Unfortunately for her, Duke of Sheraford is not on their side, and he’s not only in a stronger position and better at politics, but he has a secret that is making life even worse for them. It will take a bit more than just Alicia and Clovis being clever to get out of this one. Then, six years later, things are going well and Alicia is poised to be the next Queen. There are two issues with this. The first is that the Empress of Erdal is still trying to get Alicia married off to Price Fritz. The second, and more worrying, is that, of course, a Queen is not going to be able to marry her advisor. So being in love with Clovis is a problem…

While I said the book’s biggest problem is that it’s somewhat dull, that’s pretty much its only problem. The characters work well. I especially liked Riddhe, the arrogant son of Duke Sheraford, who at first appears to be exactly the same as all the other arrogant duke’s sons we’ve seen in books like this, but ends up having a stronger core of ethics that ends up saving the day. I also liked the fact that, while Alicia is trying to change her story so she’s not engaged to Fritz, here in this timeline the Empress is just as interested in getting Alicia married to him – but it’s because she wants Alicia’s smarts, not as a political wife. And then there’s Fritz, who we basically knew as “cheating bastard” in the previous life, but here we see WHY he became that cheating bastard, and what really drives him – and how it clashes violently with Alicia’s own goals. Good thing there’s a third book.

So yeah, this is solid, and I like the characters. I’m glad it’s only three books, though.

Rising from Ashes: My Dear Emperor, You’re Putty in My Hands!, Vol. 1

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By Makino Maebaru and Yoko Matsurika. Released in Japan as “Torotoro ni Shite Sashiagemasu, Kōtei Heika. Moto Konyakusha ni Ie o Yakareta Tsuihō Miko wa, Ringoku Kōtei ni Chōai Sarete Sainō o Hanahirakaseru” on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Zihan Gao.

This is the third series we’ve read this year by Makino Maebaru, who is getting along very well with the folks at Cross Infinite World. As you know if you’ve read The Inconvenient Life of an Arousing Priestess, or The Invisible Wallflower Marries an Upstart Aristocrat, this author has a genre, and that genre is the “villainess” version of Cinderella. And sure enough, that’s what we have going on here as well. Our protagonist, doomed by canon to be executed for being evil, is rescued at the last minute by a really hot guy with wings who turns out to be the Emperor of the neighboring country. You know, the normal kind of romance. As for the book itself, it’s solid. It won’t bowl anyone over, but it’s a good novel with a heroine who hates herself a bit too much to notice everyone wants her to be happy.

Sai, reincarnated from Japan, finds that she is living the life of the “evil priestess” from an otome game she liked. Sadly, trying to be really good instead does not work, and she’s quickly falsely accused (the “saint” who was just summoned might have something to do with this) and imprisoned. But right before execution, she is saved by Haruka, who rules over the Orient Empire (the names in this are aggressively unsubtle). He tries to bring her right back, but has used too much mana, so they shelter in a cave. Here she discovers that she has enough mana to help to heal the emperor from his chronic magic fatigue. Then, when she gets to the Orient Empire, she discovers the Wagtail Priestess is beloved there, and she’s given a residence of her own, servants, and a purpose in life. Of course, the Emperor also seems interested in her, but that can’t be right. No one would ever be interested in someone as unsuitable as her.

So yeah, there’s a heaping helping of “abuse survivor” in this. Sai’s life after her parents were killed during a war is pure Cinderella, and by that I mean the evil stepsisters version. Her powers are ignored, she’s used basically as a maid, and her fiance not only belittles her but also hits her. (Some of this turns out to be the work of our “heroine” Saint, Lilly, who may be the most cynical, jaded “evil heroine” I’ve run across in these books.) Because of this, the very idea of people treating her nicely or wanting her to relax and enjoy life is anathema to her, and instead she resolves to work herself to death trying to make things better for the Empire. Of course, as everyone but her realizes, the best thing she could do right now is marry the Emperor. But, baby steps.

