The Former Assassin Who Got Reincarnated As a Noble Girl, Vol. 1

August 16, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Satsuki Otonashi and MiRea. Released in Japan as “Moto Ansatsusha, Tenseishite Kizoku no Reijou ni Narimashita” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

This one is definitely a slow starter. It’s taking a while to make its point, and in order to make it effectively we need to get deep into the mind of its heroine, whose reincarnation has not changed her mindset all that much, and who tends to regard almost everyone in this new world as a terrible person. Unfortunately, she’s not wrong. The main reason this is such a slog to begin with is that the only other characters in the book who are not Selena are either people she’s saved who are now devoted to her, her absent father, and terrible, terrible nobles. If this is meant to be a critique of villainess books, good job, as it felt like it was mashing together quite a few of them, with terrible adopted “heroines”, frivolous princes, arrogant ojous, etc. Even the love interest, the first prince, is in the “everything bores me except you, you’re fascinating” camp. Fortunately, things do eventually pick up once Selena is faced with something where she has to protect.

Our protagonist is 9956, a nameless assassin who dies trying to kill a prince, and ends up reincarnated as the daughter of a duke, Selena Violette. Unfortunately, she was reborn with her old memories, so she acts, as a child, like… well, like a former assassin (she tries to kill a dog with a cake knife). As a result, while her husband is away (something that happens a lot), her mother adopts a commoner girl into the family, Rosemary, who is far nicer ans sweeter and nothing like Selena at all. Unfortunately, Rosemary proves to be a holy terror, being a spoiled brat who uses tears to get her way, and if that doesn’t work she’ll order servants to attack Selena. Selena is fairly blase about this, and in fact keeps trying to hammer home to the adopted daughter that she actually needs to behave like a noble and actually study. This does no good at all. Then the nation’s two princes get involved…

So yes, the first 2/3 of this is a drag, as everyone is SO unpleasant, and also because the narrative is filtered through Selena, who has to force herself not to kill people. This is what fascinates Evan, the first prince, who had her investigated as he found it impossible to imagine someone with her background behaving the way she does. He’s clearly smitten, but also realizes that she, at the moment, is not capable of feeling much of anything, much less love. Unfortunately, before he can slowly show her what love is, one of the terrible nobles who Selena has been destroying over the past hundred pages decides to incite a monster rampage at their hunting party, forcing Selena to fight for her life… and also, much to her surprise, fight to protect the other nobles. Yes, even the nasty ones. I will admit, I wish this had been a single volume. There’s a point near the end where you can hear the author stop and add the number 1 to the cover in their head, and it makes the end a bit less dramatic than I’d like. But oh well.

So yeah, this was eventually a very good read. Just be prepared for some of the world nobles in the world before you get there.

Filed Under: former assassin who got reincarnated as a noble girl, reviews

The Abandoned Heiress Gets Rich with Alchemy and Scores an Enemy General!, Vol. 3

August 15, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Miyako Tsukahara and Satsuki Sheena. Released in Japan as “Suterare Reijō wa Renkinjutsu-shi ni Narimashita. Kaseida Okane de moto Tekikoku no Shō o Kōnyū Shimasu” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

Sometimes when you get into a habit because you’re trying to project a certain image, it can feel very different when your image becomes the real you. Chloe, through the first two books, has buffed herself up to the point that it was aggravating, describing herself as the world’s strongest alchemist and a beautiful maiden. Well, now she’s managed to go toe to toe with a demon who pretty much wipes the floor with everyone else around, and she also gets to be dressed to the nines at a victory banquet to the point where Julius gets visibly jealous at the looks she’s getting. She really is a fantastic alchemist and beautiful maiden now. Thus… it’s starting to be a little embarrassing to use the phrase. It used to restore her self-confidence, but now it’s like she’s recalling her chuuni phase. This is, of course, adorable. Sorry, Julius.

We pick up right where we left off, with our heroes losing badly. That continues for a bit, though they eventually turn things around thanks to the arrival of a few surprise allies. Unfortunately, some of the villains get away, and there’s no doubt we’ll see them again. After that, though, Chloe recovers from mana depletion, then it’s shopping trips, dress fittings, drunken binges, and endless discussions of her flat chest, a staple of Japanese light novels that we simply cannot get away from. Julius is also more comfortable with her, if with no one else. Now she just has to return home, get a shop assistant who was one of her former rivals, and set about building a Hot Springs Town. While *still* being the world’s greatest alchemist and world’s most oblivious attractive young woman.

