By Riia Ai and Mucha. Released in Japan as “Scenario Nante Iranai! Rival Chara no Kitsunekko” on the Shousetsuka ni Narou website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Miki “Zombie” Zuckerman.

I will admit, my memory is not that great. I’m fine when a book comes out so frequently that I can retain everything easily, like Bookworm. But when a series catches up, it can be a struggle for me to recall what was happening before, or who the minor characters are. And this goes double for when it’s been a year since the first volume, as I’ve forgotten almost ALL the main characters. All I recalled from the last book was the basic plot, and the two “reincarnated from Japan” characters. I also recalled they mentioned that the “heroine” would be appearing soon, something that filled them with dread. Well, she’s here, and her annoying, obviously evil behavior was making me twitch, and reminding me that the writing and characterization in the first book were not the best. But we then got to the twist, and I also remembered that yeah, the author’s ideas are what’s worth remembering. They work well.

Miku is settling in at the guild, and going on fun errands with Macro, who talks bluntly but she can see the good in him. Unfortunately, she’s almost immediately kidnapped and taken off in a cart. There she meets Laura, a Sound Butterfly girl who can combine her powers with Miku’s to help them escape the gang’s clutches! Back at the guild, it’s revealed to Miku that Laura is the heroine of the game that Claire has always said this is, and that means that Miku is that much closer to dying… especially since Miku has finally realized that she’s fallen in love with Macro! And Laura suddenly declares that she too is in love with Macro (after, oddly, declaring that she’s in love with Ektor and then backtracking on it), and is so sad that she’s going to have to win his heart and have Miku tragically lose! Is Laura really as evil as she seems?

No, thankfully, though it took me a while to cotton on. I’ve seen this sort of heroine before, in I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, and I assumed Laura was similar to Lilia, in that she can’t see the events as anything but achievements in a game. And to be fair, Laura is doing her level best to be as evil-sounding as possible, just to turn everyone against her. Laura’s true identity works much better, and also allows Miku to be able to change her fate and survive. That said, this book still has a Miku-shaped hole in the middle of it. She’s very nice, and I admired her resolve towards the end, but she’s just not as affecting to m as she should be. The same applies to Claire and Ektor, whose not-romance is thuddingly predictable in the best “Th-there’s no way I’m interested in this jerk!” way.

This is the final volume, so I will not have to stretch my memory come next October. I do recommend reading the series for its interesting take on “villainess” books and point of view, but it feels like a series by someone whose writing still has room to improve.

By Riia Ai and Mucha. Released in Japan as “Scenario Nante Iranai! Rival Chara no Kitsunekko” on the Shousetsuka ni Narou website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Miki “Zombie” Zuckerman.

It’s always tough when a word ends up being shorthand for a genre. There’s no “villainess” in this book. Indeed, the Japanese romanji uses “Rival Chara”, which is far more accurate. But, as with “isekai” books that aren’t really isekai, “villainess” has become shorthand for a genre of books that this series falls under, so here we are. That said, it’s also intriguing for other reasons. First of all, as the blurb suggests, we have two different “reincarnated into a game” characters butting heads in order to save the game from a bad end, which honestly is mostly used for comedy here. Secondly, the “villainess” is NOT one of the reincarnated Japanese people, and she’s the narrator. Just having a reincarnation book from the POV of someone else is refreshing, but it turns out that the villainess is sweet as pie, and makes everyone around her want to protect and love her. Honestly, it’s no surprise that the actual “heroine” doesn’t even show up in this volume.

Miku and Claire are sisters, and both are Fox Girls, one of many demi-human races in this world. That said, Miku was rather startled when Claire, back when she was 4 years old or so, fell over, hit her head, and then started talking about her past life from Japan! Miku doesn’t really get all this talk about otome games and airplanes, but she loves her sister, so if her sister wants her to train her magic so that they can fight monsters and save the village from a theoretical attack, then that’s what they’ll do. Things get complicated when the love interest from the game arrives, and he too also appears to be attempting to change the narrative to suit his tastes. Both Ektor and Claire have Miku’s best interests at heart… even if they want to solve things in different ways. After all, if they don’t do anything, Miku will die!

I will be honest, this is a book that lives and dies on its ideas, because its writing style and characters are somewhat basic and bland. I had to look at the cover to remind myself that Claire did not have red hair, simply because she fills the “red-headed anime girl” slot so well. As with many books in this genre, Claire and Ektor both don’t really seem to realize that by changing things so much, they’ve probably already achieved their goal. That said, the “gimmick” behind Miku’s powerful light magic is a dangerous one, and while I get that they wanted to wait till she was mature enough to handle it, I appreciate it that they told her immediately once the truth came out. Mostly, though, this is a story of Miku walking around charming everyone in her wake by being adorable, naïve, kind, and earnest. The reader wants to protect her as well.

As noted above, the cliffhanger ending of this volume implies that the “heroine” of the games (there’s more than one genre, something that comes as a surprise to Claire, who only played the original) will show up and make things difficult, though given that Ektor is firmly on Team Miku, it’s hard to see how.Till then, this is a standard webnovel with a decent gimmick of having the narrative come from the non-isekai character.