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Reviews

Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway, Vol. 1

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By Shimesaba and booota. Released in Japan as “Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Marcus Shauer (Medibang, Inc.).

I was not originally going to be reading this at all. What I’d heard from reviews of the anime did not really appeal to me. Kadokawa’s license of the light novel made me ask “are you going to use Mediba–yes, you are”, and sure enough, their original version did not read great, from what I’ve been told. But then Yen On licensed the actual books (Kadokawa releases only chapters), and they promised actual editing. Which, to the credit of Emma McClain and Jordan Blanco, works well; the book may be unreadable to me for several reasons, but the translation and adaptation is not one of them. So I waffled. I read a lot of these romance books lately. It stars actual adults. Fine, I’ll give it a try. Lesson learned? Trust your instincts, Sean. I want to bill the author for the dental work I’ll need after grinding my teeth through this first volume, which tries to clear a low bar but forgets about all the other bars.

Yoshida is a corporate worker who has just confessed to his boss, who promptly rejects him because bosses should not date their employees… no, wait, it’s because she says she has a boyfriend already. In despair, he gets incredibly drunk and goes home, where he finds outside his house a high school girl who has run away from home. She asks if she can stay with him in exchange for “certain favors”, he rejects the favors and notifies the police… no, he does not in fact do that, he lets her stay at his place. As the days wear on and she continues to stay, clean the house, and cook his meals, he suddenly finds that he’s sleeping better, looks more put together, and is leading a sensible life. He’s even getting attention from his cute underling… and from the boss who rejected him. Is the secret to success having a runaway underage wife?

Let’s start with my pettiest objection: I expected shaving to have far more impact on the narrative given that it’s in the title. He doesn’t even have a real beard, just… scruff that he probably shaved every third day. Moving on, one of the reasons that high school romances with a dimwit protagonist who has 8 different women who love him because he’s actually not a terrible person works is because he’s a dumb teen who’s still growing up. It works far less well with a 27-year-old salaryman. The majority of this book is from his POV, and I will admit that when the book finally switched to Sayu it got more interesting, though we never do learn why she’s run away. The book tries to critique the tropes it’s wallowing in, too, pointing out the dangers of “kind” people and also when to learn how to trust, but I still can’t get over the premise of “wow, I just need a girl to be my wife in all ways except sexual ones, and suddenly I’m a harem protagonist!”.

If this book was going to be about found family, and about Yoshida and Sayu’s relationship being more like an older brother/younger sister, I might be vaguely interested. But I have zero confidence that the author is not setting things up for her to be part of the love interests one the “high school” part is done. In the end, this is a giant cavalcade of NOPE for me.

The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker, Vol. 7

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By Tôwa and Huuka Kazabana. Released in Japan as “Sekai Saikyou no Kouei: Meikyuukoku no Shinjin Tansakusha” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alexandra McCullough-Garcia.

Last time I suggested that things might get a lot more interesting now that bad things have happened to our heroes. Sadly, I was overoptimistic there, and I forgot how, no matter how bad things may get, the general tone of this series remains “cozy”. Yes, Theresia was cursed by the Shinimg Simian Lord, but she’s not immediately turned evil, it’s a slow-acting evil curse, so she spends most of this book merely being herself and occasionally shuddering as it corrupts her. And Elitia is of course devastated that she got everyone into this in the first place, but after a suitable period of angst and wallowing she’s allowed to be reborn as a far better person and swordswoman. And, of course, nothing can ever take away from the true purpose of this series: watching everyone ask Arihito what new skills they should buy. Even the author says that this is more a video game than a book at this point. That said… I’m still reading it, so something must be going right.

On the cover are two new characters, Ivril and Viola, who introduce themselves but not much else. But they look cool, right? As for Arihito’s party, after the disastrous battle in the Blazing Mansion they have a new problem; they not only have to rescue Elitia’s comrade but also cure Theresia from her curse. This requires research, as well as battling some undead horrors, in order to reach a curse-breaker who reminds everyone of Ceres (they’re not related, apparently, but have a past history). They also join another battle to help out two wayward seekers who got separated from their party during a retreat, and they take on yet another sentient weapon at the end of the book, which pops up when trying to open a black treasure chest. Do they go back and fight the simian lord? Not yet. See you in Book 8.

Again, these books meander. Chapter 2 goes from Page 54 to 122 in my copy, and it’s nothing but looking at Expedition Results, Level Ups, and choosing new skills. I also left out the delicious meals they eat (including a chef who wants to cook food with the rare fruits they got recently) and of course all the sexual innuendo, as this remains the filthiest G-rated book in light novels. (Kyouka has a dream she’s married to Arihito and is wearing a naked apron for him.) That said, as noted above, it was nice to see Elitia finally figure out how to master her blade, which essentially turns out to be “trust that I won’t use it to murder allies”. We get a bit more of her backstory here, and see that her brother has been manipulating it – after the Simian Lord his group may be the next fight.

