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Reviews

Yashiro-kun’s Guide to Going Solo: After Story

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By Dojyomaru and Kou Kusaka. Released in Japan as “Yashiro-kun no Ohitori-sama Kouza” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andria McKnight.

Allow me to quote the end of my review of Yashiro-kun’s Guide to Going Solo: “This is a single volume – it wouldn’t work as a continuing series.” And now there’s a second volume, and it’s FINE, I guess, but after reading it I still stand by that sentence. This book did not need to be written. It sort of reminds me of what Nisioisin said about Nisemonogatari, where he claims to have written it for fun and never intended it to be published. Now, I’m fairly sire that’s bullshit in regards to the Monogatari Series, but this book has the same feel. There’s tons of in-jokes and references (yes, Souma from Realist Hero shows up again), there’s lots of meandering cute conversations, and we get to see more of the girl who was the “mystery” of the first book. But there’s no real plot here, because the series has nowhere further to go. Not even a flashforward showing married with children can really help there. It is a good, but superfluous, book.

After said flashforward, we get the bulk of the book, which involves a field trip to Kamakura. During this trip, everyone has to form a group, so we get Yashiro and Nue, Kanon and Chikaze, and Yukito and that new girl, Yuzuki. That said, the group has to prove they’re together at the start and end of the day, but in between can do whatever they want. So everyone breaks off to do things separately… but ends up in groups of two regardless. Kanon and Nue end up traveling to a hot spring together, Yashiro and Chikaze go on a mountain hike, and Yukito and Yuzuki go on what is totally not a date. In the end, fun is had and they all return home, with the main thing happening being that Kanon has gotten Nue to open up a little more to her.

There is some good characterization here, though as with the previous book it sometimes suffers because of its odd premise (loner nerds are now admired while popular kids are pitied, in case you’d forgotten). After discovering that Yashiro actually has had a girlfriend all along, the two girls who were falling for him have to get over him. Kanon does this pretty much immediately, and her scenes with Nue were probably the book’s highlight. Chikaze takes longer, and has to have it ground into her head a bit how soppy Yashiro is for his girlfriend before she lets it go. Also, some of the in-jokes really land well – I loved Yashiro and Nue imagining what would have happened if Nue had met Kanon before she met Yashiro, and the answer is “this would be a Manga Time Kirara series instead”.

The author wants to write more, but admits that this does not sell nearly as well as Realist Hero, so it’s unlikely. If you like plotless meandering with cute teenagers, this is a good read. But was this trip really necessary?

Harlequin Manga: Valentines, Revenge, and Secrets

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Sometimes when reading one wants the equivalent of a decadent Sacher-Torte and other times one might want is a Ho Ho Snack Cake. Is Harlequin manga good? Could the question essentially be meaningless? Sometimes the combination of hackneyed plot tropes and rushed manga adaptations comes together to produce something extraordinary, although most of the time I tend to find it adequate and that’s ok! Sometimes you just want to eat a Ho Ho or read a Harlequin manga. There’s fortunately plenty of selection available on Kindle Unlimited and here are three that I’ve read recently in honor of Valentine’s Day:

Valentine Vendetta by Sharon Kendrick and Miho Tomoi

Valentine Vendetta is the story of a successful party planner named Fran Fisher. Her alcoholic friend Rosie claimed to have been callously used for sex by Sam Lockhart. Rosie wants to be smuggled into a party that Fran is planning so she can confront this terrible womanizer. When Fran shows up at Sam’s house she’s a bit surprised that he’s living in a mansion in the country as a literary agent. Even more mysterious is the fact that Sam is sporting some unconvincing stubble in the first few panels that introduce him, but then he leaves Fran to take a call and comes back clean-shaven. Was he really taking a phone call? What happened with his beard? I honestly spent most of this manga speculating about stubble and wondering when it was coming back only for that mystery to remain unresolved. Sam drives Fran to the train station, and she’s immediately attracted to the messy state of the backseat of his car, it doesn’t match up with the playboy image she has in her head.
Fran just learns how wrong her assumptions were when Rosie and a pack of other women show up and cause a scene at Sam’s Valentine’s Party, and it turns out that they are all upset because they were essentially stalking him! Fran’s put her party planning business on the line for some extremely questionable reasons! Sam however keeps popping up in Fran’s life, she learns more about him and his family and eventually falling in love with him! Miho Tomoi’s adaptation is clear and easy to follow, but I would have appreciated a bit more visual interest, just because the plotline of this title was fairly bland. I wanted more vendettas!

Valentine Vendetta

Alexei’s Passionate Revenge by Helen Bianchin and Yu Mahara

After being a bit let down by Valentine Vendetta, I was hoping for more dramatic plot twists in Alexi’s Passionate Revenge. Revenge doesn’t work when it is too dispassionate, does it? This volume kicks off with Natalya Montgomery being blackmailed into working for the CEO who bought out her father’s company who happens to be her ex-boyfriend Alexi. Now Natalia is stuck being Alexi’s personal assistant unless she wants the secret of her father’s affairs to be released to the media. The plot of this story proceeds in a lovely smorgasbord of tropes including parental alienation, a pregnancy scare, a private villa in New Zealand, a gay best friend, and even more complications that ensured just because Alexi and Natalia had actually managed to have a conversation about their feelings before engaging in blackmail-based business practices. The character designs and illustrations for Alexi’s Passionate Revenge were a bit blocky, and not as delicate as I would have liked, although it was all adept enough. One thing I’m not a fan of is that the revenge in this story was pretty one-sided. Where’s Natalya’s revenge? I hope that she’s planning on something in the future but I won’t count on it.