All this plus the “my powers make him horny” character tic that we also saw in Arousing Priestess. (I think the author wrote this first, so the influence may go the other way.) If you like romances by this author, this won’t disappoint you.

Moon Blossom Asura: The Ruthless Reincarnated Mercenary Forms the Ultimate Army, Vol. 1

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By Sou Hazuki and Mizutametori. Released in Japan as “Tsuki Hana no Shōjo Asura: Gokuaku Hidō no Yōhei, Tensei Shite Saikyō no Yōheidan o Tsukuru” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Stephanie Liu.

Every once in a while I like to look at a book that otherwise has no appeal to me whatsoever. Sometimes it turns out I’m wrong, and I end up pleasantly surprised. Sometimes the book is so bad that I can’t even bring myself to finish it. And then there are those unfortunate books where I recognize the craft, and know that they will have an audience here, but that audience is not me. As you may have guessed, Moon Blossom Asura falls under the last category. It has fun, enjoyable characters, some good mysterious backstory, some exciting fights, and a determination to show us that war is hell. But the goal of this series seems to be to take idealists and show their faces into the dirt until they learn better, and I like my fiction just a bit shinier than that. It’s a rare series that makes me long for the happy times of The Saga of Tanya the Evil.

Moon Blossom is one of the most infamous mercenary groups in all the world. Currently working for the downtrodden kingdom of Arnia, they consists of our “heroine”, Asura, a reincarnated merc who is trying to recreate her old job in this new world of swords and magic; Lumia, a warrior with a past; Jyrki and Iina, two teen bandits turned into Asura’s soldiers, and Marx, a former soldier who now works on the side of … well, the devil? Asura is bad, but she gets the job done, and given how badly Arnia is losing their current war, that’s a good thing. Still, they may be in trouble with this new request from the young King: assassinate the Hero working for the opposing side. Despite the fact that killing a hero will earn the ire of everyone in the world.

So yes, obviously, reminded a lot of Tanya the Evil with this one. Unlike Tanya’s world-weary cynicism and desperation for the fighting to end, though, Asura LOVES this sort of thing, and the only reason that she hasn’t just decided to become a mass murderer is that she has Lumia around as her conscience. Though that goes both ways, as we find out towards the end of the book. This book contains a lot of the basic isekai tropes, such as magic, heroes, etc., along with our reincarnated protagonist. but its goal seems to be to show everyone that war ids a dirty, awful business and you cannot possibly win it by sticking to your ideals and morals. Iris, a hero that the group meets near the end of the book, wants to save Asura, who she thinks has snapped due to her past tragedies. Which, well, is KIND OF true, but honestly, Asura simply doesn’t want to be saved. Her goal is instead to show Iris how to live on a battlefield – which does not involve being an idealist and trying to save everyone.

This is well-written, and fans of bleak military isekai might like it. I just want to read something with more puppies and rainbows next, please.

Loner Life in Another World, Vol. 7

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By Shoji Goji and Saku Enomaru. Released in Japan as “Hitoribocchi no Isekai Kouryaku” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Eric Margolis. Adapted by Lorin Christie.

One of the reasons why this is such a difficult series to get anyone into (and trust me, there are so many reasons) is that it is trying to be so many different things. It is a military combat novel in this volume… or at least the start of this volume, as it turns out that Haruka, in fact, manages to take care of everything far more than anyone expected him to. It’s a raunchy sex comedy, with Haruka’s stats leveling him up to Sex God (no, really, it says that in his stats) and featuring a number of explicit sex scenes that nevertheless will likely get overlooked by the Powers That Be merely as they’re narrated by Haruka, which means they’re completely incoherent. That said, there is one thing that this series tends to put first, before anything else, and I 100% approve: the nobility sucks. Class warfare forever. Eat the rich. Because trust me, almost all the nobles we meet here are scum.

