By Hisaya Amagishi and Esora Amaichi. Released in Japan as “Fukushokushi Lucia wa Akiramenai: Kyō kara Hajimeru Kōfuku Keikaku” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by A.M. Cola.

Dahlia, the protagonist of the main series, and Lucia, the protagonist of this spinoff, are on the face of it not all that alike. Aside from their tendency to deflect all achievements away from them, that is. Dahlia is reserved, while Lucia tends more towards the firey. But it is interesting how both the main series and its spinoff are pushing their respective protagonists into very similar situations. Dahlia keeps coming up with wonderful, insane inventions that will change their entire nation, and as a result is rapidly heading towards a future where she’d better be married and protected, or else she absolutely will be kidnapped. Lucia’s clothing designs are not as revolutionary (though the opera house in this volume may disagree), but her leadership skills and ability to inspire are absolute gold, and she too had better get married soon – she’s already starting to suffer kidnapping attempts.

The first chunk of this book follows the earlier Dahlia plotlines, as we see the debut of the cloth that basically has its own built-in air conditioner. Lucia and her staff have to work out where to best place the cloth, how to deal with those who are ticklish, etc. Lucia is also busy learning about nobility, and what not to say when a noble says something that seems innocent but isn’t. The latter half ot eh book is more along the lines of the latter half of the first, with Lucia running into various people and helping them with fashion/outfits, as well as sometimes being a big ol’ ball of sunshine. We also meet Forto’s attendant Lotta, who is an attendant who is also a blighted (sound familiar), but none of that matters to Lucia, who is great at getting people to come out of their shells. No wonder the “who will Lucia end up with?” sweepstakes are a lot more open than Dahlia’s.

Last time we saw a lot of teasing of a potential relationship with Forto, which is pretty bittersweet given that we’ve read later volumes of Dahlia and see her rejecting him. We’re starting to see a few other alternatives here. Such as Dante, her right-hand man, who is also dealing with trying to put off marriage proposals so he can concentrate on his work, and who is straight up told “do not let her get away” by his grandmother. Or Lotto, Forto’s attendant, who is pretty much given a plotline in this book that’s the equivalent of the sun coming out behind Lucia’s head while heavenly choirs play in the background. Speaking of attendants, Lucia’s found her Mr. Sunset, though he’s deflected it so that she’s not aware. That said, the main thing blocking any of these is Lucia herself, who (in a book that once again tries to be very progressive about gender and sexuality) seems to be demisexual, and has not found anyone she’s that emotionally close to yet.

The main Dahlia series is stalled over here while it finds a new translator, the previous one having stepped down, but we’re getting a third Lucia book soon. Will it catch up with the main series? Can we somehow get Lucia connected to a noble without her managing to avoid it? And will the clothing still be gorgeous? Signs point to yes on that last one.

By Hisaya Amagishi and Esora Amaichi. Released in Japan as “Fukushokushi Lucia wa Akiramenai: Kyō kara Hajimeru Kōfuku Keikaku” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Osman Wong.

When you have a hit series, there’s always the temptation to do the exact same thing. Most publishers do this by having a different writer do something with a very similar plotline, or the same vibe. But there’s also the spinoff route. If you have a character who’s flitted in and out of the series so far, supporting our hardworking heroine, why not write the same sort of book only focusing on her? It would mostly deal with her career but there would also be the potential for romance! That said, Dahlia in Bloom, the parent series, is very much a one-man book. Dahlia may be surrounded by handsome men, but there’s only one man she’s prepared to be in denial over. That may be an issue with Lucia as well, as she’s clearly set up to be the love interest of Forto, her employer and clear frontrunner in the handsome man sweepstakes… and also married. Fortunately, the books always put career first.

Lucia is a young couturier with dreams of owning her own boutique, but at the moment still helps out at her parents’ gloves and socks business. All that changes when Hurricane Dahlia hits the city and the family is approached by Fortunato to go to the Merchant’s Guild with him to see if they can help with Dahlia’s new “toe socks” invention. Since the men of the family are all massive cowards, Lucia is the one who goes, and this ends up leading to her becoming head manager of Forto’s magical garment factory. As the book goes on, we see her overcoming adversity and handling the fashion dilemmas of an old man who wants to look less scary to his granddaughter, twins who have always been treated the same wanting to look different, and a man feeling awkward about wanting his clothes to be a bit more flamboyant. Lucia handles this all with aplomb.

Most of this book takes place at the same time as the second Dahlia in Bloom novel, and we see one scene from that book from Lucia’s perspective. That said, this was clearly meant to be read between the 6th and 7th Dahlia books, which means that sadly licensing difficulties have struck once more, and the book has lost a lot of its impact, because we know what Lucia’s reaction to “will you become my second wife?” will be from that book. The other odd thing in this book is a running theme of the city Dahlia and Lucia live in being LGBT-friendly. Lucia discusses wedding dresses for two brides, says to one of the twins that her partner might be a man or a woman, etc. That said, in terms of the main characters and the romances, the series sticks to what its audience wants and remains very heterosexual. I was sort of expecting the guy who wanted flamboyant clothes to be secretly gay, but no.

That said, this is a very solid spinoff, obsessed with clothes as much as the main series is obsessed with alcohol. It’s a must read for Dahlia fans.