Alexi's Passionate Revenge


Her Secret Valentine by Helen Brooks and Akemi Maki

This manga has more of the old school quality to the art that I enjoy in Harlequin manga adaptations, although even that isn’t enough to save it from a rather lackluster story with little dramatic tension. Everyone’s eyelashes are three inches long and the heroine has starry eyes all the time. In my mind, this makes up for a certain lack of detail in the backgrounds. Ward Ryan is a widower with a young daughter. Jeanie is his colleague at a law firm who has been crushing on him for years. Ward discovers her crying with frustration about her crush at the office one day and invites him home for dinner. He’s assumes that she’s crying over a man, and says that Jeanie’s imaginary boyfriend is no good for her! Jeanie helps out at Ward’s daughter’s birthday party and they grow closer, while Ward becomes more and more upset that Jeanie’s man doesn’t appreciate her. It is fairly amusing to constantly hear Ward bashing himself to Jeanie. Eventually Jeanie decides that she can’t keep nurturing her crush and quits the law firm, and Ward decides to start pursuing her. Really, there wasn’t very much dramatic tension in this story, and the curly eyelashes didn’t make up for it.

Her Secret Valentine

I would say that out of the three of these volumes, Alexi’s Passionate Revenge was probably the best example of the genre, there were enough inexplicable and yet entirely predictable plot twists to satisfy most Harlequin manga connoisseurs. Now that I’ve revived my Harlequin manga habit, I will continue my quest to find the perfect example of insane plot points and rose-petal filled art.

The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 10

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By Tsunehiko Watanabe and Jyuu Ayakura. Released in Japan as “Risou no Himo Seikatsu” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT.

Gonna be honest, I have not warmed to Lucretia yet. Frankly, I’d be happier with Bona as a 2nd concubine, as the two of them could nerd out together. That said, after getting Lucretia’s backstory here, we certainly see why she’s so desperate to seduce Zenjiro and get into his good graces. Unfortunately, we know our hero better than she does, so she keeps striking out over and over here. It takes Freya spelling it out for Lucretia to get her to change her approach: any attempts to make Zenjiro fall in love with anyone but Aura are doomed to fail. Accept this is a purely political negotiation. She’s in a much stronger position there, especially when her family offers Freya something that, as she herself narrates, she would kill for. But in terms of audience appeal… I think I’m not alone in not really warming to her, and so she’s going to have to work harder in the next few books. But at least now she’ll BE in the next few books, even if she’s still on the outside looking in.

After their error in the last volume, the King and heir to the throne of the Twin Kingdoms are trying to get back into Zenjirou’s good graces, which is unfortunate because he’s still really pissed off. That said, he knows when he can afford to be emotionally furious and when he cannot. Getting a healer is easier, as he negotiates with the Pope there, and it goes very well. A bit too well, in fact. He’s then asked by Freya, who is slowly drying up in the Southern climate, if she can go with him to the Kingdoms to negotiate on behalf of her own nation. This proves to be OK with the Twin Kingdoms as well, who are absolutely delighted to be negotiating with Uppasala. Unnervingly so. What is really going on here?

What’s going on is that the series is now popular enough that things can be planned out for a long-runner, which means we’re setting up plots here for a payoff several books down the road. Honestly, I’m amazed Freya was able to keep her cool as much as she did given the tool they gave her is basically exactly what a nation sailing on a long dangerous voyage would most desperately desire. And then there’s Francesco, still essentially this world’s equivalent of a mad scientist, and trying to invent something that would lead to complete upheaval of the world as everyone knows it. This makes everyone unhappy, but as Zenjirou notes it also may be something that can’t be avoided, so it might be best to control the metaphorical explosion when it happens than to be caught up in it. It might lead to war. The Twin Kingdoms certainly think so.

But yes, Lucretia may be on the cover, and Aura may still be the one Zenjirou loves, but frankly Freya is still the most interesting heroine in these books. I loves her joy when Aura offered her a dress as a gift (which implies she accepts her as Zenjirou’s concubine), which very rightly also got interior art. Given that the next arc will involve Freya’s return home, the author may agree with me.

Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village, Vol. 7

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By Mizuumi Amakawa and Mai Okuma. Released in Japan as “Fushi no Kami: Henkyou kara Hajimeru Bunmei Saiseiki” by Overlap. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Jade Willis.

I would like to take this point to mock those reviewers who suggested that this was not going to end up with Ash having more than one wife. If I could quote one of those foolish reviews, one… let me check my notes here… Sean Gaffney, he said in the review of the sixth volume “I’m pretty sure this is not a polycule sort of book.” And yet here we are, and the outcome of the 7th book is so little in doubt that I’m even spoiling it in this opening paragraph. There are no more battles with demons or werewolves here, and the only new ridiculous tech is the finished airplane at last. No, this entire book is about politics, about the fact that Ash and the frontier territories have gotten far too powerful for the royal family’s comfort, and how they can get Alicia away from the royal family and back to her rightful place next to Ash and Maika. The cover art tells you how this turns out.