Haruka rushes back to the frontier in order to stop the army that’s headed that way, an army backed by the theocracy’s soldiers (who are quite content to let the regular army folks be killed off while they hang back) and the theocracy’s secret weapon, another Dungeon Emperor on the same level as Angelica. Oh, and they’re also unleashing monster rushes from nine dungeons around the kingdom, guaranteed to have the populace horribly murdered, which means none of Haruka’s allies can come to his side because they all have to stop this. Needless to say, Haruka… wins almost embarrassingly easily. And now he has a new Dungeon Emperor on his side, the gorgeous Nerfertiri (any resemblance to an ancient Egyptian queen is purely intentional) as his second “concubine”, and has saved the day. Time for a grand ball!

The lack of suspense in the first third of the volume is almost laughable, at least on Haruka’s end. I worried far more about Stalker Girl and her father, who are trying to defeat a mass rush of monsters despite essentially being a ninja spy force. The second third of this novel is basically comic relief and porn, though again, it’s porn written in the style of Haruka’s narration, so it’s not in the least bit arousing. He’s just banging two girls now rather than one. (Again, it’s hinted he refuses to do anything to the Japanese girls for past trauma reasons.) The last third, though, it easily the best part, as the grand ball turns out to be a trap to ensnare all the other evil nobles, baited by a play that gives all the credit to the war to the Princess and Duke, and none to Haruka – meaning they underestimate him. The girls at first asked why in hell he was making their ballgowns with so many defensive armor traits – it turns out they need every single one of them. It’s glorious.

So this long arc is over, and I assume we start something new next time. Might be a few months till the next book, so go back and try to translate Haruka to English, that’s my advice.

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 6

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By Sarasa Nagase and Mai Murasaki. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijo Nanode Rasubosu o Katte Mimashita” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

So I have very good news for fans of this series: not once in this volume is Aileen threatened with execution as a result of something happening out of her control. Which makes a nice change from the first five books. Indeed, there’s a very “final volume” to this, despite the fact there are at least five more books coming. All the major subplots are tied up, most of the romantic couples are now together… well, mostly (try harder, Serena), Claude is no longer being forcibly possessed and turned into a dragon, and everyone gets something to do. Indeed, that may be my biggest complaint of the volume: this cast is too big, and I hate having to go back to the cast list at the start of the volume to remember who is who. Oh yes, and perhaps the most important part of all this: Aileen and Claude are finally allowed to consummate their marriage! Offscreen, of course. This isn’t Loner Life in Another World.

We pick up right where we left off, with everything having gone wrong and Amelia having won. That said, Aileen doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit: indeed, to everyone’s shock, she notes that if she can’t rescue Claude she’s going to have to kill him. In order to save the day everyone will have to do their best, despite the fact that one heroine is in a coma, one heroine is being a tsundere, and one heroine is still convinced that this is a game and that she doesn’t have to care about anyone as a person at all – though you get the sense she’s lying through her teeth. As for Aileen and her faction, well, she handles things like she always does, with brute force and blunt objects. Indeed, looking back to the past of Amelia and her sister, we meet Grace Dark, Claude’s mother, who turns out to be a lot like his current wife.

As with the previous few volumes, I’m fascinated with Lilia, possibly the best “heroine” in a villainess book not named Maria Campbell. Out loud, she’s the same as always, talking about backstories and routes opening up (Aileen does this as well, and the two are frankly far more alike than Aileen would like). Deep down, her feelings for Cedric are wavering, not enough that she’ll confess to him or anything (honestly, you get the sense she’d rather be in a bisexual relationship with Aileen and Claude), but because she’s going off to be brutally murdered by Amelia, and knows that saying “I’ll marry you when I return” is the biggest death flag there is. Unfortunately for Lilia, she’s surrounded by much better people than her, who can also work miracles, so rumors of her death become the reality of her wedding. Which, honestly, she’s a bit bitter about.

