Taking My Reincarnation One Step at a Time: No One Told Me There Would Be Monsters!, Vol. 1

August 2, 2023 by 1 Comment

By KAYA and Naru. Released in Japan as “Tensei Shōjo wa Mazu Ippo kara Hajimetai: Mamono ga Iru toka Kiitenai!” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Amy Osteraas.

Just because a series is trying to be “Slow Life” does not mean that it can’t make things difficult for our protagonist. We can’t all get magical farming implements and a harem of young girls, or find that we have the power to control slimes that can do virtually anything. Sometimes even OP is not enough if you don’t know how to use it, and are in the middle of nowhere. This does, though, make it rewarding, for those who can tolerate a book starts starts very slowly, to see Sara slowly figure out things like how not to immediately get eaten by wolves, or which magical herbs will net the most cash when her mentor/older sister figure takes them into town. And then even that is taken away from her, and she’s forced to go on a perilous journey to find her guardian, make friends, and deal with the worst of isekai enemies: that jerk from that one guild.

Sarasa has spent her entire life in Japan feeling drained of energy, just lethargic all the time. Then one day, coming home from work, she ends up in the realm of a goddess, who explains that the reason she has so little energy is her body was designed to run on mana, which our world doesn’t have. The goddess proceeds to reincarnate her in a world which has TOO MUCH mana, where Sarasa (shortened to Sara) can be a mana sponge. Sadly, she’s dropped in the middle of nowhere on a mountain surrounded by dangerous animals. But there is one young woman there, a mysterious hunter named Nelly, who will help Sara get accustomed to things, give her a textbook on how to learn magic, and help her build up the stamina needed for a five-day trip into town. Which she will need, as after two years or so of slow life cabin living, Nelly doesn’t come back one day, so Sara goes to search for her.

I enjoyed most of this book, so let’s start with a quibble. I get that for most writers now the isekai is just a necessary evil to get readers to start the book, but don’t be so half-assed about it! The goddess handwaves the fact that Sarasa isn’t even run over by a truck, saying “I’ll explain things to your family”, and Sarasa just sort of shrugs? Other than that, this i a solid fantasy. Sara is very likeable, which helps get us through the first third of the book or so, which is mainly her slowly learning how to use magic. The second half gets her into town, where she meets a best friend, who has his own issues, and together the two of them deal with prejudice against those who were not already born into privilege, and we discover that Nelly was absolutely not a normal everyday hunter… and Sara is also far from normal as well.

So yeah, another book to throw on the decent isekai pile. Plus it has a great running gag! I love great running gags, especially if they involve wolves.

Filed Under: reviews, taking my reincarnation one step at a time

The Mythical Hero’s Otherworld Chronicles, Vol. 4

August 1, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Tatematsuri and Ruria Miyuki. Released in Japan as “Shinwa Densetsu no Eiyū Isekai Tan” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by James Whittaker.

“Well, well, well, look who’s come crawling back.” Yeah, I know. My last review of this title said I was dropping it for being too dark, but here I am. This is what happens when you forget to cancel the preorder. But I mean, I felt like a military book, so I thought fine, why not? And I mean, it is still dark. The young woman on the cover has a collection of the heads of all of her family in her tent, just so that she remembers who killed them as she goes after her quest for vengeance. The “heroine” (always a dangerous word to use in this series which enjoys making its heroines badass but also damsels them a lot) pends the entire book being abused despite her status as a prisoner of war. And, of course, our hero proves that he is one dead friend away from losing it entirely, to the point where even the cool semi-sentient weapons of this world are sending prophetic dreams saying “could you all talk this goombah down PLEASE?”.

Hiro gets back to the capital to find bad news and worse news. Liz has somehow been taken prisoner by the enemy, and the guy in charge of her is delighting to see how far her blessing goes before he can destroy it and assault her. Aura is holed up in a fortress, surrounded by enemies, and with no real way to rescue her. He has to choose who to save and who to sacrifice. Hiro being Hiro, he chooses to save both of them. This he does by being as arrogant and powerful as possible – he’s got the power to back up his words, to the horror of everyone who tries to take him on. He manipulates, he lies, and he coerces, and his army are also super powerful, so it works even though they’re severely outnumbered. Unfortunately, there’s a new enemy yet to be accounted for, and she bears a weapon called Gae Bolg and is named Scáthach. Yes, that’s right, we’re finally crossing over with the Fate universe.