After the events of the previous book, refugees are flowing into Sacula, and everyone has their hands full trying to find ways to not have them dying in the streets or turning into bandits to stay alive. Towards that end, they have asked for help from the central territories and the royal family. Unfortunately, the king is ambivalent and also weak, and the crown prince is completely hostile. Fortunately they have Alicia, who gets the help of the Church to send much needed supplies. Unfortunately, she’s proving far too popular, so much so that even though she doesn’t want the throne, some nobles want her to take it anyway. As a result, she’s locked away in the palace. Ash is going to have to find a way to rescue her.

I find it amusing, given how Ash has gone out of his way to avoid taking credit for the many things that he’s spearheaded over the years, that the solution to his problems here is to cash in on all those things, admit they WERE all his doing, and get royal recognition (which essentially comes with an “I get whatever I ask for” coupon). As for the two wives thing, it’s pretty clear from the start that Maika is absolutely fine with this, and as a matter of fact might be more annoyed if Ash didn’t make that the solution. She and Alicia have been close ever since Alicia’s days as “Arthur”, and I can definitely see the two of them teaming up on him in the future. We don’t get a wedding, because in the end it’s the civilization that’s more important than the romance – the real climax of the book is the working plane, not Alicia declaring she loves Ash.

This is the final volume in the series, and a quick epilogue puts a definitive capper on things. It’s just about the right length, and I enjoyed this far more than I was expecting. Please enjoy this ridiculous boy becoming a ridiculous man.

Blood on the Tracks, Vols. 1-5

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One part Mommie Dearest, one part Kids, Blood on the Tracks is an unsettling depiction of the toxic parent-child relationship between Seiko, an overbearing mother, and Seiichi, her thirteen-year-old son.

The first volume is an artful tease, frankly portraying Seiko’s controlling behavior while encouraging the reader to see it through her obedient son’s eyes: as an expression of parental love. Oshimi hints that Seiko’s attachment to Seiichi goes beyond a simple desire to protect him, but it isn’t until a fateful hiking trip that Seiko’s true ability to manipulate and terrorize Seichii is revealed. In the aftermath of the trip, Seiichi begins to question his earliest childhood memories, and forms a connection with his classmate Yuko, another teen caught in a toxic parent-child relationship. The teens’ effort to break free of abuse, however, is thwarted by their age and by Seiichi’s deep-seated guilt about running away from home; the final page of volume five shows Seiichi abandoning Yuko under a highway overpass to search for his mother, rain and tears streaming down his face.

I’d be the first to admit that Blood on the Tracks is a potent reminder of just how good an artist Oshimi is. No matter what genre he’s working in, he does a superb job of creating fully embodied characters whose facial expressions, gaits, and vocal tics reflect their lived experiences; we can see how socially and emotionally stunted Seiichi is from the way he slouches and stands on the fringes of his friend group at school, and from his difficulty making eye contact with other people. Even more striking is how fluidly Oshimi segues from crisp naturalism to abstraction, using the latter as a way of representing how feelings manifest not as fully formed thoughts but as vivid, unsettling images that intrude on everyday life. Oshimi’s expressive linework and creative use of perspective give these sequences a visceral authenticity that would be almost impossible to achieve with language. 

In this scene, for example, Oshimi shows us the turning point in Seiko’s relationship with his mother. The first image in the sequence offers a fleeting glimpse of Seiko as Seiichi used to see her: as a beautiful young woman who devoted her life to protecting her son from harm. The second and third images in the sequence, however, reveal how Seiichi now sees her: as a terrifying stranger, a point reinforced by his wide-eyed stare and the faint smirk on Seiko’s lips. Oshimi sharply contrasts the beauty of the setting with the horror of what just transpired, creating a visual analog for Seiichi’s shock at learning who his mother really is.

The stumbling block—for me, at least—is that Oshimi’s stories always veer into the uncomfortable terrain of transgressive behavior and power dynamics. His characters exhibit such destructive, sadistic tendencies that his work often leaves me feeling queasy, not least because so many of his protagonists are teenagers. Maybe that’s the point: we can’t understand what it’s like to live with a pathologically selfish person unless Oshimi uses jump scares and creepy close-ups to make us feel the same sense of apprehension that Seiichi does. Yet there’s something distressing about making entertainment out of this material, however convincing his portrayal of Seiko’s pathology may be; I couldn’t shake the feeling that watching Seiko squeeze the life out of her son was a kind of emotional torture porn. I threw in the towel with volume five, but your mileage may vary.

BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, VOLS. 1-5 • BY SHUZO OSHIMI • TRANSLATED BY DANIEL KOMEN • VERTICAL

The Abandoned Heiress Gets Rich with Alchemy and Scores an Enemy General!, Vol. 1

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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.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book try to get the reader to abandon it and walk away quite as much as the start of this book. First off, and this is less the fault of the author than the fact that English-speaking fans are VERY tired of this by now, the very first chapter is called “The Abandoned Heiress Purchases a Slave Swordsman”. Those of you following the Sugar Apple Fairy Tale anime will know how this goes, but it’s still a side-eye moment. Things are not improved by the two leads snarking at each other egregiously for the first 40 or so pages – indeed, Chloe’s banter feels very forced and unnatural. Then, as you read on, you realize that this is not a fault with the writing but a fault with Chloe, and things get a lot more interesting. It’s not a must-read, but by the end of the book I was perfectly satisfied.

Chloe is an alchemist, and she’s just purchased Julius so he can help her kill monsters, which will get her materials so that she can do more alchemy and make more money. Both have tragic pasts. Chloe was a duke’s daughter, but when her stepsister arrived she became the unfavorite, and then when her father was accused of crimes and executed, she was thrown out onto the street. Julius, meanwhile, was a general for another country, and as part of the peace agreements was sold to the enemy and forced to fight in an arena for three years. Chloe responds to all this by keeping up an optimistic, cheery front that hides a very fragile young woman, while Julius has simply given up on life altogether. Fortunately, both are very good for each other, and they’ll have to rely on each other more as it turns out that Chloe’s past is still very much in the present.

This is the first of a series of books Cross Infinite World licensed from PASH!, best known here for the Kuma Bear novels, and it’s not a bad choice. I enjoy unreliable narrators, so seeing Chloe’s chipper yet slightly fake running monologue and constant praising of herself made me look for something more, and I was rewarded. Julius, meanwhile, is a jerk to Chloe at first, in the best shoujo manga tradition, but, like the better shoujo manga with that trend, he gets better. The book is very much a ‘game’ fantasy in the way that monsters, when they die, happen to drop labeled items you can use in alchemy, but honestly, that’s par for the course now. Its biggest flaw may be that it’s a stand-alone – there’s hints of Chloe’s alchemy mentor that go nowhere, and the eventual bad guy doing all this gets away and things stay unresolved. So in terms of plot it’s not great. But in terms of romance it’s absolutely fine.

That said, there does appear to be a second book in the series due out in Japan in March. Till then, if you like disgraced heroines falling for hot guys with sharp tongues, this is a good choice.

Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension: Heavenly Bath of the Seven Goddess Sisters

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By Nagaharu Hibihana and Masakage Hagiya. Released in Japan as “Isekai Konyoku Monogatari” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sophie Guo.

I was going to make several jokes about the lengthy wait for this final volume of Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension, but it turns out I made them all in my previous review, which also had a lengthy delay between volumes. Not nearly as long as this one, though. The last time this series came out was pre-COVID. Fortunately, this is the final volume, so we won’t have to worry about it anymore. As for the book itself, it has all the strengths and weaknesses of the rest of the series. I’ve always liked this more than it probably deserves, and that remains the case. But the book is, like its hero, just so goshdang earnest that it’s hard to dislike. There are really no surprises here, no last-minute twists. There are also (thankfully) no new women added to the bath pile, which is good, because as I noted in my previous book, I’ve long since forgotten who is who, with the exception of the tiny cast list at the start.

We pick up where we left off, which is annoying as I did not remember where we left off. But basically one of the summoned heroes, Nakahana, has turned evil and is using her gift, which is essentially “sleeplearning”, to brainwash people and have her own little army of handsome men. Fortunately, Haruno’s powers can dispel this gift, but it’s a one-by-one process, so it won’t be that easy. They’ve got to infiltrate a castle, steal the king, and then go to war with a brainwashed army. And try not to kill anyone, because most of the army is brainwashed, not evil. And then there’s the actual task that Touya has to do, which is to rebuild Hades and set up a massive temple with shrines to all six goddesses… which will allow most of them to once again reappear in this world. Fortunately, y’know, he has a bath.

On the minus side, Touya’s narration still tends to sound like he’s reading us his shopping list sometimes, and the book also can’t stop going on about “ripe melons” and “obscene tits” until your eyes get damaged from rolling them back. And everyone’s just so NICE. On the pus side, that’s because, in the end, this is a found family title rather than a harem romance. There’s no romantic resolution here, though you get the sense that eventually he’ll end up with several women. But it’s irrelevant, their bonds as family and friends are more important. Also, I appreciated how the book used its OP heroes. Touya and Haruno are both ludicrously overpowered… and so the book comes up with actual obstacles that stop them simply being OP, and forces them to strategize and think. And, as with previous books, the women all do a lot here, particularly Haruno, who gets badass interior art (unbrainwashing four knights with karate chops to the head) and comedy/sexy interior art (where she accidentally shows Touya her naked body while trying to meditate).

So yeah, still not recommending this to anyone but fans who don’t mind a breast fetish. But leaving that aside, this remains a flawed but pleasant series, with a very likeable cast, and I’m glad it finally got released.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 5: Avatar of a Goddess, Vol. 2

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

It has to be said here: Ehrenfest is absolutely terrifying. I mention this mostly as, to a reader, that may not be the case. We’ve been with Rozemyne since the start of the series, in her home duchy, and we know its people. We also know that she is the equivalent of a human nuclear weapon, and that they’ve been desperately trying to hold her back for the most part. But to lesser duchies (like, say, Jossbrenner, who get the bulk of the short stories here), their meteoric rise has to be explained by evil. It’s the only way the rumors make sense, because otherwise, you’d have to accept that their entire change in fortune is down to the machinations of one book gremlin… who honestly doesn’t care all that much about where her duchy ranks as long as she gets books. And then we get this volume, where she talks to the King like she talks to everyone else. And produces multiple magical sacred items. What *is* Rozemyne? They just don’t know.