No one is reading this for depth, and if you’re reading it to see when anyone will have sex, despite all the innuendo, you should also find some other series. But if you’ve enjoyed rearguard so far, you’ll enjoy this.

Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, Vol. 2

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By Hiromu and raemz. Released in Japan as “Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

I’m enjoying the Chitose series a great deal, but if there’s one thing that worries me it’s that I don’t know what the series’ overall plot is. Other series have ‘each volume has a girl in distress” about them, most notably Rascal Does Not Dream Of (insert girl here), but we know by the end of Book 2 what the basic thread of the series is (the supernatural manifestations of psychological trauma). I suppose it veers closest to My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, which also features a lead guy who will throw himself under the bus to solve a problem, but I think if I tried comparing Chitose with Hachiman the latter would be very angry with me. The question is, are we meant to be figuring out who is “best girl” in a romantic sense? Is this about ripping Chitose’s mask off? Or is it just a series where a group of high schoolers give an excuse for a plot of the week, like many TV shows?

As you might have guessed, the girl on the cover is the main girl of this book, Yuzuki Nanase. She’s lately been worried that she has a stalker, and asks Chitose to pretend to be her boyfriend in order to either drive them off or draw them out. He’s the obvious choice as the two of them are extremely similar, and so she knows he won’t be getting any misconceptions about what this relationship is about. Unfortunately, her fears turn out to be quite justified, as delinquents from a different school are forcing her to revisit an incident from her past that she’s been trying to bury. In the meantime, the fact that he’s now dating Nanase has Chitose in a spotlight he’d rather avoid, and he ends up having ANOTHER guy that he tries to give life advice to.

The other similar series I didn’t mention in the first paragraph is Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, and there is an element of that here in Chitose’s trying to hammer home the idea that girls are not pure fantasy creatures and fart and masturbate and everything else that’s normal. But, as with the first book, one of the big draws here is that the popular kids are the leads, allowing the ability to tell a different kind of story. Even something like Tomozaki relies on the outsider who has a past where he always thought “goddamn normies” to get past. Kenta, the nerd from the first book, is still here and is now part of their group, but he’s not the narrator and doesn’t drive the plot. This is a story of popular kids dealing with a specific popular girl problem in a way that, say, Hachiman would be unable to pull off. Good thing, too, as this book also gets more serious towards the end, with suggestions of sexual assault in both past and present.

So I’m still not sure where this series is going, but I’m greatly enjoying the ride. That said, I suspect that all the potential romantic interests for Chitose, including Nanase, are going to have to take a back seat to his upperclassman crush, and the cover for Vol. 3 suggests we’ll get a lot more of her next time.

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 6

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By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

The Bofuri series does have a pretty good supporting cast, and I enjoy reading about them. That said, most people who picked this up are here for one reason and one reason alone, and that’s Maple breaking the game by doing awesome unpredictable shit. Good news, the 6th volume is here to help you. It definitely doesn’t hurt that this 6th book involves the 6th level of the game, which is entirely related to ghosts and the supernatural. As such, except for one disastrous attempt to get over her terror, Sally is pretty much absent, grinding on other floors so she can avoid being Shaggy in an episode of Scooby-Doo. This allows Maple to solo several events, or team up with Mii, or experiment with rewards in strange and brilliant ways. It’s the sort of thing that will look great animated if Season 2 ever happens, but that’s still sadly far in the future at this point.

We start by Maple getting her new favorite toy, which is a literal throne that she can sit on while attacks do nothing to her. (The downside being that she can’t use “evil” attacks while on it – i.e. most of her repertoire). She uses it a lot in the next stratum, which as noted above is one based around ghosts. Sally, who sees there are lots of cool things she could get if only she got over her fear, tries… and fails miserably. So Maple tries to get some nice rewards that she can give Sally, as well as some rewards that will specifically benefit her build. Finally, we get the Seventh Event, which fortunately does NOT involve ghosts, and so Maple wants to go old-school on it: only her and Sally vs. the toughest opponents.

