By Miri Mikawa and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Ikka Kōkyū Ryōrichō” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by afm.

The words “game changer” can be overused when referring to an ongoing piece of media, but I can’t think of a better way to describe this volume. Honestly, it feels like a penultimate volume, with things getting resolved next time. But I know that there’s six more to go after this. Building on everything that we’ve seen before, it shows us Rimi finding her inner strength and standing up not only for herself but for the Emperor. She’s come a long way from … well, even from the 4th book, really. This despite the fact that she also spends this volume under constant threat of death, but this time it’s from assassination rather than execution. And she’s not alone, as Hakurei also makes great strides in kicking back against manipulation, Shohi manages to do the right thing by simply restraining himself and not exploding in rage, and as for Shusei… well, that’s where it all falls apart, really. Look, I love a good romance as much as the next person. But he’s making the WRONG choice here.

Now that Rimi has accepted the Emperor’s proposal, there’s still a looooooong way to go before they’re home free. Most importantly, the anti-Shohi faction of the palace has said that they won’t stand for it because she’s Japanese… erm, sorry, Wakokuan. The way this is solved is blatant sophistry but also works; have Rimi leave the palace and vanish, and then have the identical Setsu Rimi, whose bona fides show that she’s from Konkoku, show up in the palace and become Empress. Of course, this assumes she’s not murdered in between those two things. And even then, Shusei has to train her to pass the rigorous Empress Question Time, where she gets hammered with seemingly ritual questions where she can memorize the answers… till some of those questions change.

Apart from the cliffhanger ending, the best scene in the book is Rimi answering question from the officials. She’s can’t solve everything with food here, and is especially in danger when Shusei is suddenly forced to leave her side so he can stop feeding her the answers. That said, insulting the emperor so publicly awakens something furious in her, and the response is amazing. Also, apologies to Jotetsu, who I haven’t mentioned yet, as it’s basically his book along with Rimi’s, and we get his backstory along with what drives him and why he wants to help Shusei. Unfortunately, there’s also the simmering “we have a secret child who can become Emperor” backstory that has been simmering for a couple of volumes, and it comes to a boil here. I somehow get the feeling that we’re going to be seeing a lot of military battles in the future of this series. That said, we do at least get to see Rimi save a life with the power of delicious food, so the series gets to stay on brand for those who picked it up as a foodie title.

What’s next? Chaos. Till then, please enjoy the best volume yet.

By Miri Mikawa and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Ikka Kōkyū Ryōrichō” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by afm.

I will admit that after the cliffhanger of the previous volume, I was not expecting the plot for most of this one to be “ghost story”. And yet it also manages to help to drive forward the love triangle as well, as it’s hard to maintain a cool, relaxed, professional demeanor when the person you love is sneaking into your room every night. Especially when they’re really a ghost who is there to slowly sap your life essence. This isn’t QUITE Rimi’s fault this time, but she’s the only one that can fix it, and honestly if she fails execution is likely what awaits. Again. If this were the previous three volumes, then the problem would be solved by food, but here food is only part of the answer. Rimi needs to actually look inside the ghost’s heart and see why they’re doing this. Which will, unfortunately for everyone involved, mean looking inside her own heart and doing what’s best for everyone.

The book starts off with the fallout from the previous one. Both Rimi and Shusei both trying to repress their love, and succeeding only in the eyes of each other (we get monologues from each about how the other one is much calmer about this). And the Emperor is, of course, waiting patiently for Rimi’s answer to his proposal. All this emotion flying around means that Tama, the Quinary Dragon, is feeling ill and lethargic. After researching things, they decide to decamp to a different palace, one with more spiritual energy, in order to heal Tama. Unfortunately, this palace comes with its own version of the Seven Mysteries of the High School, and Rimi finds herself dragged to a cursed well by impetuous consort and repressed lesbian Yo, who decides that investigating cursed objects that scream “do not open this cursed object” is awesome. Unfortunately, it triggers a curse. And now everyone’s going into everyone else’s room – supposedly – like it’s a British farce.

The food may take a back seat this time, but the romance and political intrigue does not. Despite Shusei trying to run away from it at every opportunity, he’s finally told the secret of his birth – and understands the implications for how he can use it to make Rimi his. Unfortunately, Rimi identifies strongly with the ghost here, who had to give up on her true love in order to become the Empress because it would be better for the kingdom. It comes down to waffling about things because of your love or making a clean break without regrets, and Rimi, who has matured more with each volume, makes the difficult choice. Which is very good news for the Emperor, but very bad news for the cast in general, as after reading the last forty or so pages of this book I’m fairly sure that this series is going to be ending with most of the cast dead.

But that’s future Sean’s problem. For now, this was probably the best volume in this series to date, one where true loves goes up against political expediency and comes out the loser.

By Miri Mikawa and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Ikka Kōkyū Ryōrichō” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by afm.

If there’s one thing that’s really going to separate Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower from Apothecary diaries it’s the romance. There *is* romance in Apothecary Diaries, but Maomao’s complete avoidance/disinterest helps to keep it about the 5th or 6th most important thing. That’s not the case here, as a good chunk of this book is taken up with both Rimi and Shusei being in love with each other, but knowing that they can’t actually do anything about it. This is not particularly helped by the fact that the Emperor is also deeply in love with her. Indeed, while I would not quite call Rimi a manic pixie dream girl, her presence and way of thinking seem to have gone a good ways towards making the Emperor mature, as for once we get a “I am going to force myself on you” shoujo romance trope where the guy takes the right message from it. This is one big ol’ love triangle, but one side of it can’t really happen. Or… can it?

Most of this volume is dedicated to trying to negotiate a trade agreement with Saisakoku, a nation further to the West known for its herbs and spices. Unfortunately, Saisakoku does not particularly seem all that interested in negotiating, and the envoy they send doesn’t really care if the emperor is annoyed at this. Fortunately, they also have Rimi, who is interesting enough to attract the attention of the Envoy, who apparently likes to gather strays to his side to serve him (which makes him very similar to many otome game villainesses). Rimi really wants to find out about the Saisakokuan style of cooking, particularly as she alone is now serving the Emperor’s meals – Shusei has been delegated to essentially calm the Emperor down while the delegation is here. Can Rimi do something to break the deadlock?

I’ve talked about the romance, which is important, but that doesn’t mean that this story has forgotten about its roots – or its title. Food is very much a major character, as we continue to see shusei find things that are very good for the Emperor but taste awful, and Rimi continues to try to find ways to make it palatable. The sheer joy she shows over learning new ways of cooking wins over not only the head chef at the palace, but also the Saisakokuan chef who is there to serve the delegate spicy food, as he finds Konkokuan cuisine boring. The solution to this issue turns out to also be the solution to the trade talks, though things are also helped by the Emperor really leveling up and learning when it’s OK to ask for help. I also enjoyed seeing the four consorts now getting along swimmingly, even if I sometimes have trouble telling them apart.

There’s a cliffhanger that promises that the political intrigue that’s also a part of the series is only going to get worse, and I suspect that Rimi and Shusei will have a long and hard road ahead – this is only Book 3 of 11. Still, if you like shoujo romance, food, or happy go lucky heroines, this remains an excellent choice.