As always with these huge books packed with STUFF, there’s too much to recap, and I apologize for leaving out Detlinde’s excruciating tea party. But the two important things in this book are: 1) Ehrenfest and Dunkelfelger release their joint research, showing the efficacy of prayer and belief in gaining blessings, and proceed to have a demonstration which will involve (Rozemyne thinks) two of the three princes, but actually involves ALL the princes, and the King. The other duchies are somewhat stunned, but hey, it’s for the good of the country, right? Then we get 2), where Lestilaut finally snaps and challenges Wilfried to a game of “bride-stealing ditter” for Rozemyne’s hand. Rozemyne, unable to figure out a way to get out of this, then says that if Dunkenfelger lose somehow, Hannelore has to marry into Ehrenfest’s duchy. Hannelore, who is Dunkenfelger’s archduke candidate. Clearly this will be Safe And Fun.

Much as Leslilaut is an absolute ass in this volume, and I cannot wait for his inevitable downfall next time, he has a point: Wilfried is still pretty terrible as a leader of men, and as a minder of Rozemyne he borders on pathetic. That said, he does get a moment at the end when you cheer for him, when he goes to rescue (and not to capture) Hannelore. I tend not to think about romance too much for this series, mostly as it involves admitting who Rozemyne will end up with, which I’m still trying to ignore, but Wilfried and Hannelore would make quite a cute couple. Unfortunately, given Hannelore’s exceptionally bad luck, I can’t see it happening. Oh yes, and the library now has enough mana to open up some new sections, which will no doubt end up being important down the line.

So much happened in this book that it’s difficult to accept that it’s all just setup for future books, but there we go. That said, Bookworm is great whether it’s setting up pins or knocking them over, and I always love Rozemyne’s “common sense” causing everyone around her to faint or have a migraine. Keep up with this series.

Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet Vols 1 and 2

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Tsubaki Chou Lonely Planet Volumes 1 and 2 by Mika Yamamori

I enjoyed Yamamori’s Daytime Shooting Star, even though I spent many volumes deeply concerned about the resolution of the age-gap romance in the manga. I can experience those feelings all over again, as the heroine in Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet seems to be headed in that direction as well. Will the charming character designs and humor in this title cause me to tamp down my uneasy feelings about power dynamics in shoujo manga? Quite possibly!

Parents in manga have a lot to answer for, what with their habits of abruptly marrying people who come burdened with incredibly cute and charismatic new step-siblings, or their tendency of suddenly abandoning their children for endless overseas trips, or manifesting total financial instability that causes their high-school age children to get a job to fend off terrible loan sharks.

Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet

In the first few panels of Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet thrifty and responsible Fumi Ohno learns that her father is shipping off to sea to become a fisherman in order to pay off the aforementioned loan sharks. She’s being kicked out of her apartment, right when she was on the verge of being able to buy a new vacuum with the money she’s been saving from stretching the household grocery budget! She concludes that her only option is to become a live-in housekeeper to an author. Dazzled by the thought of free room and board, Fumi shows up at her new workplace only to discover that instead of the bespectacled old man with a mustache she’s imagining, her new boss is a floppy-haired young man who seems to be in the habit of passing out in his front hallway. Akatsuki Kibikino writes historical novels and lives in an incredibly untidy house. He’s not happy that a young girl showed up to clean and make his meals (he thought only grandmas were named Fumi) but after hearing that she’s totally alone in the world, he decides that maybe having a clean house and homemade meals would be a good idea after all. Akatsuki informs her that if she’s his housekeeper, it is also his duty to protect her, and he follows up on this promise.

A new transfer student shows up at Fumi’s school and makes a point of singling her out. However Isshin Imamura is harboring a decade-long grudge because Fumi beat him in a race in elementary school. Fumi begins struggling with her feelings towards her employer, and they become a bit closer just with their daily interactions. They have fateful encounters like going grocery shopping for rice. Fumi tends to be a bit naive about the world, throwing herself into some potentially unsavory situations when she hears that her father is having money troubles again, but Akatsuki has a tendency to show up just in time to rescue her. Isshin also becomes more sympathetic and has some blunt assessments about Fumi’s emotions that cause her to reflect on her feelings.

There’s plenty of humor in this series, mainly due to Fumi’s genuine skill and enthusiasm for homemaking pursuits like cooking, maintaining a coupon book, and being willing to battle it out at grocery stores for discounted vegetables. Akatsuki is grumpy and doesn’t take care of himself at all, but when he senses that something’s amiss he springs into action to help Fumi, even if it might take him a little while to realize what’s happening. Yamamori’s art is engaging, highlighting the occasional moments of emotional revelation that occur as the characters get to know each other better. After reading the first couple volumes, I’m invested in seeing how Fumi is going to make her way in the world, and I hope for the best for her. Fans of Daytime Shooting Star will find plenty to like about Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet

A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life, Vol. 5

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By Yuu Tanaka and Nardack. Released in Japan as “Deokure Tamer no Sono Higurashi” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Yuko C. Shimomoto.