A lot of the humor in this volume comes from the occasional times we cut back to the developers, who have either designed things to be anti-Maple that she proceeds to win out over by doing something bonkers, or else they’ve designed things that would be lethal difficulty for anyone else that Maple strolls through even though it wasn’t designed to get her interest at all. The rest of Maple Tree, of course, have simply given up on being surprised, with Chrome just sighing and helping Maple to control her ghostly hands that can wield other shields, etc. It helps that Maple’s not doing this for any reason other than “it’s fun”. She’s gotten better at thinking things through… just… but most of her gaming still seems to be “do whatever the hell I like”. This includes lunching with Mii, who can drop her roleplay facade around her, or fending off Frederica, who’s trying to duel Sally and wondering why she’s not on the 6th floor. Maple is simply too nice to get angry with.

This isn’t essential reading, and fans of the anime can probably wait for whenever it continues, but I still quite enjoy Bofuri. It’s a relaxing, quick read.

Walking My Second Path in Life, Vol. 3

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By Otaku de Neet and Kurodeko. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Futatsume no Jinsei wo Aruku!” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andrew Schubauer.

Frequently we find that we, as readers, do not want what the author, as a writer, is writing. This is especially true as the series goes on. Any glance at AO3 fanfiction will see a graveyard of incredibly popular fanfics that got abandoned because the author got very angry at the source material. As such, I should not be annoyed that a romance novel turned out to end with a romance novel ending. But I am, a bit. It doesn’t help that even the author kind of realizes that this is the wrong move, with everyone second guessing the big reveal and wondering if it might have been better just to let Heath stay a squire after all. Oh yes, and there’s the fact that this book came out four years after the others and with a different publisher. We should probably be grateful we got anything at all, but what we got is… well, somewhat less than satisfying.

For those who may have forgotten what’s been happening, Heath is the disguised Princess Fie, training as a squire and hanging out with her buddies. There’s fighting! There’s circuses! But then, right as she is jumping through a hoop of REAL FIRE in an effort to create a circus of their own, the kingdom’s chancellor happens to be walking by… and recognizes her. That’s it, she’s toast. That said, at least she’s not exiled to the cottage of starvation any more, and everyone lines up to apologize to her, from the King to her sister (yes, we finally meet her sister). Unfortunately, there’s a slight problem, which is that Fie has been dating Queen, and now she can’t. This will require strategy, as well as a long think to try to figure out if she actually is in love.

This reminded me a bit of Bloom Into You as well, as we get a “will they make a character who doesn’t really get love or romance asexual?…no, they won’t” sort of vibe to it. That said, this mostly feels like a book trying to do too much. We get separate subplots explaining Fie’s sister (who is in love with a Prince from a different kingdom) and King Roy (who is trying to be a good king but his desire to completely avoid women has led to tremendous problems. But, again, the main issue is that this is the story of a woman who empowers herself and goes out to create her own life and career… and in the end finds that she can’t actually do that, so resolves to become a wife and mother. Queen gets to be a knight, though. It’s not that badly written, and Fie is still a great character to read about, but it feels like we made the wrong choice and got the bittersweet ending in a visual novel.

Perhaps this will inspire someone to write a fanfic where Heath isn’t caught and becomes a knight? Mmmmmm… probably not. But, again, authors should not call attention to the bad choices they’ve made by having other characters saying “maybe this was a bad choice”.

Slayers: The Demon Slayers!

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By Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis.

And so, we come at last to the end of the Slayers novels. Well, not really. This volume came out in May 2000, and after 18 years, a new volume appeared in 2018, and another the year after that. But this book has a feel of “final” to it nevertheless, wrapping up the plot points from the second arc, bringing back a few familiar faces, and even throwing in a hint of romance that doesn’t really go anywhere (which is a step up from the series’ usual no romance at all). It has the usual strengths of the series – the fights are snappy and well-paced, Lina’s narration is fun – and the usual weaknesses – emotional depth from this author feels like he’s reading aloud from a piece of paper. Actually, the most interesting part may be one of the familiar faces. Slayers rarely goes back to look at its survivors, so seeing Rubia again was something of a surprise. Even if it feels like she’s just there to contrast with someone else. Which is true.

Lina and Gourry are finding that demons are popping up more and more often, and their attack patterns are very weird. Indeed, one of the demons seems to be … stopping the other demons from killing the two of them? Then Lina discovers that there’s a doppelganger of herself walking around, and all signs point to (for the third time) the doomed city of Sairaag as being the place to go. They’re helped here by… no, not Amelia and Zelgadis, they’re still absent, but Xellos does show up, and he is his usual self. Milgazia and Mephy are there as well. But the final battle between Lina, Gourry, and whatever it is that’s causing all this will have to be a lone one… if only as they’ve been transported to another dimension!

