The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Vol. 6

By Piero Karasu and Yuri Kisaragi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

(So yeah, spoilers for this volume right up top, warning in advance.)

I’m always a big sucker for the “what if everything in your life was perfect?” story. One of my favorite Urusei Yatsura episodes showed Lum going through alternate universes trying to find the correct one, and discovering a universe where everything is the same only Ataru loves her unconditionally. And she has to give it up, because that’s not the right one. That’s not the Ataru SHE loves. And here we see Anis being offered everything she’s always wanted. She still has her lover and her friends. She’s still making cool magical inventions. But she’s beloved by everyone, and she can use magic. And everyone – EVERYONE – knows she was reincarnated from Japan. It’s presented as the best thing ever. Look, you don’t need to struggle anymore. You don’t have to fight anymore. Here is everything you always wanted. And to the reader, and Anis, it’s horrible, as it eliminates everything she fought FOR.

Lainie has a favor to ask. She wants to find out more about her mother. So she, Anis, and Tilty (???) along with the usual male guards go off to an orphanage and an adventurer’s guild to try to track down the history of Tiris, who was also an adventurer but also, unbeknownst to most everyone, a vampire. While doing this they find that the nearby forest is cleaned out of monsters and normal animals both, and the reason is that there’s an even more powerful presence there, and they’re experimenting with horrible things. Meanwhile, back with Allie and Acryl, they too are having a similar encounter, and it becomes clear what it is: vampires. They’re here, they’re getting revenge on the country, and they… seem to be of one mind.

As I said last time, the series is trying to figure out what to do next, and in order to to that, Anis has to get over all of her hangups and take control of her future. She’s been worried about Euphie’s lifespan being so much longer than her own, and, not to spoil even more, but that mostly gets solved here. Anis may dislike a world in which no one suffers and therefore no one has to strive for anything, but that does not mean that she doesn’t want to live as long as possible while still doing that. Ilia is having similar worries, but hers are not resolved here, and will likely be a bubbling subplot. It’s hard when your core group is genius battle princess, genius royal mage, prodigy vampire, and… maid. Unfortunately, the story still struggles for focus at times, especially at the start. Tilty comes along with the group, I think, mostly as the author wanted us to remember she exists. And, given this is a very Anis-heavy book, Euphie does not get quite as many “let’s be really powerful and cool” moments.

And so now Anis is determined to transform the world, and has the extra power to do it. Where are we heading next? Hopefully the series now has a firm plan for the future.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Vol. 5

By Piero Karasu and Yuri Kisaragi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

The last three volumes of MagiRevo have all had that feeling of “this is the final volume of the series” without it actually being true. It felt as if the author was not sure if it would be a success or not – very common in this medium. This is the first book where I believe that they wrote it knowing that the books were going to be going on longer, as it’s very transitional. There’s looking towards the future, as Anis and Euphie’s road trip is to survey the kingdom and look for new resources, plus they also end up learning of a number of new nations/races/possible enemies. At the same time, the entire book is also about coming to terms with everything that has happened in the previous four. Euphie’s on the throne, but this has not magically settled everyone’s hearts. Particularly Anis, who runs into Euphie’s brother at a ball and ends up projecting her own brother on top of him.

Anis is out of sorts, having essentially been told “try not to be too innovative for a bit, we need everyone to get used to the chaos you’ve already created”. But she can’t exactly turn that part of herself off. So Euphie plans to have the two of them tour the Eastern part of the kingdom, inspecting the damage caused by the previous monster stampedes and also trying to find new areas that they can harvest spirit energy. Of course, as Anis notes, this is a chance to go on a Love Love Honeymoon with her beloved – well, a honeymoon that involves two maids, two aides and a guard – and the guard is Navre, one of the men who was tied up in Lainie’s plotline in the first book. Then, to top things off, Anis had not really been listening when all of this was explained to her (because honeymoon fantasizing), and missed that they are, in fact, going to see her brother as well.

If I were to sum up this book, it would be “not bad, but not as good as the other books”. Part of the problem is Anis, who is still dealing with a pile of repressed guilt about what happened with Algard. (She is also, frankly, still not used to the fact that she is absolutely not the top in this relationship, and Euphie’s frank desires leave her a bit twitchy.) The heart to heart she has with her brother near the end was much needed, if only as I want her to move on from this as quickly as possible. There’s also a new character introduced who isn’t too bad, but seems designed to tick several “isekai cliche” boxes at once, so I was rolling my eyes at her arrival. On the bright side, Anis and Euphie get to have an awesome fight that I’m sure will look terrific if it ever gets animated in a theoretical Series 2.

So yeah. Mezza mezza. Still, we now have the promise of beastmen, and more vampires, and a bunch of other potential new plots. I just hope Anis will be back to being a fun ball of chaos next time around.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Vol. 4

By Piero Karasu and Yuri Kisaragi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

Since my review of the third volume, we have had the anime version of this series, which covered the first three books. In my opinion, it was a fantastic success, and the way that it adapted the books, changing and cutting things to the anime’s benefit, was a definite highlight. That said, there were some people who bemoaned a lot of the world building and discussion of magical technicalities getting cut from the anime. If that was you, good news! The books are still here, and they are still being very nerdy. This volume digs deep into the heart of magic vs. magicology, and why the latter is terrifying a number of the nobles remaining at everyone’s least favorite ministry. Can you change the prejudices and thoughts of an entire country by letting go of the past, or does the past need to be embraced as well? And, most importantly, why are all the books written like they sell for $200 on Amazon from Paletia University Press?

Anis and Euphie are now a couple, although it would appear their intimacy in bed is limited to Euphie taking Anis’ magical energy rather than taking Anis. Moreover, Anis now has two new assistants, since Euphie’s additional responsibilities mean she can’t be Anis’ assistant anymore. Halphys and Garkie… erm, Gark help Anis to think about what about magicology would help win over the nobles, who already have magic to do what she’s doing with kettles and the like? There’s also the problem of Lainie. Now that the dust has settled and she has a prominent position in Anis’ household, she’s getting marriage offers she does not want. And, of course, there’s the succession, as Anis’ father decides that now is the time to step down from the throne and let the next ruler take over. Who will be Queen? (I mean, we know who’ll be Queen, but let’s pretend we don’t.)

I had to laugh at the appearance of Tilty in this book. She’s there for about five pages, tells everyone they’re idiots, is absolutely infuriated, and storms off, having started the process of solving the problem. Unfortunately, the problem with Lainie is her crippling self-hatred, as the idea that anyone might actually be in love with her and not just influenced by her vampire powers causes her to have a complete meltdown. It was also nice to see Ilia actually screw up, and show that the relationship she and Anis have is very beneficial to them but can also be detrimental in regards to others. As for Anis and the Ministry of the Arcane, I also enjoyed how that played out. The remaining nobles know what the winning side is, they just want to ensure that they still have a place somewhere on it. You don’t want to help with your own downsizing.

I had a ball reading this book, and think those who enjoyed the anime will as well. It also wraps up nicely as a finale to the series… but don’t worry, there’s more coming.