It can be very difficult to write a true ‘Slow Life” light novel title. Most of the books that say they’re slow life actually have our hero doing a hell of a lot of magic battles/sword fights/adventuring, with him bemoaning the fact that he’s supposed to have a slow life. On the other hand, genuine slow life books run the risk of being punishingly boring, with our hero describing his rows of tomato plants for 45 pages. A lot of books tend to resolve this with a pile of young women and sexual situations (hi there, Farming Life in Another World), but again, that doesn’t feel like it supports the premise of “a slow life, relaxed book”. Late Start Tamer comes close, though. It’s a game, not a fantasy world, and there’s no “death game” aspect to it. What’s more, despite the presence of filthy shippers on the forums, there’s no actual romance in this series at all. It’s basically Yuto getting a series of powerful pets. It’s fun.

The bulk of the first half of the book is taken up with a Cherry Blossom Viewing party, as he has to invite some NPCs to the party to get an achievement. He also asks some players he knows, who bring other folks they know, and pretty soon the ENTIRE cast we’ve seen to date is present at this one party, stretching Yuto’s farm to the limit. What’s more, his dragon egg is hatching!… admittedly, what’s inside is a mole, not a dragon, but hey, it wouldn’t be a Japanese light novel without untranslatable kanji wordplay. After this the entire party battles a yokai that has infiltrated the party as a special event… which proceeds to unlock yokai for EVERYONE to start interacting with. Once again, hanging out with Yuto pays off.

As always, you’ll pardon me for saying the same things again, because while I enjoy this series and find it fun, it has zero character development, due to its nature as a game. I suppose you could argue that Yuto has greatly expanded his circle of friends from the start of the series, but that’s almost by accident. The mole is a fun addition, even if he looks just like the villain Mole from the Pogo comic strip. We also get a tanuki yokai which Yuto unwittingly (of course) purchases at an auction, and then happens to figure out the sequence of events to unlock them. What’s standard common sense to Yuto is mind-boggling to everyone else, and means that fans of Boruri will also end up getting a kick out of this one, even if Yuto is not quite in Maple’s league. We also get a few battles as well, though I find this the least entertaining part of the series, as the combat is nothing special.

This is not a must read per se, but if you enjoy slow life, or “overpowered by accident” books, you’ll enjoy this.

My Hero Academia: School Briefs, Vol. 6

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By Kouhei Horikoshi and Anri Yoshi. Released in Japan by Shueisha. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Caleb Cook.

I’m not sure if this is the final volume of School Briefs. But it’s certainly the last one to date, coming out in Japan in October 2021. The stories take place in that nebulous period after the internship with Endeavor but before the massive war that takes up the rest of the series. If there is another volume, it may wait till after the main series has ended, as light and fluffy stories really don’t fit with the current plotline, and there’s no “gap” to put them. If this is the final volume, it has the strengths and weaknesses of most MHA spinoffs. It tries to focus on characters who get less attention but doesn’t succeed that often, it can’t really affect any of the canon plotlines or characterization so tends to be fairly pointless, and it’s still trying to get us to like Mineta, which is simply not going to happen, sorry. That sad, there are a few stories here that proved to be a decent read, and that’s all you can ask for with a spinoff.

The stories are: 1) as part of a setsubun-themed training exercise, Bakugo is ordered to make friends with Eri, which requires him to not be a constant boiling cloud of rage, something that is very difficult for him; 2) The 1-A girls are making Valentine’s Chocolate, but are waylaid by a girl who wants them to give chocolate to 1-A’s Prince Charming”… whoever that is; 3) Several of the guys decide to use some of their break to go mountain climbing, since U-A happens to have its own snowy mountain range; 4) Eri has never celebrated Shichi-go-san day, and the desire to celebrate wars with her wavering sense of self-worth. Can Shinso and a cat help? 5) the business course students are making promo videos, and 1-A and 1-B are asked to act in them… much to their horror; 6) The UA teachers have a final drinking party and the book reminds us that Midnight is about to be killed.

I despised the Mineta chapter, partly as it got in the way of some (theoretical) Valentine’s shipping, but mostly as it wants us to find Mineta being a sexist creep funny. The best chapters were the ones that were allowed to focus on character, unsurprisingly. Eri’s attempts to be useful to her new family are heartwarming but also painful to see, reminding us of the trauma she’s been through in the past. Bakugo also does very well here, finally being forced to understand that Izuku reaching out his hand to help is not meant to be some sort of pity thing, but just who he is. This is a good setup for Bakugo’s eventual apology in the main series. As for the “video” chapter, it went on far too long, and was not all that funny, but we did manage to see Kodai say more words in this book than she has in the entire series. Likely as her video had to do with a magical girl team, which is lightly related to her sentai obsessions.

As noted, the novel ends with a bittersweet chapter showing Midnight giving everyone some expensive sake she bought, and reminding the reader that this is the end of the light, fluffy stuff. It lends gravitas to an otherwise up-and-down book.