So, the end! Aileen is married and has now consummated her marriage! What could be next? Oh, short story volume? Right. Short story volume.

Looks Are All You Need: Shiika’s Crescendo

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By Ghost Mikawa and necomi. Released in Japan as “Kao Sae Yokereba Ii Kyōshitsu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

There’s a lot here that reminds me of other light novels, even though the premise itself is somewhat unique. If anyone remembers the old movie/TV Series Fame they will find this a bit familiar. But the two series it reminded me of most are No Game No Life and Spy Classroom. The former is obvious: it’s about a brother and sister, both eccentric, who have skills but have dealt poorly with social interaction in the past, being forced to socially interact. The good news is that, thankfully, there is precisely zero incest subtext in Looks Are All You Need, and Gakuto and Shiika feel like actual siblings rather than a weird fetish. As for Spy Classroom, this is another book that relies heavily on it being on the page. What this series does with music is something that can’t be conveyed aurally without losing the magic. Which makes me worry that, if it ever gets an anime, it’ll be Erna under the table all over again.

Seeker is a fairly popular virtual idol, who does mostly cover versions but has quite a following. In reality, Shiika is a shut-in who cares little for her appearance or social cues, who lives in an apartment with her brother, who is much the same but doesn’t have Shiika’s singing ability. One day they’re approached by a talent company, who were able to find out her real identity. They have a suggestion: go to Ryouran Academy and learn how to become a famous star. It’s tempting – Gokuto’s goal in life is to earn a ton of money without actually doing any work. Unfortunately, Shiika is a virtual idol for a reason. That said, they agree to have Shiika enter the academy and give it a try, provided that Gokuto can enter with her, as a sort of “supernumerary”. It ends up being the best thing that happened to the school.

I enjoyed this much more than I expected. I know the author from the series My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me!, which is also very good. But this hit a lot of buttons that I resonated with personally. Shiika is not only a talented singer, she’s also synesthetic, seeing sounds as colors, and that’s a huge part of how she handles people – when she sees a rival girl who has a 6-octave range, she’s not impressed but horrified, as her falsetto range is “ick” – it has bad colors. Speaking of which, I was in a high school chorus where an alto was forced to sing soprano doe to lack of good voices in the higher registers, and it did destroy her voice, so I feel for Erio, who’s all technique but no soul. I hope she and Shiika become friends. And then there’s Gokuto, who gives off that air of “I am just a clever shlub” the entire book, until the unseen climax, where we get to see his inner warrior peek out.

Basically, Shiika and Gokuto give off “I am a cliche” vibes, but are deep enough that I want to read more of them, especially Shiika. Definitely a strong start.

My Dear Detective: Mitsuko’s Case Files, Vol. 1

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Have you seen The Law According to Lidia Poët? It’s a period drama that’s loosely inspired by the career of Italy’s first woman lawyer. Though the series explores the real-life Poët’s long, lonely battle for professional recognition, it also makes plenty of room for romance and adventure, portraying her as a free spirit who solves mysteries with the aid of a handsome male journalist. The show’s breezy tone is more Remington Steele than Masterpiece Theater, but it never shies away from acknowledging that nineteenth-century Italy was truly a man’s, man’s world.

If Lidia Poët sounds like something you’d watch, you might like My Dear Detective, which also features a plucky heroine in a male-dominated field. The setting is Taisho-era Japan, where twenty-something Mitsuko Hoshino works for the Ginza Detective Agency as an investigator. Though Mitsuko is a natural, she faces skepticism and condescension in her day-to-day work that sometimes shades into outright hostility; early in volume one, for example, local hooligans vandalize the agency with slogans accusing her of “stealing men’s jobs.” Her boss is unfazed, however, and remains quietly but kindly supportive of her desire to be, in her words, “a working woman.”

