By Almond and Yoshiro Ambe. Released in Japan as “Mujikaku Seijo wa Kyō mo Muishiki ni Chikara o Tare Nagasu: Imadai no Seijo wa Anede wa Naku, Imōto no Watashi Datta Mitai Desu” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Dawson Chen. Last time I mentioned that this book was unsubtle about letting the reader know exactly what was going to happen next. This volume is a bit better, but that might just be because everything that happens to Carolina in this book is done to put off her happy ending some more. Which is ironic, given that she gets married to Ed at the start of the book. This leads to the most frustrating part of the book, which is where Ed, on…
LATEST FEATURES, ESSAYS, COLUMNS, ROUNDTABLES, & REVIEWS
By Sean Gaffney
The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along!, Vol. 2
By Sean Gaffney
Stuck in a Time Loop: When All Else Fails, Be a Villainess, Vol. 3
By Sora Hinokage and Tsukasa Kiryu. Released in Japan as “Loop kara Nukedasenai Akuyaku Reijō wa, Akiramete Sukikatte Ikirukoto ni Kimemashita” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Andria McKnight. At the end of the last volume I wondered where else the story could take us, and hoped that Selene had a “love epiphany”. Well, I got half my wish. She definitely has an epiphany. And while that is eventually good news for the future of the world this book takes place in, but it’s very bad news for every main and supporting character in this series. Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised. This has always been on the darker end of Villainess books, so wrapping up with a “now we can get married and live…
By Sean Gaffney
Rising from Ashes: My Dear Emperor, You’re Putty in My Hands!, Vol. 2
By Makino Maebaru and Yoko Matsurika. Released in Japan as “Torotoro ni Shite Sashiagemasu, Kōtei Heika. Moto Konyakusha ni Ie o Yakareta Tsuihō Miko wa, Ringoku Kōtei ni Chōai Sarete Sainō o Hanahirakaseru” on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Zihan Gao. As with the first volume, this is a series that I find interesting for its darker elements more than the romance at its core (though I will admit to a fondness for Sai’s dorky maid, who at one point vows to defend her mistress by hitting a man with a broom over and over… and then we fond out he’s the king of a foreign nation. Luckily, he’s amused). Lilly, the Saint who has been busy destroying Sai’s home…
By Sean Gaffney, Anna N, Michelle Smith and Ash Brown
Manga the Week of 5/8/24
SEAN: May day, may day! ASH: Danger, danger! SEAN: We start with Airship. In print, they have a 4th volume of There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… The digital debut is a one-shot light novel, True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends – One Star in the Night Sky (Unmei no Koibito wa Kigen Tsuki). This is from the author of Making Jam in the Woods, I’d Rather Have a Cat Than a Harem, and The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent. A young woman trying to avoid getting married meets a young man with the same goal. Can they solve the problem by pretending to be in a relationship? ANNA: Can they pretend to be married AND make jam in the woods? ASH: I don’t see…
By Sean Gaffney
Making Jam in the Woods: My Relaxing Life Starts in Another World, Vol. 3
By Kosuzu Kobato and Yuichi Murakami. Released in Japan as “Mori no Hotori de Jam wo Niru: Isekai de Hajimeru Slow Life” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jade Willis. The author says in the afterword that the webnovel version of this series ended with the second book, and that this third volume was an “after story” written for the published books. That might be a bit of a surprise given that this book ends with Margaret and Mark’s wedding, which you would have expected to end the series proper, and also that it manages to (mostly) resolve the other open-ended romance in the series. But it also does explain some things, like the total lack of conflict in this volume. If this…
By Sean Gaffney
Once Upon a Witch’s Death: The Tale of the One Thousand Tears of Joy
By Saka and Chorefuji. Released in Japan as “Aru Majo ga Shinu Made: Owari no Kotoba to Hajimari no Namida” by DENGEKI no Shin Bungei. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Richard Tobin. I rarely begin a review by noting whether the series is continuing in Japan or not, but it actually makes a difference in how we’re supposed to take this story in this case. Yen is releasing this as a one-shot, and Dengeki seems to have had no desire to release any more since this came out in Japan in December 2021. But if this is the only volume, then the plot sort of becomes irrelevant. It’s not a story of how a girl tries to gain powerful “tears” in order to avoid her impending…
By Sean Gaffney
Haibara’s Teenage New Game+, Vol. 6
By Kazuki Amamiya and Gin. Released in Japan as “Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Esther Sun. There’s always been an element of drama to this series, which has sort of waffled between teen romcom and teen angst at times. But this volume pretty much jettisons the humor entirely, and any romance we get is of the tortured variety. This is also to be expected. Natsuki may have 7 extra years on the rest of the cast, but that does not make him any less of a dumbass when trying to see feelings that are so close to his nose that they’re invisible to him. We also not only get a nice round of high school bullying here,…
By Sean Gaffney
A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires, Vol. 1
By Hagure Metabo and masami. Released in Japan as “Buchigire Reijō wa Hōfuku wo Chikaimashita. Madōsho no Chikara de Sokoku wo Tataki Tsubushimasu” by HJ Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Rymane Tsouria. I’ve read quite a few bad books in my day. Some are so boring or annoying I don’t even finish them, hence they don’t get reviewed. Some are so hilariously bad I can do a “funny” review of how bad the book is. But it’s rare that I’ve come across a book so bad it makes me angry. In fact, ironically, it makes me livid, which is something that we almost never see from Ellie, the antagonist of this book. She spends almost the entire book in a sort of stoic indifference, and…
By Sean Gaffney
Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 12
By Nozomu Mochitsuki and Gilse. Released in Japan as “Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Madeleine Willette. The cliffhanger ending to the last volume already told us that Bel had returned “from the dead”, so it’s not a surprise to see her on the cover, though it is a bit of a surprise to see her looking older. Mia is also stated to have grown, and for once the narrator, usually snarky, has to assure us that it’s height this time rather than the usual fat jokes. We are told that Mia is now sixteen, which is nice to hear, but also ominous, as it was when Mia turned eighteen that she was captured by the revolution in her first timeline….