If you’ve been reading these books, the identity of the villain should not surprise you, and some decent effort is made to remind you of the hints from previous volumes. That said… this is a book which ends with an assisted suicide, with Lina seemingly devastated by having to be the one to do it, but again, it feels very emotionally weak. Rubia, as I noted above, was a surprise, but she’s meant to be there to show what happens when you’re able to let go and move on… even if the answer is “I’m still sad and there’s no one in my life, but I have a greenhouse now”. Possibly the biggest surprise in the book is at the end, where Gourry says he wants to go and meet Lina’s family, which is very much the equivalent of a proposal in this world. That said, it has to be undercut with him talking about wanting to taste the grapes her town is famous for, and sad trombone noises ensue.

Slayers is a series that is very much of the 1990s, and judging it by 2020 standards can seem harsh at times. It’s a classic 90s series in that it was exciting and funny and also made for a much better anime, when the emotional heft could be fleshed out and left to other writers. I wonder what the newer books feel like, with 18 years’ more experience between them? Perhaps we’ll see one day.

The Princess’ Smile: The Body-Double Bride Searches for Happiness with the Reclusive Prince

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By Yuuri Seo and m/g. Released in Japan as “Hidenka no Bishou – Migawari Hanayome wa, Hikikomori Denka to Shiawase ni Kurashitai” by M Novels f. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jenny Murphy.

I’ve said before that I don’t mind cliches, or books which start with the same things happening, but I will admit that I have my limits, and The Princess’ Smile was pushing them as we got about 3/5 of the way through the book. The main issue is that every major plot point plays out in the most predictable way possible. The actual princess turns out to be a terrible person, check. Schlub of an ex-boyfriend who doesn’t speak up, check. New husband is reclusive, truculent, and clearly hiding a secret, check. The secret is immediately obvious to the reader because we looked at the cover art, check. It can be a bit frustrating. Fortunately, once our heroine is nearly poisoned, things really start to pick up, and the last part of the book – with one exception – is a lot of fun to read. But getting there is a bit of a hike.

Sara is a servant for Princess Hermine, having been taken in after the death of her parents in a carriage accident. The two of them look very similar – you could almost get them confused! Then one day the King explains that Sara is going to swap places with the Princess and go get married to a prince from another country… one that recently won a war between the two nations. Sara is a bit upset about this. Then she discovers that Princess Hermine has already met her boyfriend and slept with her boyfriend. Several times. That, plus the fact that you can’t really refuse the king, means Sara is off to nearby Ferrier, there to meet her new husband. Sadly, her new husband wants nothing to do with her. And also has a dark secret.

…which is that he’s a werewolf. Sorry, but.. LOOK AT THE COVER! So it’s in that genre of books. That said, he softens up into a shy but nice young man pretty quickly, and Sara is a good protagonist. Seeing the two of them slowly grow closer if nice, even if it does not tick any boxes that have not been ticked before. Then once the rest of the plot kicks in things get better. I was pleased to see a Queen Mother who turned out not to be secretly evil, and the scenes showing the final battle with Salielles, Sara’s home country, do not hold back in showing the bloody violence of war. That said… while “selfish princess” is a well-worm trope, at the very end of the book Princess Hermine leaps off a cliff and straight into “unrealistically deranged princess”. Sara’s jaw drops and so did mine. It was so bad my suspension of disbelief was utterly broken.

That said, overall this wasn’t too bad. If you enjoy werewolf romance or women who resolve to take their life into their own hands after spending most of it being manipulated, you may appreciate this. It’s also complete in one volume.

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: Saving the Kingdom Over Summer Break with Ladies of Ice and Fire

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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.

I appreciate that the author, in the afterword to this volume, acknowledges the main issue with this as a modern “harem” genre series, which is that Lydia is such an obvious winner that it’s irrelevant to read about the others. The only other one with any chance at all is Tina, and that’s because she’s in the title. That said, I don’t think that “write Lydia out of the story for a while” is really going to help much, mostly as I’m pretty sure Lydia is simply not going to ALLOW herself to be written out for any length of time. This volume does wrap up one plotline while continuing another, and it’s looking very likely that impending civil war might be a good reason to stop having cute harem antics… or it would if this series didn’t run on harem antics half the time. You need to balance your cool battles and attempted murders with headpats and snuggles, after all.

Exams are finished, and the girls have finished terrorizing their teachers with their raw power. Tina and Lynne are the top scorers, but Ellie wins Allen’s challenge as she improved the most. Now everyone is off to Allen’s home, where he has to finally confess to his parents that he failed his Court Sorcerer exam. Now, given that he only failed because the examiner insulted his parents, I think they understand. His parents are exactly as you’d expect. Lydia not so much, as she spends much of this book in “prim and proper” mode, to the horror of everyone else but Allen. Unfortunately, capturing that rogue Prince has not gone as well as hoped. Worse, they’ve finally finished decoding the book Allen gave them, and it’s clear there’s multiple great spells involved. A big fight is needed.

