By Mamecyoro and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Gotsugou Shugi na Kaiketsu Tantou no Oujo de aru” by B’s-LOG Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Moon. As the afterword says, this is very much a “wrapping up the arc stuff that began in the previous book” type of story. Romance, for the most part, takes a back seat till the end, with the one exception (and possibly the funniest part of the book) where Octavia asks, in a written note, if Guy wants to be her fake boyfriend. Guy, who seems to be the only person who can obviously see how jealous Klifford gets of anyone who gets near Octavia, is understandably terrified at the suggestion, and makes the obvious suggestion as…
LATEST FEATURES, ESSAYS, COLUMNS, ROUNDTABLES, & REVIEWS
By Sean Gaffney
The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices, Vol. 5
By Sean Gaffney
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 11
By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach. Every once in a while on television you get a season where a character doesn’t appear for a while, or only appears on a couch, because the actress is pregnant or the actor has broken a leg. Or in Doctor Who, you get “Doctor-lite” episodes where he’s busy filming something else, so you write something where he’s absent most of the time. Obviously a book does not need to do that, but you might be forgiven for thinking that this volume had to have Maomao and Jinshi be fairly sedentary for a while, and not involved in the action all that much. Instead,…
By Sean Gaffney
Taking My Reincarnation One Step at a Time: No One Told Me There Would Be Monsters!, Vol. 5
By KAYA and Naru. Released in Japan as “Tensei Shōjo wa Mazu Ippo kara Hajimetai: Mamono ga Iru toka Kiitenai!” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Amy Osteraas. It’s always interesting reading a final volume that isn’t. This is NOT the final volume in this series – the 6th book is running on the JNC chapter release schedule as we speak – but if you didn’t know that, and you finished this volume, which does not even have an afterword, I think you’d be pretty convinced that this was the ending. It wraps up almost all the plot points from the previous books – though I still say Sara is a monster attractor. She finally goes to the capital, she accepts the fact that…
By Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and Anna N
Manga the Week of 5/29/24
SEAN: May comes to a close in a quiet, peaceful way… mostly. We start with Yen Press, which has some stray manga that got delayed from this week. The debut is Bungo Stray Dogs: The Official Comic Anthology, which should speak for itself. ASH: I’ve not been keeping up with Bungo Stray Dogs like I should, but I do like these sorts of anthology projects. SEAN: And we have Elden Ring: The Road to the Erdtree 3, Stray Cat & Wolf 3, and Teasing Master Takagi-san 19. Viz Media has JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 6–Stone Ocean 4 and Pokémon: The Complete Pokémon Pocket Guide 2 (the final volume). ASH: I have some catching up to do with JoJo, too. SEAN: Udon Entertainment has a 5th volume of Daigo The Beast:…
By Sean Gaffney
I Don’t Want To Be the Dragon Duke’s Maid! Serving My Ex-Fiancé From My Past Life, Vol. 2
By Mashimesa Emoto and Masami. Released in Japan as “Ryū Taikō no Senzoku Jijo wa Goenryō Shitai! Tensei Saki no Okyūji Aite wa Zense no Moto Konyakusha Deshita” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Amanogawa Tenri. I had assumed that this was going to be one of those artifact title type of books, sort of how The Ideal Sponger Life never actually manages to do anything remotely connected to that title after the first half of Book 1. But credit to the author, we actually do get a reasonable excuse for having Mille-Feuille once again disguise herself as the dragon duke’s maid and serving the ex-fiance from her past life. The problem, of course, is that just because she and Van are married does…
By Sean Gaffney
Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Promised Garden
By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian. While it’s a light novel series, and therefore technically above genre distinctions, I don’t think anyone would argue with me if I said Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter falls under the shonen umbrella. As such, it feels inevitable that it would eventually fall prey to one of the big dangers of shonen battle series, “shonen creep”. You start off with a powerful villain, and our heroes hold on to defeat them. Then you get an even more powerful villain. And then, of course, an even MORE powerful villain. And this series just features a very exciting civil war arc with multiple…
By Sean Gaffney
From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 3
By Shigeru Sagazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga Ore o Hōttekurenai Ken” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki. This series leans a little lighter on it than some others I can think of, but it has to be said that this is a harem series that adds new girls every volume. As such, sometimes it feels like the new character acts the way she does not because of their backstory or because of how they’ll fit into the overall story, but because of which “anime girl stereotype” boxes they tick. We have the blond, quick-to-jealousy but cool knight commander, the “I am Yotsuba…
By Sean Gaffney
The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain, Vol. 2
By Bakufu Narayama and Ebisushi. Released in Japan as “Danzaisareta Akuyaku Reijō wa, Gyakkō-shite Kanpekina Akujo o Mezasu” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Alyssa Niioka. Adapted by Vida Cruz-Borja. Sometimes you know that the worst case scenario is not going to happen. Not because this series wouldn’t kill anyone off – there are one or two deaths in this book, and I expect that trend to continue – but more because sometimes the author hits on a new character who is so good that they cannot bear to pull the trigger and have them die, even if they happen to be the evil mastermind. Yes, that’s right, the major weakness of the first book was the “heroine” being a terrible character, and the author…
By Sean Gaffney
Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 5: Avatar of a Goddess, Vol. 10
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’s honestly been a long, long time since we’ve seen the main raison d’etre of this entire series, which is one girl’s complete and utter obsession with books. Back when Rozemyne was just Myne, she could afford to be a one-note samba, but since she’s been adopted into nobility, the sheer weight of the politics of this world has conspired to keep her from obsessing about reading QUITE as much. As such, I was highly amused by what is supposed to be a dramatic highlight of this book, where we have three contenders for the…