Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord, Vol. 6

August 17, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Satori Tanabata and Tea. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō Level 99: Watashi wa Ura Boss Desu ga Maō dewa Arimasen” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

This may be my favorite volume of Villainess Level 99 since the first one. Which makes sense, given that it ties back to the plot of the first quite a bit, but that’s not why I love it. I love it because the basic idea that kicks off this volume is completely, totally bananas in every way. I have no idea how the author came up with it. I do know exactly why Yumiella came up with it, it’s because she’s Yumiella, and everything is about being the strongest. But I mean, if I told you “Yumiella imagines her left side and right side fighting each other, and wonders who would win, and the idea causes her to think *so* hard that her left side *dies* and goes to purgatory, where she is literally shown as only her left half in the illustration”, you might think that this is either a dream sequence or a minor subplot. Nope. this is what kicks off the majority of the book.

While listening to Eleanora tell her about a legendary perfume maker, Yumiella, as I noted above, thinks about her separate halves fighting. Her left side wakes up the next “morning” in the “Kingdom of Twilight”, a place for souls of the dead who still have unfinished business. Meanwhile, Yumiella *also* wakes up back in her own bed, but her left side has no feeling whatsoever… in fact, as a particularly obnoxious Lemn points out, her left side is literally dead. Now Yumiella, Patrick and Eleanora have to research the Kingdom of Twilight and that means going back to the very origins of the kingdom… which is appropriate, as the left side of Yumiella discovers that among those with regrets in the Kingdom of Twilight are the Hero, aka the first king of Valschein, and the Demon Lord… who definitely remembers Yumiella.

This book, like the last, continues the trend of “Yumiella is slightly more sensible except when the author needs her to be over the top”, and unlike the last, it succeeds. Leaving aside the actual premise, the way that they resolve the Kingdom of Twilight thing is so funny I laughed for a good 30 seconds, and also definitely falls into the category of “Only Yumiella could do this”. As for Yumiella’s relationship with Patrick, well, they’re still not quite married, but this is the strongest I’ve felt about the two of them as a loving couple. Well, OK, a loving couple and Eleanora. The three of them have fallen into being a throuple without really realizing it, and while the attraction is more friendly/familial on Yumiella and Patrick’s part, I think they both realize that they can’t really be together without her there. Eleanora, by the way, also shows off her more mature side we saw in the 5th book. (Patrick has always been mature.)

We’re caught up with Japan, so that wedding may be a while off. Till then, I was pleased to see this book give me exactly the sort of Yumiella, Patrick and Eleanora that I want.

Filed Under: reviews, villainess level 99

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
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