The main draw and also main flaw of this series is that most of the really amazing stuff I want to read about happened already, and we only hear about it tangentially. Allen and Lydia’s school days, whatever tragedy befell them in Allen’s hometown, etc… these are dangled in front of us and then whisked away, to be replaced with scenes of who gets to be the one to sit next to Allen at the table that meal. The harem is somewhat unbalanced, as noted above, but not just because Lydia is so obvious. The other girls simply act far too young to really be thought of as competitors. They’re all little sisters, not romantic partners. This does make things awkward in the final battle, as it’s one of those series where a kiss-powerup is sometimes needed, and Allen gets one from both Tina and Lydia. Tina’s is very “I’m sorry about this”, Lydia is the aggressor, and loves it. Also, it’s nice to see Allen struggle in a battle and get seriously injured. He’s seemed a bit too impervious lately.

So, the next book promises no Lydia. And apparently no Tina, Ellie, or Lynne as well. That leaves the actual little sister, so I’m not sure how much hareming we will get – I expect more of the “the kingdom is in danger” plotline. Till then, still enjoying this harem fantasy series, despite its awkward harem.

Arifureta Zero, Vol. 6

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By Ryo Shirakome and Takaya-ki. Released in Japan as “Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Rei” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen.

My biggest fear with this 422-page final volume was that it would be one long fight scene, and thankfully that is not the case, though the first third of the book is one long fight scene. My second fear was that it would be unrelentingly grim, and while it is grim, with lots and lots of deaths of people we care about, it’s not unrelenting, and there are moments of silliness and humor in the middle of the book. Heck, even some of the main characters survive, because I’d forgotten the main series talks about their descendants. But for the most part this book is “Miledi tries her hardest but fails”, as we knew it would be – it’s a prequel, after all. It also helps to set up the final volume of the main series, coming soon I hope, which will likely feature her showing up to save the day. At least I hope she does, because the day is certainly not saved here.

The first chunk of the book, as I said, is one big fight, and goes fairly well for our heroes right up until the very end, when they’re forced to retreat. They then take the time to try and gather a few more allies – the dragons are now ready to help them, and even the vampires are willing to pitch in… that is, after we discover their long-lost royal daughter (who is closer than you’d think) and resolve the issue of the missing heir to the throne. We also discover that you can access the most powerful magic ever if you get really, really drunk. Unfortunately, Ehit has finally had enough, and decides to force the hand of Miledi by brainwashing everyone who is not a Liberator to kill all their allies. This takes up most of the rest of the book.

As always with Arifureta, this book had a lot of things I enjoyed and some things I could really do without. The main issue with the last third of the book is that this cast is simply too damn large, especially with the books coming out every year or so, and it’s hard to get sad when a character who you can’t really remember well dies. I needed a guide at the start. Also, Naiz marrying one of his emotional support 8-year-olds once she came of age is not something I wanted at all. On the bright side, Miledi and Oscar are handled perfectly, and her execution and subsequent golemification are also done well. There’s even some good horror here, as one of the few bad guys who’s likeable has her soul destroyed so that the big bad can take over her body.

So yeah, not everyone dies, but the majority of the cast die, and Ehit still rules. It’s gonna be up to Hajime and company to fix things. In the meantime, this was a fun yet annoying prequel, just like its heroine.

Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools, Vol. 4

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By Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Osman Wong.

If the first few books of this series are about how Dahlia is not ready to enter a new relationship so soon after the wounds of her old one, this new volume is about how she soon may not have much choice. Dahlia has rocketed to stardom almost overnight, and it’s not really a surprise that people are assuming that either a) she’s not a magical toolmaker at all but just a pretty face fronting for someone else, or b) her backers are financing her because they want access to her body. Neither one is true, of course, but you can see why someone who knows nothing about Dahlia might think that. Unfortunately, Dahlia is the sort to internalize any worries is stress that she has, so it’s very difficult to get her to kick back against this and take charge. Fortunately, when this does happen, it’s pretty awesome to watch. As for Volf, well, you get the impression that he will realize his feelings before she does, but they’re both still incredibly stubborn.

Since Dahlia is going to be selling stuff to royalty pretty soon, and Volf has frankly been avoiding interacting with them, both need a crash course in manners and etiquette. After this… and several scenes showing them eating and drinking, with a pile of descriptive pages discussing same, she’s ready to sell the new portable camp stove. She’s also figured out a way to make self-cooling fabric, which essentially runs wind through your clothing… a great boon to a town like this one where all the clothes are heavy and stuffy. Things are looking up, and she and Volf both plan to do deeds that might net them a barony. Unfortunately, before she can sell to the Order of Beast Hunters, she needs to get the approval of the treasury, which is casting a disparaging eye upon her.

