ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword!, Vol. 1

By kiki and kinta. Released in Japan as “Omae Gotoki ga Maou ni Kateru to Omou na” to Gachizei ni Yuusha Party wo Tsuihou Sareta node, Outo de Kimama ni Kurashitai” by GC Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jason Muell.

Given the title, you’re probably expecting one of those slow life titles. Young woman is told she can’t be in the hero’s party, so she ends up living her life in the city as an H&R Block Accountant and getting into everyday troubles. Well, half of that is true. Unfortunately for Flum, this first volume definitely is not a “slow life” book, but a “gore-filled horror” book. There is yuri as well, of course, and that seems to be the main selling point for the book both in Japan and here, but for the most part the reader is here to read about graphic, somewhat appalling battles that our heroine is forced to fight in order to save her own life and that of Milkit, a fellow slave that she met while being tortured to death. Yeah, that’s right, it’s one of those slavery books as well.

As noted, Flum is part of the hero’s party to defeat the demons, mostly due to a prophecy. Unfortunately, Flum’s stats are all zero – and can’t be raised. This seemingly makes the entire party hate and turn against her, though most of this hatred springs from Jean, who decides to do something about it by selling her into slavery and abandoning her. Given that her stats are zero, she’s not a great slave either, so the slave owner decides to kill her (this is where she meets Milkit). Fortunately, the “cursed sword” part of the title comes into play here, and Flum discovers how her powers are really supposed to work. Unfortunately, after escaping, things are still not very slow life. She has to work as an adventurer to live, and ends up pissing off the local adventurer goons. Milkit has been so beaten down by slavery that she’s unable to think for herself. And, while trying to get a rare and illegal herb, she discovers that her name is far more important than she expected.

First things first, if you dislike death, blood and violence, drop this book like a hot potato. I was not kidding when I said this was a horror novel, particularly in the back half, where we meet up with a nigh unkillable scientific experiment. That said, the book ended up being quite readable. Flum is likeable and grows fast once she realizes that she CAN grow. I’m less happy with Milkit, especially her need to dress up as a maid call Flum her Master, but I will assume that her character arc is not yet finished and but it aside for now. (Their yuri scenes are all packed together at the end of the book, and are sickeningly cute). There’s also the start of the book, where we see Flum’s POV of the rest of the party, and she comes to the conclusion that they all find her a useless burden. The reader accepts this too, and when it later turns out not to be true, it feels a bit out of the blue.

All this and an adorable ten-year-old battle nun. (More nuns should use maces instead of rulers.) This is definitely not Adachi and Shimamura, but if you like your yuri filled with swordplay, magic and a whole lot of blood and guts, it could be right up your alley.

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Comments

  1. how does one refuse to read mahoiku for being too dark but then go ahead and review this and torture princess

  2. It seems like this book actually realizes slavery is bad, which is a relief. That I even have to say that is kind of depressing, though.

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