Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 9

July 30, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Zappon and Yasumo. Released in Japan as “Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasaretanode, Henkyou de Slow Life Surukoto ni Shimashita” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

The review I did with the last volume indicated that I expected the main thrust of this one to be a big battle between Van and Ruti, and Ruti’s smiling presence on the cover art might seem to indicate that she is victorious. Which is kind of true, but it’s rather remarkable how little Ruti is in this book. the bulk of the story here is spent trying to do two things: 1) get Van to actually listen to other’s advice and be a bit less sociopathic, and b) have him not find out this is where Ruti is. They’re unsuccessful on the second one but manage to mostly succeed on the first one, because of course this book isn’t about the hero, or even the former hero, it’s about that guy who was banished from the hero’s party and living a quiet life in the countryside. As such, it’s Red/Gideon who saves the day, by going back to his roots.

Van has temporarily left Zoltan, but he’ll be back very soon, and they need a way to try to get through to him. Their instinct is to try to go through his two most stubborn allies. Red will try to talk to Ljubo, the corrupt cardinal from the Church who is trying to guide Van on the hero’s path, and Rit will attempt to reason with Lavender, the killer fairy who has a severely maladjusted idea of what love is. Both these negotiations go fairly well, all things considered, perhaps the first one better than the second. Unfortunately, things completely go to hell when a girl is accidentally led into danger by a fairy dragon, and Van thinks that, even though the fairy dragon has apologized and the girl herself doesn’t want it, the only solution is murder. And unfortunately, his blessing has decided to stop speaking to him…

The best part of this book, as I hinted above, is Red going back to being Gideon temporarily and being the Guide for the newest Hero. He realizes that the best way to try to break Van is to make him MORE emotional, not less, and this actually works, as eventually Van gets so angry and frustrated that he simply snaps, which makes it much easier to fight him, as he doesn’t really do anything other than “attack head on” and rely on healing powers. That said, the book also shows signs of the back half being rushed. Ljubo, the cardinal who is persuaded by Red and his allies to dissuade Van from destroying Zoltan, ends up being brutally murdered by Van… and then is literally never mentioned or heard about again. I get that he was a bad guy, but still, at least acknowledge that Van did a murder.

the next book in the series promises Van aftermath, though, so it may come up there. That said, I do hope we get back to Red and Rit wuv wuv time, as while there was some of that here it wasn’t really enough. The quiet life is the point.

Filed Under: banished from the hero's party, reviews

Secrets of the Silent Witch, Vol. 4

July 28, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Silent Witch” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

What is supposed to happen after Monica fulfills her mission and whatever happens with Felix happens? I think, in Monica’s mind, that what will happen is that Monica Norton will suddenly vanish, having to “withdraw from school”, and Monica Everett will go back to her little cabin in the woods and live a quiet, cloistered life as she always had. There’s just one slight problem with that, which is that Monica is growing and gaining more emotional depth the longer she’s at the school. The combination of her father’s death and the abuse she suffered afterwards had left her with the ability to only see people as a series of numbers. But as she’s made real friends and learned how to actually socially interact, Monica sees them as people with actual feelings now. Of course, this is not all good – she loses a battle here because, even though her opponent is obviously bluffing, she can’t simply see her friend who is being threatened as “numbers” anymore. Monica will find withdrawing back to her cabin very hard.

This may be a fantasy world, but it’s still taking place in a school, which means it’s school festival time. No, we’re not doing maid cafes or haunted houses – the festival runs more towards presentations of magical theory. But the student council still has to move around and make sure everything runs smoothly. Of course, things do not run smoothly. Another of the Seven Sages arrives, and he’s a pain to deal with but basically harmless. He’s searching for a cursed artifact, which unfortunately ends up in the hands of The Littlest Petty Noble, whose feelings of one-sided love for Felix subsequently take a turn for the worse. And then there’s someone else who’s infiltrated the school, and they’re in a clever disguise. Can Monica sort all this out? And can she do so without revealing who she really is to the wrong people?

Claudia remains an absolute delight, and will probably continue to remind me of Hanajima from Fruits Basket. Speaking of characters from other manga and anime showing up in the book, it’s really hard to see Ray Albright in this book and not think of Tamaki from My Hero Academia, who also seems to have “socially inept” at his main feature. Oddly, his appearance here shows off how far Monica has come since the first book, as she’s now the outgoing one by comparison. The “boy of the book” in this not-quite-reverse harem is Cyril, whose subtle romantic overture to Monica is completely misinterpreted by her, but that might actually be for the best. By now I’m actually hoping that this does not end with a standard romantic ending – if ever there was a series that needed the “friendship ending” like a reverse otome game, Silent Witch is the one. Give this poor baby some good friends.

Assuming she can somehow solve the impending crises, that is. Crises which will have to wait, as the next book is apparently a short story volume. In the meantime, this series remains an absolute delight.

Filed Under: reviews, secrets of the silent witch

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 16

July 27, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By FUNA and Itsuki Akata. Released in Japan as “Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Diana Taylor. Adapted by Maggie Cooper.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the overuse of slavery in isekai books, and it’s a good discussion to have, but I also think we need to look at the “plucky orphans” trope as well. Our hero/heroine comes across either children starving on the street or an orphanage where they barely get enough food to survive. And over the course of the next few pages, what happens for the most part is “sweet, free workforce!”. The general feeling is that they are amazingly fortunate to have our isekai’d person come along and teach them skills and trades, and what’s more, their bellies are finally full, so they’ll do anything they’re asked. Sometimes there is at least a vague attempt to show that this is bad (Bookworm). Sometimes it’s abused horribly, but at least the kids are paid actual wages (Kuma Bear). And sometimes it’s “they’re getting food from me, so let’s turn them all into little 6-year-old waitresses”. Welcome to FUNAtown.

Mile and the rest of the Crimson Vow finally get to see the Demon Village, which is mostly an anticlimax, though she does meet the “Holy Maiden”, a demon girl with the same ability as Mile to talk to the nanos. (The girl is clearly being used and mistreated by the village, a fact that Mile mostly ignores except to give her and her family a pile of food). Elsewhere, Mile ends up getting led to an ancient artifact, buried deep (very, very deep) beneath the ground, and communicates with it, learning a lot of backstory about this world’s past. Unfortunately, it turns out that there was some time dilation involved, and when she and the Vow emerge from the Earth the invasion that Mile has been worried about for the last couple of books is about to go full blast. Will Mile be able to stop it? And can she get Reina to cosplay as Kuroko from A Certain Magical Index?

As always with FUNA, any attempts at a serious examination of the world or actual danger and angst is offset by the fact that her heroines are massive overpowered goofs. This is especially true of Mile. She gains the ability to show the entire world a projection of herself in order to warn them that the real danger from another world is going to emerge from a different place… and the first thing she does is imitate the MGM lion. I did appreciate that she finally started to tell her friends SOME of the reason why she is what she is. Not the reincarnated from Japan thing, but that God had given her special abilities, and that she needs to use them to save the world. Mile is making a lot of inferences that I’m not sure hold up, but as long as she’s trying to do good and doesn’t just farm it out to the orphans instead, that’s fine.

We’re mostly caught up with Japan, so expect a new volume in 6 months or so. It also seems like the series might be getting near an ending, and the cover of Vol. 17 looks like a “final volume” cover… but there’s an 18 already, so I doubt it. Recommended for fans of this author.

Filed Under: didn't I say to make my abilities average in the next life?!, reviews
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