We’ve seen this before in prior books, but it’s really hammered home here: Dahlia and Volf act like they’ve been married for some time, and when you combine that with their constant refrain of “we’re just good friends”, it sends the mother of all mixed signals. That’s fine for Volf, who mostly has to deal with sudden bouts of jealousy when she’s interacting with other men, but Dahlia can still be painfully naive when it comes to how she has presented herself, and it leads to bad assumptions. Fortunately, once she starts nerding out about magical inventions, no one can really doubt she is the genius she says she is. She’s also getting better at asking for help, and we meet another guild whose leader might become a regular in the future… provided he does not drug Ivano again. Honestly, Dahlia’s barony is likely going to happen sooner rather than later… and I get the feeling it may screw up any relationship between her and Volf rather than help it.

This was a very strong volume in the series, one of the better fantasies for female readers J-Novel Club is putting out. Its magic system is similar to others (slimes, etc.) without feeling like an RPG, and the leads are terrific. More, please.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 4: Founder of the Royal Academy’s So-Called Library Committee, Vol. 8

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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.

This is the penultimate book in the fourth arc, and each of the arcs has featured a game-changing plot twist, so what we see happening in this book should not be a surprise, and yet it still feels a bit unreal. Ever since the 4th volume in the series, Ferdinand has been the second most important character after Rozemyne, and his presence… and ability to rescue her in case she got herself in a jam… were always there. Now he’s going to be leaving, and not in a happy way, either. As a reader, I know that something is going to happen to stop this, but I’m not sure when it will happen, meaning we may have to wait for Rozemyne to graduate before we get any results. And, um, I highly suspect that the civil war that keeps bubbling under will be underway well before then. Times are dangerous.

The first half of the book is pretty normal. Rozemyne finally meets her younger brother, Melchior, who is shorter than her! – just. She’s doing temple stuff, pushing publishing, and working on the finances of the duchy. Then we get the Archduke’s conference, and everything goes to hell, as Ferdinand is asked to marry Detlinde, an Ahrensbach noble. We know from the Royal Academy sections of the story that she’s the girl who wants to bully Rozemyne, so we already hate her. Needless to say, Ferdinand says no. Then the King tells him he has to do it. You cannot really say no to the King. We gradually over the course of the rest of the book hear the official reasons why this is happening, as well as the unofficial reasons, but hovering over all these is a secret reasons: Georgine is plotting bad, bad things.

One thing that this series has hammered home time and again is that very few marriages in this world are based on love, or even have any romantic feelings at all. Political and practical marriages are the watchword. Rozemyne is engaged to Wilfried, but neither of them really care about it. Angelica’s engagement is broken in this volume, and she literally has to practice being devastated by it, as in reality she just doesn’t care. So it’s not surprising that Ferdinand’s own feelings are being ignored here. (Indeed, a side story tells us that other duchies think he’s being abused by Sylvester and company!) But I mention this because the scenes with Ferdinand and Rozemyne here, while not romantic, are intense. She literally says that all he has to do is give the word and she will raise hell and go rescue him. Even if you are still wary of them as a match, it’s heartwarming in a familial sense.

The next volume, as noted, is the last one in this arc, and should feature Rozemyne and Ferdinand permanently “breaking up” – not that I expect that to actually happen. Will she be able to help? Will the country explode in war? And will Rozemyne ever stop looking like a 7-year-old so that all of this can get slightly less creepy? Can’t wait to find out.

An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride, Vol. 14

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By Fuminori Teshima and COMTA. Released in Japan as “Maou no Ore ga Dorei Elf wo Yome ni Shitanda ga, Dou Medereba Ii?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

Last time I asked where the story could go after the previous volume really seemed to wrap up most of the plots and put a bow on them. I really should have been able to guess, as the answer is: a short story volume. This one has a wraparound of the cast all having a post-saving the world party at Zagan’s castle, and Gremory (who is in a wheelchair, and also looks 16 years old becauze of, I assume, nearly dying) is trying to get everyone to tell her love stories, which ties in to Foll going around asking about love a couple of volumes ago. There’s a bit of ongoing romance stuff – Selphy has clearly very much come to terms with her love of Lilith, and is going to try harder to make sure she does not take the het route. (She probably will, be warned.) But really this volume is about the four stories, which range from good but slight to excellent.