OK, not really. Scáthach is merely a former royal who had to watch as her entire enemy was butchered by the Empire – the Empire, that is, that Hiro and Liz are part of. She recognizes that Liz, at least, is not a monster like those who killed her family, but this does not stop her from using Liz as a giant popsicle to try to discourage those on the Empire’s side. It will not surprise you to find she’s pledged herself to Hiro by the end of the book. As for Hiro, thank God he’s not a real isekai hero. I mean, yes, he is, this book began with him in Japan and he got transported to another world, but you know what I mean. Hiro’s thoughts and attitude are informed by his past life here, and Japan basically never comes up, meaning he lacks the bland potato-ness of many of those heroes. One might argue this makes him something of a monster, but that’s why Liz is being told by her sword to calm him down.

That said, the Emperor and some of his family are definitely not the good guys here, so I feel we’re going to get pretty throne war-ish soon. Will I keep reading? I dunno, if I’m in the mood for more military battles, which take up the bulk of this book.

Filed Under: mythical hero's otherworld chronicles, reviews

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 5: Avatar of a Goddess, Vol. 5

July 31, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

If you go to Pixiv and look at fanart of the Bookworm series (please god set your setting to all ages), you will find that a good 90% of it is Rozemyne/Ferdinand shipping. If you go to AO3 to look for Bookworm fanfics, you will likewise see that 90% of it is shipping Rozemyne with Ferdinand. And, I assume, if the idea of the ship really bothers you, you’ve probably already dropped the series. And in this book we see that it’s not just fans of this fictional universe: all the nobles see it. Rozemyne and Ferdinand are far too close. The books have basically has as a major selling point that we see Rozemyne’s view of a thing, and then frequently get the noble view, showing how incredibly wrong or off base she is. She’s not a great narrator in the “truth” sense. And we see that here as well – only Rozemyne is in denial about this, saying that Ferdinand is like family, and that she’d do the same for other members of her family. Uh-huh.

The bulk of this book is taken up with the Archduke’s Conference, which normally would not involve Rozemyne, but she’s there to do blessings. She’s also sent to the underground archive, along with Hannelore and Hildebrand, to translate the writing there. Unfortunately, this means that she’s there when Detlinde stops by to essentially Detlinde all over the library, so she and the others have to hide. They do so by essentially sneaking out the back of the library and into a forested area, where they find a small, unlooked-after shrine. Rozemyne being who she is, she immediately cleans it, then goes to see what’s inside… and gets sucked into the shrine. What she finds is that she’s a potential Zent candidate and she gets a clue for finding the magic doodad that will automatically grand power to whoever finds it.

There’s no getting around it, this is a much darker book than the last few have been. Leaving aside the final story in the volume, which seems to imply we’re about to have a supporting cast member be horribly murdered, there’s everything about Rozemyne being a Zent candidate. The problem being that she’s not a royal. And this leads to bad things happening to her and Ehrenfest. Anastasius and Eglantine, two royals she thought were her friends, show how little that friendship really means when the fate of the nation is at stake. Her marriage to Wilfried is annulled, which does not bother her at all, but now she’s engaged to Sigiswald, which is bad because, as Adolphine already knows, he’s a terrible human being. And she has to leave Ehrenfest, who initially are supposed to just accept it and suffer, though thankfully Rozemyne’s inner Benno rises to the fore and she gets some concessions. This whole book is a game-changer, and the game is getting more dangerous.

And, as noted above, there is Ferdinand, who at least is no longer in danger of being executed for failing to contain the disaster that is Detlinde. Will he show up in the next book? Probably. And will Rozemyne stop looking nine years old? Probably not just yet.

Filed Under: ascendance of a bookworm, reviews
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