By Bunzaburou Nagano and Neruzo Nemaki. Released in Japan as “Dagashiya Yahagi: Isekai ni Shutten Shimasu” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mizuki Sakamoto.

I always feel a little awkward when I’m reviewing these slow life titles, because I inevitably feel like I’m picking on them. Most of this volume consists of the slow life stuff itself, and it’s fine. I enjoyed it. There’s lots of selling new snacks with odd status buffs, or accidentally giving the gnomes their legendary armor. Meryl is funny, we actually learn a bit about Mira’s family. My favorite part was when the three of them set out to track some monsters that have big treasure chests in their lair, take out the monsters, and actually get the treasure, which does indeed have so much money that even Meryl puts most of it into savings in the bank. The trouble is there’s very little to actually review about slow life. So I have to look for other things to talk about. And frankly, those things are less enjoyable. Ah well. At least we got to see Meryl’s hilariously bad luck a few more times.

After the events of the last book, Chichi is in prison, and Yahagi and Michelle are living a happy if still chaste cohabitational life. Yahagi has realized that, for some reason (honestly, it sort of beggars belief), no one has tried to map the dungeon, so he sets out to try to do so, selling them to adventurers as he completes floors. Also, his stand is now definitely a shop, complete with a living space at the back, much to Michelle’s delight. He’s also discovered that he now has actual magic! And not just his Dagashi-ya magic either. Unfortunately, Chichi is not going to simply sit back and accept being imprisoned. She’s got a plan to escape and get her revenge on her sister and Yahagi…

So, in reverse order from least annoying to most annoying. 1) like a lot of light novel folks, our hero and heroine seem to think that the only sex they can have is the missionary kind that runs the risk of pregnancy, so all they do is kiss and cuddle. I urge them to remember there are other ways to express physical love. 2) Yahagi learns a spell that allows him clairvoyance, to the point where he can even search backwards in time, but it gives him mild to mid-range heart attacks. ARE YOU KIDDING? I hope this is dealt with in later books, but dude, stop giving yourself heart attacks and then NOT TELLING ANYONE. 3) the main redemption arc in this book was carried out through the use of mind-control snacks that charm you into falling in love with someone if used too often (they literally say this), and also having the evil buffed out of you by an angel from heaven so that you’re no longer a main antagonist. I can’t even begin to say how annoyed I was with that whoooole subplot.

But, other than that, it was fine. I’ll read the next one. I would sum it up as “mid (affectionate), with a slight side of mid (derogatory)”.

By Bunzaburou Nagano and Neruzo Nemaki. Released in Japan as “Dagashiya Yahagi: Isekai ni Shutten Shimasu” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mizuki Sakamoto.

Every time I come across a “slow life” light novel series that actually *is* slow life, I get thrown off, and I have to recalibrate the way I’m reading it. I spent most of the first half of this book thinking “wow, this is moving at a crawl, and nothing’s really happening”, and that’s the POINT. There have been so many “trying to be slow life” novels published over here that they’ve almost taken over the genre. You know, where the hero decides that he’s just going to set up a shop, or run a farm, but then suddenly halfway through the book he’s got to defeat the demon lord, that sort of thing. This is not that kind of book. Yahagi is here to sell penny candy, and he’s going to sell it. Oh, he does gain new cool powers. His candy stock gets expanded, and he really takes off when he can sell cheap Gundam models that can move via mana. But, the climax of the plot? Is mostly handled by other people.

We’re barely told how Yahagi dies (truck, of course) at age 25. He ends up in essentially a “next life” waiting room, where he’s told that he’s not going to be the hero, or even a basic-ass mage, but he’s going to a fantasy world where he will be a dagashi-ya. Which means he sells cheap candy for ten yen, etc. He’s then dumped there as is, and finds he can create a store out of nowhere, but by store I mean “stand”. And he has no money. And nowhere to live. Fortunately, it turns out that his cheap candies actually give stat boosts, so he attracts the attention of a couple of cute young adventurers. And as he sells more stuff, his stand gets bigger and he gets more products. This also gains the interest of a “shinigami”, who is wearing a mask and cloak but seems to like the chocolate, and also seems to be very attached to Yahagi. Especially after he looks at a wanted poster of the Great Witch Michelle, and states she looks beautiful and is his type. Who could this mystery shinigami be?

This is a decent read, though anyone expecting originality or depth is reading the wrong series. And honestly I’m not sure I’d want those things in a series like this. The book namechecks Do You Love Your Mom?, KonoSuba and Danmachi in the first two pages, so it’s clearly geared towards otaku. The witch/love interest, Michelle, is what is usually less than politely termed a yandere, though it’s a mild version that mostly involves vague threats, with actual curses reserved for people who are genuinely terrible rather than just “making eyes at my man”. The romance in the book is sweet, though given Michelle spends most of the volume disguised as a man, there’s a lot of “OMG are they gay?” from Meryl and Mira, the other two main cast members. And, as I said, the main plot of this book, while it does involve Michelle and Yahagi, is not really resolved by either of them. Though there’s a sequel hook, of course.

So yeah, this is exactly what it says on the tin. Slow life. Lots of otaku references. A few boobs references. The implication there might be sex but there ends up being no sex. Fans of this sort of thing will enjoy it.