These Legs Don’t Lie! Harumi’s Legacy as the Strongest Mimic, Vol. 1

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By Tsuyoshi Fujitaka and Yuunagi. Released in Japan as “Bikyaku Mimic, Harumi-san: Tensei Monster Isekai Nariagari Densetsu” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Chen.

Sometimes a new series just doesn’t work out, OK? Leaving aside the actual content of this book, which I will get to eventually, I was informed as I began to read it that it was canceled after only one volume in Japan. Light Novel fans tend to dislike this, but after reading These Legs Don’t Lie Volume 1, I have to think, is another volume really needed? There were not really any horrible cliffhangers, there was no plot we really wanted to see resolved, the characters are not, on the whole, compelling. As a one-shot this was OK – a bit annoying at the start, very weird as it trundles along, but OK. That said, there’s no way that I would have been able to read, say, Vol. 8 of this series. I also recall the other series I read by this author, My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World, and how that declined as it went along too. So yeah, one volume then cancelled? Fine by me.

Our heroine is Harumi, who is a newly-born mimic (I had to look it up, as a non-gamer – think The Luggage from Discworld) being stuck at the top of a dungeon to be killed by adventurer newbies. She doesn’t want this to happen, and manages to forcibly grow legs to run away. Which does not work, but she attracts the attention of a thief with a fetish, who gives her magical high heels. As she discovers, this is a ludicrously powerful items that lets her make her opponents explode after she kicks them. She then goes on a reign of terror through the dungeon, kicking and exploding people, till the “event” has ended. Having grown far too powerful for this dungeon, she is then sent off to the place where the strongest monsters gather… if she can get there. It’s a long walk, and other folks are out for revenge against her.

Harumi is, frankly, a sociopath, who thinks very little of blowing up anyone and everyone. The way she comes across new attacks is somewhat similar to Maple, as is her somewhat ditzy narrative voice, but I’d say White from So I’m a Spider, So What? is a more apt comparison. The setting for this world is very bizarre, with humans and monsters essentially using each other to make money, and the dungeon being a kind of theme park – which means that Harumi massacring nearly everyone is a major bug in the program. Also, despite the cover art, she can’t grow an entire body by the end of this book. She can get legs/hips, legs and arms, or topless upper half, but not all three. This means there are scenes where she is running through the countryside, a treasure chest on legs, with a random urchin that she saved from bandits riding on top of her. Honestly, I wonder if the entire series was written for that image alone.

So yeah, as it turned out, after the first volume of this, My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered really started to take off, to the point where it’s getting an anime, and so the publisher probably said “why keep up with this title which is likely unbroadcastable due to the constant exploding people?” One is enough.

Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home!, Vol. 4

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By You Fuguruma and Nama. Released in Japan as “Kasei Madoushi no Isekai Seikatsu: Boukenchuu no Kasei Fugyou Uketamawarimasu!” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Hengtee Lim.

This series remains ongoing in Japan – both as a light novel series, which has 7 volumes to date, and as a webnovel, last updated 2 weeks ago – which makes it odd that the series really feels like it’s going to be ending in the next book. Most of the drama in this volume involves other people – first there’s the wrap-up of the Annelie and Dennis arc, and then there’s an arc that points out the somewhat rocky relationship between other adventurers and knights. It’s definitely building more of the world that Alec and Shiori are living in. That said, Alec and Shiori are still in a “honeymoon” stage of their relationship, with almost every moment between them being cute and romantic. The only exceptions are when Alec worries about Shiori’s past and sudden appearance in their country, or when Shiori worries that Alec is actually royalty. Both of those things need to be resolved before they can marry… and it’s being dragged out.

We pick up where we left off, with our merry band having resolved Annelie and Dennis’ love life… well, at least their feelings for each other… and now it’s time to head back. On the way they find the annoying nobles from the Empire have opened the massive door that screamed “do not open”, and now the worst of them is dead, and the other two are ill. Fortunately for them, our heroes are all nice, so they drag them back home, despite the dangers on the way back, including mythical beasts. Once home, Annelie and Dennis have Mrs. Tragic Backstory arrive to explain what ACTUALLY happened in Dennis’ past, and why their family has not spoken with the adventurer’s guild in ten years. Finally, in a side story, Alec, Shiori, Zack and Linus are called to a village with an infestation of monster bugs and find the knights and the village folks are not getting on.

This is one of those books where the reader has to be careful not to be disappointed by the story that isn’t being told. Everything about the past of Dennis’ father and what turns out to be his MALE partner reads like it’s going to say everyone lied to cover up a gay relationship. That’s not what happens here, and the explanation of Dennis’ grandfather, the actual villain of the piece, is far less interesting. I wonder if this may have been changed for the light novel – everything about the death is framed as “they were lovers”, even the final image of their dead bodies holding hands. It’s weird. As for Alec and Shiori, now that she’s more relaxed around everyone she’s letting more things slip, and Alec and the others are starting to realize that she’s probably not from “the Eastern lands” at all. Unfortunately, she and Alec are still too afraid of ruining their burgeoning love to confess their backstories to each other.