In the first story, Zagan, Nephy and Foll go to visit a haunted house… one that looks very familiar. Chastille is there as well, separately, and runs into a boy who seems to have gotten lost. In the second, shortest story, Shax and Kuroka eat cute. In the third and longest story, we learn the story of how Raphael met Kuroka’s mother, and the love affair that sadly never was. And in the final story, Zagan and Nephy go on the most adorable date you ever did see, buying cute outfits eating parfaits, and making everyone else around them ill. It’s basically everything that readers of this series have dreamed of, except it doesn’t end with them banging each other like drums at the end of the date.

The reason to get this book is the third story, where Raphael comes to a merchant town to try to track down a serial killer who has been murdering people with swords. Also there is Heidi, who by day is a waitress at an inn and also helps out the local church, and by night goes around masked and attacks people with swords. Is she the person with swords who’s been killing everyone? This one was very compelling, and I sort of hoped that they’d get together, even though I know based on what we know about Raphael and Kuroka that wasn’t happening. It does, however, really require the reader to know what the significance of “the moon is beautiful” is. The first story (and the wraparound) give us the return of crybaby Chastille, who I’ve never really been too fond of, but oh well. The last story is absolute 100% pure sugar, and will be perfect for those who love that sort of thing. Also, Zagan and Nephy’s outfits are pretty cute.

I assume next time we will kick off whatever the next plotline is – Alshiera, I assume – but till then, this was a pretty solid short story collection.

Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, Vol. 1

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By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn.

As I think I’ve said before, I’m not the biggest fan of bodyswap stories. It’s just a personal squick, and always makes for uncomfortable reading, particularly when one of the people swapped is responsible for it. And also a terrible person. So, as you can imagine, the premise of Though I Am an Inept Villainess did not fill me with glee. That said: villainess book, one of my big genres. Also recommended by the authors of Bookworm AND Apothecary Diaries AND Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent. This book had a huge amount of expectations for me. As always with my reading, it would probably depend on the lead character. How does she react to this? How does she fight back? Also, unique to bodyswap stories: how does the rest of the cast not immediately sense something is off? Especially in a world where bodyswapping IS possible? Well, good news all round: the book passes both tests with flying colors. In fact, the book is amazing.

Reirin is a beautiful court lady beloved and doted on by everyone, though also suffering from illness frequently. A butterfly. Keigetsu is a gangly, freckled, bitchy court lady that everyone hates, mostly as she’s terrible to anyone she doesn’t have to suck up to. A sewer rat. Then one day Keigetsu pushes Reirin over a balustrade… and Reirin wakes up in Keigetsu’s body. Which is now in prison, awaiting execution. She’s been bodyswapped! Worse, thanks to the nature of the swap, she’s physically and mentally unable to explain this to anyone. So, now she’s got to somehow avoid execution – which involves being eaten by a starving lion – and then somehow make a life where everyone hates her and she’s in this… wonderful, healthy, robust body? Meanwhile, Keigetsu discovers that Reirin isn’t just sick a lot, she’s at death’s door most of the time. Whoops.

Reirin is astonishingly good. Her combination of joy and guilt over being able to suddenly do ordinary things like eat fried potatoes all the time is hilarious, of course, but she also gets to unleash the tempered blade that is her personality, honed under years of training to not die from fever at any given moment, and use it to do things like show righteous fury, or spend an entire night sewing a new robe for her attendant (the old robe was damaged when the attendant tried to murder her). We also get the sense that she’s not fully formed yet – there’s a realization towards the end of the book that she always tried to keep everyone at arm’s length and made every conversation as if it would be her last, and she’s just realizing now how sad that is. As for the swap itself, I appreciate how everyone IMMEDIATELY realizes that there’s something up, as Keigetsu’s personality has done a complete 180, but it takes till the end of the book to actually figure out HOW. This means there’s less annoying bodyswap humor, which I always dislike. I will admit I wasn’t as fond of Keigetsu in Reirin’s body, but that’s because her character journey is “oh fuck (slowly begins to die)”.

There is a particularly vicious cliffhanger at the end of this volume, not helped by the extended short story that follows (though the short story is excellent, giving much needed backstory to several characters.) It is going to make waiting rfor the next volume a chore, though, especially as I’m not sure how they’ll keep the bodyswap up. Regardless, I found this book a wonderful read.

The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, Vol. 3

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By Mo Xiang Tong Xiu and Xiao Tong Kong (Velinxi). Released in China as “Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong” on the JJWXC website. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Faelicy & Lily.

