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Unsung Epics of the Hero’s Journey, Vol. 2

By Hachigatsumori and Nat. Released in Japan as “Yuusha no Tabi no Uragawa de” by Dre Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT. In my last review I mentioned that the hero’s party itself barely featured in the book. That changes with this second book, and we get to see what kind of hero’s party they are. And, frankly, it’s very much towards the idealistic end of the spectrum. No one is getting banished from the party with these guys – in fact, we literally see that near the end. The hero is the sort of girl you want to be the hero who saves the world, and she’s got strength and stamina out the wazoo. Sadly, no one really trained her, so she lacks any…

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The Villainess Speaks Not: The Black Pawn and The Summoned Heteromorphs

By Kei Yose and Ruria Miyuki. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijou wa Shaberimasen” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Adam. These are chunky books, with each volume being around twice the size of your average light novel. As a result, I deeply appreciate that the book starts with a “story so far” catching me up on what happened in Book One, because after that the reader is not really given any more help. There are lots of characters in this, and you need to remember who they are and which faction they’re with. More characters are introduced. Some characters we thought would be major players in this book end up being taken off the board instead. Liliana has changed a lot about the…

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Fired? But I Maintain All the Software!, Vol. 2

By Yuki Kashirome and icchi. Released in Japan as “E, Shanai System Subete One Operation Shite Iru Watashi o Kaiko desu ka?” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Minna Lin. Content warning: This review will be discussing a book that deals with multiple companies that use AI, and it discusses AI throughout the book, usually in a positive way (though it does emphasize AI without humans making decisions is a disaster). Reader discretion is advised. The second volume of this series tries to figure out what to do next, as (the author admits this) it was written as a one-shot with no real idea where to go next. As it turns out, while there’s still a lot of discussion of startup companies and AI,…

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If the Villainess and Villain Met and Fell in Love ~ She Was All But Disowned for Her Spirit Contract, But She’s Still Competing with Her Rival ~, Vol. 5

By Harunadon and Yomi Sarachi. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō to Akuyaku Reisoku ga, Deatte Koi ni Ochitanara: Nanashi no Seirei to Keiyaku Shite Oidasareta Reijō wa, Kyō mo Reisoku to Kisoiatte Iru Yō Desu” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund. Japanese series, and fantasy light novels in particular, really love a certain kind of villain. He’s usually portly, he’s definitely arrogant, and he tends to sneer a lot. There are few grey or sympathetic villains here, most of the ones we see are kicking puppies when no one is looking. And an awful lot of them seem to be with the church. We’ve had sympathetic clergy so far for this series, but there have been factional fights, and with the…

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Anime NYC 2026, Saturday

Maybe it was because this was the biggest Thursday I’ve ever seen, and Friday was packed to the gills with stuff, but this Saturday did not seem as insane as Saturdays of the past. There were long lines, and the corridors were jammed, but you could actually find seating when you got lunch! And using the bathroom did not take over an hour! It was also an easier panel run for me, given that Friday was packed. That said, I still started first thing in the morning, with Yen Press. They talked about being the biggest publisher of light novels and Korean titles, and one of the biggest manga publishers. They talked about all the Summer 2026 anime that have Yen Press manga. They talked about Overgeared, which I guess…

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Manga the Week of 8/26/26

SEAN: It’s time for the end of Aug-AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! (is buried in manga) ASH: Can you still breathe in there? SEAN: Yen Press start with The Blood-Crawling Princess of a Ruined Country (Chi wo Hau Boukoku no Oujo), a dark fantasy manga from Gangan Online. A princess finds her country invaded, her family killed, and herself sold into sex work. Now, years later, she’s after revenge. ANNA: Those sound like good reasons for revenge. ASH: That they do. SEAN: Clevatess: The King of Dark Beasts, the Baby, and the Undead Hero (Clevatess: Majuu no Ou to Akago to Kabane no Yuusha) is a webtoon that also runs in Comic Alive +. A dark beast finds his life complicated by, well, a baby and an undead hero. The anime of this is…

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The Fearsome Witch Teaches in Another World: I’ll Save You from Being a Shut-in!

By Mitsuru Inoue and Suzuno. Released in Japan as “Isekai Teni Shite Kyoushi ni Natta ga, Majo to Osorerarete Iru Ken” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn. I talked in my last book about how this book has an agenda when it comes to teaching, but I’m not entirely convinced that the agenda is “show people there’s a better way”. I don’t think anything that Aoi does in this book is something that can really be replicated in the real world, it works because Aoi is effectively omnipotent. Hell, even her non-magical way of thinking is suspect: at one point, she seems to seriously think that the best way to get shut-ins out of their rooms is to remove the door….

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Rascal Does Not Dream of a Beach Queen +

By Hajime Kamoshida and Keji Mizoguchi. Released in Japan as “Seishun Buta Yarou wa Beach Queen no Yume wo Minai +” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. One refreshing thing about this series is that, while it was running, it lacked all the SS or .5 volumes stuffing in tons of short stories to drag out the plot. Which is good, as this series already felt like fifteen volumes was too long. But it’s over now, and so it’s time for Vol. 16, the first of two short story collections. Fortunately, for me if no one else, these aren’t microstories. There’s only three. The first story was a bonus that came with the Blu-Ray release of the anime. The second story was…

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Proud to Be the Villainess: Upon the Despair You Face Blooms the Wicked Flower of Hope

By Mary=Doe and Kuga Huna. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijou no Kyouji” by SQEX Novel. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Bérénice Vourdon. Last time I asked what the author was going to do to continue what was an obviously complete story beyond the first volume. The answer ends up being escalation, in every possible way. Did the first volume have a villainess archetype? Let’s add a couple more! Are there obvious schemes to save the day by sacrificing oneself? Let’s double down on making it even more convoluted. The author wanted to see how many gambit balls they could keep in the air at once, and the answer turns out to be “a lot”. Fortunately, they have the skills to back this up – this…

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