By Washiro Fujiki and Heiro. Released in Japan as “Eiyū to Kenja no Tensei Kon: Katsute no Kōtekishu to Konyaku Shite Saikyō Fūfu ni Narimashita” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Joey Antonio.
It can be very difficult to combine comedic stuff with serious stuff in the same series, and frequently the balance is off in some way or another. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised by this second volume of Hero and Sage, which I enjoyed more than the first. For the most part this is content to show our lead couple being ridiculously flirty and at ease with each other, and it’s also not afraid to go full on silly with scenes such as Kristia, the nation’s princess and Eluria’s childhood friend, forcing Raid to participate in a game show to determine who loves her best. But it also has a serious core, as the two of them are trying to work out why she died in the past and who is trying to kill her in the present. And then there’s the entire subplot with Lufus, which is almost all serious and made me wonder if this fluffy series might actually kill a cute kid off.
After the events of the first book, The Magicians’ Association really, really want to expel Raid, but can’t find a good enough reason to, so he is neither rewarded not punished. That said, there are exams coming up, and they will make sure to make them extra impossible for him to do. In the meantime, those exams will happen with the rest of their core team… including Fareg, whose flunkies are still on medical leave, so he needs to be part of their group. They also meet Lufus, the young redhead who was briefly seen in the first book. She’s very proud of her skysteel dragon, Lafika, but more importantly, she can apparently summon four Guardian dragons, which is very unusual. In fact, a bit too unusual. And when Raid and Eluria discover Lufus’ mother is Very Disappointed with her, they realize that things may be more dangerous and potentially tragic than they expected.
I mentioned in my review of the first book that Eluria’s new best friend Millis is comic relief – she even calls herself comic relief – so I was relieved to see that, appropriately, that’s not ALL she is. When she busts out her inscribing skills halfway through the book I was waiting for the punchline, but no, it’s just something that a lot of college kids have dealt with: just because you’re fantastic at something doesn’t mean you want it to be your career. Millis wants to be a magician. And from what we see in the exam, she’s very good at it (after having the crap beaten out of her by Raid and Eluria as part of training). Likewise, Kristia is introduced as a big goofy joke, which lasts just long enough to be funny and then is replaced with an interesting revelation and also shows us how much of this is a deliberate act. This is what I meant by the comedy and drama being well balanced.
The cliffhanger is 100% making me thing “child from the future”, but that’s the third book’s problem. In the meantime, this book is fun and cute – mostly.
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