The biggest flaw with this book, which you may have figured out from my attempt at a summary, is that it suffers from Webnovel Syndrome. This is a condition that happens when webnovels, which are written in chunks a couple of times a week with little thought as to a natural volume break, are then picked up by a publisher and put out as books which require a book to end after a certain point. Let’s face it, the first quarter of this book should have been at the end of the previous book – it’s all front-loaded here. That said, if the publisher HAD done that, this book would have had zero plot at all, so I suppose it’s a relief that we get some cool fights out of it. The rest of the book very much depends on how much you enjoy Chloe and Julius’ getting closer and closer to a confession but not there yet relationship. Julius thinks his actions (and kisses) make it clear without saying it. Chloe keeps being reminded that she bought Julius and he still wears a slave collar, so confessions might not be reliable.

I assume that the next book is not just going to be building a hot spring, but who knows? Till it happens, this wasn’t as good as the previous two books, but is still good.

Filed Under: abandoned heiress gets rich with alchemy and scores an enemy general, reviews

Let’s Get to Villainessin’: Stratagems of a Former Commoner, Vol. 1

August 14, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Sasara Nagase and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Sa, Akuyaku Reijou no Oshigoto wo Hajimemashou: Moto Shomin no Watashi ga Idomu Zunousen” by PASH! Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Dawson Chen.

I’m not sure if we’ve reached the point in 2024 where more villainess titles are licensed than isekai titles. Possibly it just feels that way to me as I read a majority of the villainess titles, while most isekai titles are ignored by me unless there’s a good reason. But this is definitely a book that is intimately familiar with the genre – the author has written several, unlicensed villainess series already, as well as the licensed Seriously Seeking Sister! book. The protagonist says she’s a fan of light novels, and has read villainess books in the past. She’s also backed by serious money here, so you’d think that things would go swimmingly. But as ever, it’s easier to avoid your doom than cause your doom as a villainess, and I appreciate that Mio is trying really hard to be a terrible person but just comes across as a big ol’ tsundere. It turns out being a bad person isn’t easy with a conscience.

Mio is a teenage girl who is working an extra job in order to pay for her sister’s hospital care, as she is dying of a mystery disease. Then, after stopping a purse snatcher, she is introduced to the owner of the purse, who has a deal for her. Shizuki, the rich girl Mio meets, says this is the world of an otome game! (It’s similar to Modern Villainess, in that it’s in a modern Japan but one that still has zaibatsu families.) Shizuki wants Mio to play the villainess role, bullying the heroine, making sure the heroine gets with the correct capture target, and fall to ruin. This will, for reasons not revealed in this book, save the country’s economy. In return, Shizuki will help get Mio’s sister advance treatment that might save her life. Mio thus goes all in on villainessin’.

So, I know this is a “translated into English” problem more than a problem with the original work. And I think the author did it deliberately in some ways to show off the “otome game” cliches of this world. But this book has important characters named Ruki, Riku, Ruri and Rikka. (I suspect the translator added the extra ‘k’ so that I would not lose my mind.) Oh yes, and Mio’s sister is Shizuku and her new sister by adoption is Shizuki. Fortunately, once I got past the names, this was a very good read. It’s a “we have to match the game’s plot but we keep changing it” sort of book, but this time everyone’s being serious, with nary a dumbass in the cast aside from the token “those two girls” who serve as the minibosses of Book One. A lot is being kept from Mio by Shizuki, and I for one am very concerned with her true motivations. But seeing Mio desperately try to be bad and accidentally helping the heroine out… look, I love a good Maria Campbell plot, OK? It helps that the heroine isn’t evil this time, possibly as this isn’t our original villainess either.

Assuming that we’re not introduced to Kiki, Kiko and Kiku next volume, I’m definitely looking forward to it, if only to get some answers, and see if Mio really will fall in love with the guy she’s trying not to fall in love with.

Filed Under: let's get to villainessin', reviews
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