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.

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.

In my review of the 2nd volume I mentioned that it wrapped up the first arc in the series, to which I can only say: oops. That said, I am absolutely not complaining. This may not be the final book in the series (there’s at least two more out in Japan), but it’s definitely The Payoff. Following directly on from events in the last book, it has tons of conflict, but it’s all character-based and 100% understandable. It gets into worries about isekai/reincarnation journeys that I always love to see in those books, and also delves into the past of this kingdom and why trying to change it in the future is something that’s going to be very hard and yet absolutely necessary. Basically, this book is everything you wanted to see in this series wrapped up. Anisphia has come a long way from the Chaos Gremlin of the first book. (Not to worry, the anime starts next week, and from what I’ve seen, they’re hammering on that aspect.)

After the events of the last book, Algard has been sent off into exile, meaning that there’s only one really obvious candidate in line for the throne: Anisphia. She proceeds to put on a brave face, buckle down, and accept her fate in a way that devastates everyone around her, because they all know her far too well. This includes Euphyllia, who knows her better than anyone and refuses to accept Anisphia giving up her happiness and becoming a shell of her former self. To that end, she goes searching for a way to bypass Anisphia and find another heir to the throne… and finds there is another way, but it would involve a ton of sacrifice of her own. With both Anisphia and Euphyllia playing a weird game of chicken in trying to sacrifice their own love and joy for the sake of each other, who’s going to blink first?

As I mentioned above, my favorite part of the book was the look at Anisphia’s interiority, particularly something that she’s been half in denial about this entire time. She may have abdicated early in her life, but being a Princess is a very important part of her, and a reason that she’s constantly working herself to death. She also finally confesses to Euphyllia that she’s a reincarnation, and talks about her life back in her other world… as well as what that means to her current self. We’ve seen reincarnation isekai (particularly “villainess” titles) have our reincarnated heroine “overwrite” the original personality when they regain their memories, but here we see Anisphia’s horror at the very idea of doing that. And there’s also the fact that she was reincarnated as a royal that needs to use magic to rule but one who can’t use magic. That unfairness drives her, and also nearly breaks her. Spoiler: there’s a lot of crying in this.

But there’s kissing as well, and I was amused at the book dancing around the fact that the obvious solution is joint rule, but that would involve the country acknowledging their relationship, and I don’t think we’re quite there yet. That said, this was the best in the series by far. I don’t know if I want to see it adapted in the anime – if it is, the anime will have been quite rushed – but it’s a must-read for yuri fans.

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.

This is one of those books that starts slow but picks up speed as things go along. It’s essentially the second half of the first “arc” in this series, and we see Anisphia and Euphyllia dealing with the two remaining dangling plot threads: the man who kickstarted everything by publicly denouncing Euphie, and the young woman who was theoretically the cause of that. And any fan of villainess books will know that both of those plotlines are things that we’ve seen before. That said, this book does have an interesting twist that I don’t think we’ve really come across in regards to the “heroine” role. As for Anis’ brother, that’s a lot more serious plotline, and both he and Anis are forced to face up to the fact that the actions they take have far broader consequences than either of them would have liked. Although I think Algard already knew that, since… well, he has an agenda.

The book starts with Anis being forced to do a lot of things she doesn’t want to do. This includes having a conversation with her mother, who is determined enough to break past Anis’ eccentric behavior, as well as the Ministry of the Arcane, who know that Anis took down a dragon recently and want the dragon’s remains for their own use and not hers. In addition, Anis is trying to clear Euphie’s name, which means figuring out why otherwise sensible young nobles were so willing to go along with this public shaming, and what sort of hold Lainie, the former commoner who everyone has an opinion on, has over them. This will involve consulting one of Anis’ “bad friends”, Tilty, a noble who is essentially just as eccentric as Anis, if not worse.

The book’s first really good scene is at Tilty’s place, where we work out what’s up with Lainie and why she inspires the people around her to do emotionally unstable things when she’s around. It’s the sort of plot twist I’d have been incredibly impressed with if the color pages at the start of the book had not 100% spoiled it. Lainie herself is more sympathetic than I was expecting, especially once she comes to terms with the sort of person she is now. As for Anis and her brother, that’s the other really strong part of the book. Algard’s behavior is nightmarish, but it all stems from Anis’ hands-off, “I don’t want anything to do with royalty I just want to study magic” attitude, and even as she points out that he can’t act the way he is because he’s the prince, she understands that she essentially did the same thing. The question of succession is very much up in the air at the end of this book, and I hope it somehow gets resolved in a way that does not remove the yuri from this title, even if so far that’s pretty slight.

So yes, solid second volume, and it suggests that Anis is going to have to get more involved in the lives of those around her, even if it means less magical research. That said, I do hope we get a bit more “magic nerd” stuff between Anis and Euphie in the 3rd book.