Through one of those only-in-manga contrivances, Mitsuko crosses paths with Satou Yoshida, a handsome young man who turns out to be the scion of a prominent family. (The Yoshidas own one of the poshest department stores in Tokyo.) He soon joins the agency as Mitsuko’s assistant, chauffeur, and bodyguard, dropping the Yoshida name whenever it expedites their investigation, and swooping in to save Mitsuko whenever she’s in danger. Mitsuko—ever the consummate professional—won’t admit to herself that she likes Satou, and puts up a blustery front any time he flirts with her.

Though the script is lively and the pacing brisk, the artwork is a little plain. The costumes, hairstyles, and props are just detailed enough to give a sense of the period, but the backgrounds are a little too sterile and generic to really evoke Tokyo in the 1920s. More appealing are the character designs: Natsumi Ito does an effective job of conveying each cast member’s age, social standing, and personality through small but meaningful details. Mitsuko, for example, sports a sleek, modern bob and knee-length skirts, while the older women she interacts with favor Nihongami and kimono, evoking the transitional spirit of the Taisho era.

Taken as a whole, however, My Dear Detective is the manga equivalent of The Law According to Lidia Poët. One the one hand, it’s a fizzy, fun series that offers solid mysteries with interesting twists solved by impossibly good-looking people. On the other hand, My Dear Detective gently reminds the reader how many practical barriers professional women faced a century ago, acknowledging the degree to which misogyny made it all but impossible for smart, ambitious women to chart a course for themselves outside of traditional gender roles. These two sensibilities don’t always mesh harmoniously, but most of the time My Dear Detective toes the line between escapism and didacticism in a highly entertaining fashion. Lidia Poët would undoubtedly approve. Recommended.

MY DEAR DETECTIVE: MITSUKO’S CASE FILES, VOL. 1 • BY NATSUMI ITO • TRANSLATED BY SAMUEL R. MESSNER • LETTERING BY BARRI SHRAGER • COVER DESIGN BY GLEN ISIP • AZUKI • 183 pp. • NO RATING

Guardian: Zhen Hun, Vol. 1

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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.

Its always tricky when you come at a series after everyone else. The hype can sometimes be too much to bear. I was being told about Guardian years ago by friends who had seen the live-action drama loosely based (fans always emphasize the “loosely based”, wanting you to be sure to know how many liberties the TV show took from the source) on this online novel series. When Seven Seas announced it a year or so ago the excitement was greater than almost any other danmei title they’d announced before. Hell, even the cover art draws you into the hype. Just look at those two! That said, the question as always is: is this any good or not? I’m delighted to say that it is. Guardian is a compelling supernatural police procedural mystery, with a great protagonist who’s a classic “jerk with a heart of gold”, and even a lot of the “jerk” is for show. As for the other guy on the cover… well, he’s the mystery.

Zhao Yunlan is head of a special department in the police that deals with supernatural crimes, and he and his somewhat pathetic newbie underling are called upon to investigate the scene of a very grisly disemboweling on the street. This leads him to a university, where he meets Shen Wei, a handsome young professor who Zhao Yunlan is immediately very, VERY attracted to. He proceeds to try to get to the bottom of the case while also flirting heavily with the awkward Shen Wei, who is giving off somewhat mixed signals. As they uncover missing underworld artifacts, a young woman desperate to keep her grandmother alive, and an anthropology field trip that gets somewhat hijacked by ghosts from the past, Zhao Yunlan is determined to find out why Shen Wei is so compelling to him… and so familiar.

BL is not really my wheelhouse, so I will simply note that the chemistry between these two is amazing and those who are here for that will not be disappointed. As for the rest, Zhao Yunlan is an excellent protagonist and a good detective, combining human psychology with a knowledge of the netherworld and various tricks up his sleeve. He tends to put himself in harm’s way a lot, as you’d expect from a “jerk who’s not really a jerk” guy, but he’s savvy enough that it comes off well. The supporting cast are mostly good, though it took me a while to get used to Guo Changcheng, who is the very definition of “comedy relief”, but does vaguely grow over the course of this book. The cases were also well done, though I am hoping when we hit the second book we’ll get a mystery that does not revolve around a woman being the cause of most of this. And the writing was extremely good (and, of course, that means the translation and adaptation as well), despite the need for lots of footnotes for Chinese terminology.