This is well-written enough, and I’ll definitely keep going, but I found this book a bit more frustrating than the previous ones, and hope the next book takes a few definitive steps forward.

Formerly, the Fallen Daughter of the Duke, Vol. 3

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By Ichibu Saki, Nemusuke, and Ushio Shirotori. Released in Japan as “Moto, Ochikobore Koushaku Reijou desu” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Andrew Schubauer.

When an author has a favorite character to write for, and you love that character, it’s always a treat whenever they show up. Unfortunately, when they are NOT your favorite character, it cam prove excruciating. This book’s antagonist, Charlotte, has been difficult to read since the start of the series. Clearly she’s also reincarnated from Japan, but we get no details about that except her utter rage at the fact that the route is not going her way. Worst of all, this book features a lot more Charlotte than the first two, and her scenes are a lot harder to simply try to skip over. That said, I will admit the payoff to this is really, really good – more on that later. Alas, a cliffhanger shows that we’ll get more Charlotte in the fourth book. Which admittedly may be because without her around, there’s no real conflict or problems – it’s just Claire having a wonderful time with her fiance. Nice, but dull.

Claire is not quite at the point where she has to do anything from the last timeline yet. The magical tornado is still in the future, and they’re working hard to make sure that when she goes back home for the event that destroyed her last time, she’ll have better magical protection. Fortunately, several clues fall into her lap: her mother’s bracelet turns out to be a powerful magical tool provided they figure out how to activate it. And a series of fairy stories, shown to them by Claire’s former charge from her previous life, Isabella, tell you exactly what to do to activate it. What’s more, Nicola is now in Claire’s domain and is doing quite well for herself… though she seems to spend most of the time exasperated at Claire’s former fiance, Asgard. Everything is perfect… till Charlotte steals the bracelet.

There is one scene that made me cheer in this book, which unfortunately is balanced out by the scenes that made me rub my temples. As noted above, almost everything that drives the plot forward in this book occurs due to either a happy coincidence (the bracelet stuff) or brain-boggling stupidity (Claire leaving the bracelet in an easy place for Charlotte to steal it). Even the cliffhanger ending, which introduces a new antagonist, feels tacked on for the sake of a cliffhanger ending. HOWEVER, this is all offset by the villainess scene. After 87 million books where our heroine, as the villainess or a noble girl, is disgraced and shunned in public in a way that makes us sympathize with her, it’s a delight to see the same thing happen to Charlotte, who deserves every minute of it. I cheered.

Sadly, this is still something I would call a very “mid” series. If you’re still reading it, you can probably get the fourth volume, which I hope is the final one. But it’s not remotely essential.

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Lady of the Sword’s Lament and the War in the South

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By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian.

As the author has noted in previous books, Lydia has by far the biggest advantage among the other girls who are in love with Allen, and judging by comments I’ve seen on the original webnovel site (the webnovel is still ongoing, by the way), fans seem to prefer Lydia as well. Our author said that he’d try writing Lydia out of the plot for a bit, but that didn’t even last one book. Now we have this solution, which is to make the reader feel that having Allen and Lydia end up together would be bad for her. The front half of this book has Lydia and her family being told that he’s presumed dead, and she completely falls to bits. It’s almost comical, as everyone writes her off as being useless without Allen. By the last quarter of the book she’s recovered, cut her hair, and is ready to join in the battle… and becomes so terrifying that by the end of the book no one dares go near her for fear of accidentally being murdered.

This volume can be divided into thirds. The first third has Tina, Ellie and Stella back home, dealing with an invasion from the North in addition to the noble’s rebellion. The last third has the Leinsters dealing with an invasion from the South in addition to the noble’s rebellion. And in the middle portion we get a flashback showing Allen’s “final” moments, as well as the reaction of Caren and his parents to this. We get introduced to the “Hero”, Alice, who has a past with Allen and Lydia, and who seems to suspect that Lydia is going to snap and have to be assassinated before she turns evil. And we discover that it’s not just Lydia, all the Leinsters are absolute monsters who will destroy you if you get in their way. We also get more tantalizing hints of backstory about Allen and Lydia’s time at the academy… but no flashbacks, dammit.

So yes, of course Lydia doesn’t actually kill the opposing Army, it’s made very clear that they’re all burned but alive. Still, the implication is that this is Not Okay, and Lydia knows this but can’t help herself. The feelings of despair have to go SOMEWHERE. Meanwhile, it’s pretty hilarious that Allen is *still* doing the “I can’t believe you’ve heard of me” given that he’s clearly known to everyone in the Kingdom as a legend and the most important man to kill when the rebellion starts. Certainly Richard tells him point blank, “Look, either marry Lydia or have us take you into the family anyway”. Everyone desperately wants Allen to be credited for SOMETHING, and his last stand in this war may be the answer. He is, of course, not dead, and appears to be trapped in the evil magic dungeon of bad things. I expect, since Book 6 had lots of Lydia, that the 7th book will shift towards Tina, but no doubt we’ll also see Allen do amazing things that he insists are just things that anyone can do.

As you all have no doubt noted, I’m on Team Lydia as well, mostly because of a reason that is very important to me: she’s not 13 years old. This continues to be a much better series than it has any right to be, and the battle scenes were excellent.