Loner Life in Another World, Vol. 7

September 4, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Shoji Goji and Saku Enomaru. Released in Japan as “Hitoribocchi no Isekai Kouryaku” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Eric Margolis. Adapted by Lorin Christie.

One of the reasons why this is such a difficult series to get anyone into (and trust me, there are so many reasons) is that it is trying to be so many different things. It is a military combat novel in this volume… or at least the start of this volume, as it turns out that Haruka, in fact, manages to take care of everything far more than anyone expected him to. It’s a raunchy sex comedy, with Haruka’s stats leveling him up to Sex God (no, really, it says that in his stats) and featuring a number of explicit sex scenes that nevertheless will likely get overlooked by the Powers That Be merely as they’re narrated by Haruka, which means they’re completely incoherent. That said, there is one thing that this series tends to put first, before anything else, and I 100% approve: the nobility sucks. Class warfare forever. Eat the rich. Because trust me, almost all the nobles we meet here are scum.

Haruka rushes back to the frontier in order to stop the army that’s headed that way, an army backed by the theocracy’s soldiers (who are quite content to let the regular army folks be killed off while they hang back) and the theocracy’s secret weapon, another Dungeon Emperor on the same level as Angelica. Oh, and they’re also unleashing monster rushes from nine dungeons around the kingdom, guaranteed to have the populace horribly murdered, which means none of Haruka’s allies can come to his side because they all have to stop this. Needless to say, Haruka… wins almost embarrassingly easily. And now he has a new Dungeon Emperor on his side, the gorgeous Nerfertiri (any resemblance to an ancient Egyptian queen is purely intentional) as his second “concubine”, and has saved the day. Time for a grand ball!

The lack of suspense in the first third of the volume is almost laughable, at least on Haruka’s end. I worried far more about Stalker Girl and her father, who are trying to defeat a mass rush of monsters despite essentially being a ninja spy force. The second third of this novel is basically comic relief and porn, though again, it’s porn written in the style of Haruka’s narration, so it’s not in the least bit arousing. He’s just banging two girls now rather than one. (Again, it’s hinted he refuses to do anything to the Japanese girls for past trauma reasons.) The last third, though, it easily the best part, as the grand ball turns out to be a trap to ensnare all the other evil nobles, baited by a play that gives all the credit to the war to the Princess and Duke, and none to Haruka – meaning they underestimate him. The girls at first asked why in hell he was making their ballgowns with so many defensive armor traits – it turns out they need every single one of them. It’s glorious.

So this long arc is over, and I assume we start something new next time. Might be a few months till the next book, so go back and try to translate Haruka to English, that’s my advice.

Filed Under: loner life in another world, reviews

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 6

September 3, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Sarasa Nagase and Mai Murasaki. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijo Nanode Rasubosu o Katte Mimashita” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

So I have very good news for fans of this series: not once in this volume is Aileen threatened with execution as a result of something happening out of her control. Which makes a nice change from the first five books. Indeed, there’s a very “final volume” to this, despite the fact there are at least five more books coming. All the major subplots are tied up, most of the romantic couples are now together… well, mostly (try harder, Serena), Claude is no longer being forcibly possessed and turned into a dragon, and everyone gets something to do. Indeed, that may be my biggest complaint of the volume: this cast is too big, and I hate having to go back to the cast list at the start of the volume to remember who is who. Oh yes, and perhaps the most important part of all this: Aileen and Claude are finally allowed to consummate their marriage! Offscreen, of course. This isn’t Loner Life in Another World.

We pick up right where we left off, with everything having gone wrong and Amelia having won. That said, Aileen doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit: indeed, to everyone’s shock, she notes that if she can’t rescue Claude she’s going to have to kill him. In order to save the day everyone will have to do their best, despite the fact that one heroine is in a coma, one heroine is being a tsundere, and one heroine is still convinced that this is a game and that she doesn’t have to care about anyone as a person at all – though you get the sense she’s lying through her teeth. As for Aileen and her faction, well, she handles things like she always does, with brute force and blunt objects. Indeed, looking back to the past of Amelia and her sister, we meet Grace Dark, Claude’s mother, who turns out to be a lot like his current wife.

As with the previous few volumes, I’m fascinated with Lilia, possibly the best “heroine” in a villainess book not named Maria Campbell. Out loud, she’s the same as always, talking about backstories and routes opening up (Aileen does this as well, and the two are frankly far more alike than Aileen would like). Deep down, her feelings for Cedric are wavering, not enough that she’ll confess to him or anything (honestly, you get the sense she’d rather be in a bisexual relationship with Aileen and Claude), but because she’s going off to be brutally murdered by Amelia, and knows that saying “I’ll marry you when I return” is the biggest death flag there is. Unfortunately for Lilia, she’s surrounded by much better people than her, who can also work miracles, so rumors of her death become the reality of her wedding. Which, honestly, she’s a bit bitter about.

So, the end! Aileen is married and has now consummated her marriage! What could be next? Oh, short story volume? Right. Short story volume.

Filed Under: i'm the villainess so i'm taming the final boss, reviews

Looks Are All You Need: Shiika’s Crescendo

September 1, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Ghost Mikawa and necomi. Released in Japan as “Kao Sae Yokereba Ii Kyōshitsu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

There’s a lot here that reminds me of other light novels, even though the premise itself is somewhat unique. If anyone remembers the old movie/TV Series Fame they will find this a bit familiar. But the two series it reminded me of most are No Game No Life and Spy Classroom. The former is obvious: it’s about a brother and sister, both eccentric, who have skills but have dealt poorly with social interaction in the past, being forced to socially interact. The good news is that, thankfully, there is precisely zero incest subtext in Looks Are All You Need, and Gakuto and Shiika feel like actual siblings rather than a weird fetish. As for Spy Classroom, this is another book that relies heavily on it being on the page. What this series does with music is something that can’t be conveyed aurally without losing the magic. Which makes me worry that, if it ever gets an anime, it’ll be Erna under the table all over again.

Seeker is a fairly popular virtual idol, who does mostly cover versions but has quite a following. In reality, Shiika is a shut-in who cares little for her appearance or social cues, who lives in an apartment with her brother, who is much the same but doesn’t have Shiika’s singing ability. One day they’re approached by a talent company, who were able to find out her real identity. They have a suggestion: go to Ryouran Academy and learn how to become a famous star. It’s tempting – Gokuto’s goal in life is to earn a ton of money without actually doing any work. Unfortunately, Shiika is a virtual idol for a reason. That said, they agree to have Shiika enter the academy and give it a try, provided that Gokuto can enter with her, as a sort of “supernumerary”. It ends up being the best thing that happened to the school.

I enjoyed this much more than I expected. I know the author from the series My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me!, which is also very good. But this hit a lot of buttons that I resonated with personally. Shiika is not only a talented singer, she’s also synesthetic, seeing sounds as colors, and that’s a huge part of how she handles people – when she sees a rival girl who has a 6-octave range, she’s not impressed but horrified, as her falsetto range is “ick” – it has bad colors. Speaking of which, I was in a high school chorus where an alto was forced to sing soprano doe to lack of good voices in the higher registers, and it did destroy her voice, so I feel for Erio, who’s all technique but no soul. I hope she and Shiika become friends. And then there’s Gokuto, who gives off that air of “I am just a clever shlub” the entire book, until the unseen climax, where we get to see his inner warrior peek out.

Basically, Shiika and Gokuto give off “I am a cliche” vibes, but are deep enough that I want to read more of them, especially Shiika. Definitely a strong start.

Filed Under: looks are all you need, reviews
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