Basically: readers will enjoy this. Go get it. I give it a 9/10, minus one point for falling down right at the end and mentioning the dreaded word “cultivation”.

Haibara’s Teenage New Game+, Vol. 4

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By Kazuki Amamiya and Gin. Released in Japan as “Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Esther Sun.

This is another one of those books where, after I had finished it, I had to double check the publisher’s website to confirm that yes, there is a 5th book in the series, and it doesn’t end here. It wouldn’t be surprising if it did. So many romcom series end with the main couple getting together, and not to spoil, but that’s what happens in this volume. I’m not too worried about spoiling it because everyone reading this series knows who the girl he loves is, and who the girl he has to reject is. It was all just a question of how long the series would drag things out. The good news is that it’s not that long. This series, despite its “back in time” premise, tends to err on the side of realism, and these sorts of “waffling guy can’t decide between two girls” situations don’t last as long as they do in manga or anime. Now, there is one spoiler left (also not much of a surprise), but we’ll get to that.

It’s back to school for our cast, and preparation for the school festival. Natsuki is still trying to decide between Hoshimiya and Uta… or so he says, but not only do we know that he’s fooling himself, HE knows it as well. He likes the girl that he’s liked since this series began. So it’s just a matter of working up the courage to confess to her, and to reject the other as best he can and hope it doesn’t destroy the friendships he’s come to love. Into this waltzes Serika, the emotionally weird girl we met in the last book, and she has a suggestion for Natsuki, especially after hearing him perform at karaoke: join a band. Join her band, in fact. He did try playing a guitar in his previous life (as well as practice karaoke), so it’s feasible. Is it what he wants to do going forward, though?

There’s a lot going on here given that it’s basically “when will he finally stop vacillating” as the main plot. We get a lot more development from Serika, who is incredibly talented and even writing her own songs. If this were a different series she’d be a new “harem member”, and she does admit to liking Natsuki, but knows that he’s in love with Hoshimiya. Indeed, everyone knows it. Including Hoshimiya, because he literally asks her to help him write the lyrics to the song he’s going to use to confess to her – something so brazen that she has to laugh, and so did I. I also liked Shinohara, the bass player, who allows Natsuki to try to help out someone who is exactly like he was the first life around. That said, the biggest surprise of the book was not that Miori was also in love with Natsuki – we guessed that – but that Reita actually *has* fallen in love with her, even knowing that she loves Natsuki. And Miori is far unhappier than she’s trying to sound about his new love being a success.

So yeah, there is a fifth book, and I assume it will delve deep into that, as well as “wait, how do these books work if we’re a couple?’. This is one of the stronger romcoms out there now. I really enjoyed it.

Spy Classroom: Pandemonium, Thy Name Is Sybilla

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By Takemachi and Tomari. Released in Japan as “Spy Kyoushitsu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Thrasher.

The author mentions in the afterword to this volume that they were worried about Avian’s impact on the reader, and in particular whether Avian would be likeable enough. It’s a good point. From the moment we met them, they felt like the unpleasant, annoying mirror to our heroines, and it was not helped by the fact that they were better than all of them at everything. Of course, the ending to the previous volume also seemingly cut off any further development there… or so you’ think. But the author’s main strength has always been manipulating the written word and literary tricks (this is one reason the anime failed so hard for me), and so we get judicious use of flashbacks here to show off that really, Avian weren’t as bad as all that. In the end, they’re another bunch of wacky, eccentric spies. Of course, another way of helping to make your new characters sympathetic is to introduce even more new characters and make them worse. The spies we meet in this volume are worse.