There is a 4th and final volume in this series, but it consists of prequel and sequel short stories, from what I hear, so for all intents and purposes this is the final volume. It’s a good volume, though has even less humor than the previous book, as the author is forced to actually take this world seriously given that the demon world is literally trying to imprint itself on the human world. Shen Qingqiu has a particularly rough time of it, ending up in a coffin early on and with things only getting worse from there. It doesn’t help that Luo Binghe is proving to be one of the most annoying stalkers ever, and his affection for Shen Qingqiu is something so obvious that literally everyone in the world sees it and is vaguely offended by it. Even Shen Qingqiu, who finally gives in near the end of the book. Unfortunately, if you want a tender mutual love scene, you may have to wait for Book 4. Sexual assault warning for what comes next.

As noted above, Shen Qingqiu finds himself in a coffin within a cursed mausoleum, and has to deal with both Luo Binghe’s demon father and also Zhuzhi-Lang, one of the weirder henchmen I’ve ever read about. That said, he’s actually doing pretty well at dealing with both of them. Luo Binghe, not so much. Things aren’t helped by the fact that he keeps getting into what looks like sexual situations with Luo Binghe… including feeling him up. Indeed, by now everyone assumes the two of them are already gay lovers. Unfortunately, world saving comes first, as Luo Binghe’s father is bitter and wants to unite the demon world and the human world… physically, by having one overlay the other. Which will, um, kill the humans. But so goes life. Can Shen Qingqiu solve this set of problems while still reminding the system messages that he’s not gay? Signs point to no.

First of all, gotta give some praise. Wu Chen is awesome. Yue Qingyuan is even more awesome. And the backstory for the original Shen Qingqiu is both realistic and also reminds you of something this book hammers home, which is that usually webnovel readers don’t want depth and character development, they want violence and sex, and lots of it. Living in a book like that can be terrible. As Shen Qingqiu finds when he is raped by Luo Binghe at the end of the book. It is theoretically a “I have to do this to save the world” sort of thing, but is thankfully not remotely portrayed as erotic or fulfilling, but as incredibly painful. That said, the tortured relationship between the two leads is at last ironed out, even if it means Shen Qingqiu leaving everyone else in his life to go off with Lup Binghe, who has, well, managed to offend everyone in Shen Qingqiu’s life.

As noted, this is not usually my genre, and I’m not sure if I’ll be reading the epilogue book. But for what it was this was pretty good, and I can see why it has its followers.

Strike the Blood, Vol. 21

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By Gakuto Mikumo and Manyako. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Bourque.

For once I have actual things to talk about in this volume of Strike the Blood, which is fairly low on cool action sequences. And by “fairly low” I mean there are still about 50% action scenes in the book. However, Kojou being depowered means that he can’t participate in them – indeed, for once, HE is the damsel in distress, as he makes a Faustian bargain that ends up biting him in the ass… gosh, where have I heard that before? So it’s up to Natsuki to get the band back together, as all of the girls who are in love with Kojou and also superpowered (and yes, this includes the two grade schoolers, though at least an objection to this is raised) band together to offer themselves as blood servants. All this so that he can control the new beast vassals inside him, regain his vampiric nature, and this series can FINALLY wrap up in the next. book.

There’s a bit of poignancy at the start of the book, as Kojou is forcibly reminded (by his childhood friend, no less) that giving up his powers means he is no longer the protagonist and therefore he needs to just go away. Of course, that does not stop him trying to think of ways to save Avrora, and he’s helped in this by the First Primogenitor and his servant, who could use a good laugh… erm, I mean, genuine have a desire to see Kojou succeed. Unfortunately, this goes so badly that Kojou has to literally be put on ice for twelve hours while Yukina and company try to gather twelve blood servants who can help to fight and quell Kojou’s twelve new beast vassals. Unfortunately, some of them are easier to persuade than others.

I’ve talked before about how Strike the Blood’s humor frequently is painfully unfunny,l though it’s gotten better recently. (It’s hard to top the record holder in “bad humor in light novels”, A Certain Magical Index.) As for this volume, well, it has a really solid joke that made me laugh. The way that Asagi gets the Second Primogenitor to cooperate with them is genuinely hilarious and also true to character. I will therefore forgive the “we have to fight while dressed in bunny girl outfits” bullshit, which is as lame as it sounds. And doesn’t work. Honestly, girls, it’s been twenty-one books and you’re still trying to figure out what makes Kojou aroused? Even hardcore yanderes would have given up and and found another love interest by now. We also seem to be confirming, in case you hadn’t guessed, that future Kojou is going to have multiple wives – my guess is twelve, though hopefully they will not include his sister. Or his teacher. Or the tank-driving grade-schooler. (Sadly, pretty sure it will include the succubus grade-schooler.)

Strike the Blood is never going to rise above the level of “solid”, and this volume also had some boring parts where it tried to give backstory and explain the villains, which I expect few readers care about. But it sets up the finale and gives the anime fun stuff to animate. That’s really all you can ask.