The book starts off with Sybilla getting captured by these new characters. Belias are an English team of spies (OK, it’s the “Spy Classroom” version of England, but come on, this is sort of like Tanya the Evil’s version of England) who are trying to find the one surviving member of Avian, who are accused of trying to assassinate the Prince. Sybilla has also been trying to find Lan in order to discover how Avian were all killed so easily. The two have wildly different ends, but the same goal, so they agree to team up – or rather, Belias forces Lamplight to team up with them. This will involve going to an exclusive ball where they will have to dance to attract attention – meaning that Sybilla and Klaus will have to be on the same page, something they’ve been failing at since the series began. Then things get worse, as the Prince really is assassinated.

As I mentioned in the last review, this series can get pretty damn dark. The girls all being flakes is probably the best way to distract from that. I had been wondering if Avian being dead was another fakeout, but no, all but Lan are indeed dead. What’s more, Belias aren’t the real bad guys either, being a classic example of “we were only following orders” spies who don’t bother to question things lest it lead them to realizing that they’re being manipulated. Which naturally makes it easy for them to get manipulated by Lamplight. Avian may be dead, but before they died they managed to train the girls in ways that Klaus has entirely failed to, and they’re now really coming into their own. They clean Belias’ clocks and get the intel Avian left for them before dying. Good end! I mean, provided they aren’t betrayed by one of their own, of course. That would be terrible.

So yeah, another vicious cliffhanger. And a longer than usual wait for the next volume, because we’ve got a second book of short stories coming first. Till then, enjoy a world that is so tragic that Sybilla has to create a happy backstory to keep her going.

The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices, Vol. 3

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By Mamecyoro and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Gotsugou Shugi na Kaiketsu Tantou no Oujo de aru” by B’s-LOG Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Moon.

Again, my favorite part of this series is just out of my reach, which is everything that is happening in it, minus Octavia’s internal blathering. Don’t get me wrong, her narration is not all that annoying once you get used to it, and helps to drive home the fact that 95% of the time she’s improvising desperately rather than having a grand master plan. But I do love seeing her from the outside. Without that narration, she looks exceedingly crafty, mysterious, powerful, and possessed of knowledge that she just should not have. She does not behave the way than anyone thinks she should, her support for her older brother leaves much to be desired, and she comes across as… well, as a villainess. She’s trying to get a fake boyfriend so that she isn’t used as a womb to give her older brother an heir, but to others, she’s… well, trying to become Queen. Which is worrying, given the kingdom’s secret history.

After the revelations of the previous book, Octavia is a lot less keen to make Rust Byrne her fake boyfriend, given who he resembles. Unfortunately, he’s now very interested in her, in particular because she doesn’t react the way almost everyone else has when they see his face. To her surprise, the King is another one who reacted the same way that she did. Unfortunately, as they try to have a chat, traitors are trying something at the party, and have to be put down by armed guards. What are they after? And why is Sil now missing? The answer will draw Octavia into (pardon me, I’m so sorry) a web of mayhem and intrigue. Because there’s a secret room that has a passage to a different, even more secret room. And there are even more traitors there… including Sil? Maybe?

So many villainess books have some variation of “you can’t fight fate” built into them, with the villainess trying hard to change her destiny and the story itself fighting back as much as it can, even when that makes no sense in terms of how reality actually works. Here we see the past starting to repeat itself, despite Octavia’s intentions. And there’s no denying that Queen Idealia, the queen who was written out of history, has a lot in common with her. Hopefully not including being murdered by her brother. And of course there’s also the past of Klifford’s family, which everyone is still boiling mad over. What this means, I suspect, is that at the end of the day everyone’s going to see Octavia finding the tomb of the missing powerful and beloved Queen, discovering the *real* royal crown, and asking her uncle to present it to the King himself but say that she found it, as a massive power ploy. Not exactly what she’s intending.

Basically, if you like gambit pileups and a lot of handsome men, this is a fun little series. I read it for the bits in between the text.