Even a Replica Can Fall in Love, Vol. 1

September 18, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Harunadon and raemz. Released in Japan as “Replica Datte, Koi o Suru” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

I admit that I have gotten rather blase about titles that have won or been nominated for awards in Japan. They seem to have a LOT of awards for manga and light novels, and there are so many titles that carry “award-winning” and “award-nominated” on it that it tends to pass me by. I had not really realized that this was the winner of the most recent Dengeki Grand Prize till I was about to start it. There have been a few Grand Prize winners in the past that I’ve admitted were excellent, such as Kept Man of the Princess Knight and 86. That said, these days that can’t even guarantee that you’ll get licensed in English at all – sorry, Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio. It was going to take a lot more than just winning an award for me to be blown away by this book. But I was unprepared. The book steps up and immediately proceeds to blow you away. I love it to bits, everyone should read it. It deserves its award.

Our heroine is a replica, created by Sunao Aikawa when she was seven years old. She looks and speaks exactly like her. The replica takes Sunao’s place when she’s feeling grumpy, tired, or is on her period. The replica has all of Sunao’s memories, but they’re sort of like reading a book that’s been smudged. (Sunao does NOT have her replica’s memories, which causes problems later.) The replica likes to read a lot more than Sunao, so she joins the literature club, where she reconnects with Sunao’s childhood friend Ricchan, a budding novelist. Then one day she interacts with recently injured basketball player Sanada, who seems captivated by her, and joins the literature club to get closer to her. But that’s a problem. After all, she’s a replica.

You know I really love a book when I try not to spoil it, but that also makes writing reviews harder. There are some really fantastic twists in this book, not least of which is what the hell a replica IS, something that we don’t really find out here. Before I read it I thought it was some sort of android – nope. Sunao can simply “unthink” her replica and she goes away till needed again. Then I wondered if it was dissociative identity disorder, but later events show that can’t be right either. As for the original, well, trust me when I say you will not be very find of Sunao throughout a lot of this book. But everything about her behavior makes sense, and she’s very quick to change when she realizes what’s really going on. Near the end of the book, there’s a terrifying tragedy that becomes an “oh thank God” moment of relief for everyone involved… except the replica, who now begins to despair. Again, for reasons I don’t want to spoil, but man, it’s so good. This book has serious thought put into its concept (which is echoed by the novel her friend is writing, a nice touch).

Like most grand prize winners of a contest, this works well as a stand-alone book. There’s more of it, though, and I am very happy to hear that, even as I worry – there was a lot of serious drama in this book, and I’m sure later books will have it too. But I’m desperate to read more. If only to see if we’ll be told what’s going on with the replica. Or if it matters in the end.

Filed Under: even a replica can fall in love, reviews

I Abandoned My Engagement Because My Sister is a Tragic Heroine, but Somehow I Became Entangled with a Righteous Prince, Vol. 1

September 17, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Fuyutsuki Koki and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Higeki no Heroine Buru Imōto no Sei de Konyaku Hakishita no Desu ga, Naze ka Seigikan no Tsuyoi Ōtaishi ni Karamareru you ni Narimashita” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Sarah Moon. Adapted by Veles Svitlychny.

I spent most of this book feeling that it was schizophrenic. There’s a very serious plotline at the core of this, with the prince doing his best to ferret out corruption despite assassination attempts, our protagonist suffering from an uncaring family, a broken engagement and unverified accusations, and a lot of dead bodies (at one point a puppy is murdered, for those of you who want to add this title to Does the Dog Die?). And yet throughout the book there are bouts of comedy, at times so broad that I wondered if it was parody. This comes to a climax at the climax of the book, appropriately enough, where ferreting out a horrible man and a literal murderer descends into exposing the world’s two dumbest people. The author says that it was deliberate, so well done, I guess, but I’m not actually sure if it worked or not.

Leia Westoria is the saint of the kingdom, whose magical barriers help prevent monster incursions. She’s also engaged to a duke. And she has a younger sister who is NOT the Saint and is NOT engaged to a duke, but is very good at crying on a dime and making gullible people believe what she says – which is that Leia is abusing her. This includes Leia’s fiance, who breaks off the engagement and quickly gets engaged to Jill. Then, when she’s reinforcing barriers in the forest, the crown prince, Eric, drops by to accuse her as well. Leia, finally snapping (though really her mood is “overly serious and a bit passive” throughout the book, till the end), denies the accusations and tells the prince to actually investigate. The prince is taken aback, possibly because, as we learn, investigating is what he does. So he apologizes, and asks Leia to be one of his many bodyguards to protect him against the multiple assassins that arrive every day.

Some of the humor here *is* very good. I really loved Leia pointing out that the reasons the assassins have slowed is that whoever is sending them does not have an “infinite cauldron of assassins”, if only for the mental image. There is a Chinese stereotype girl who is an odd cross of Tenten and Shampoo but who is goofy enough to not be too offensive. Leia frequently has a taste for very dry humor. And the ending is so over the top that one cannot help but laugh. But there’s a black hole in this book, and it’s Jill, the “tragic heroine” of the title and a massive spoiled brat that I don’t think I’ve seen quite so bad in any other “villainess” title. She’s worse than anyone else you might think of. We also get her POV at times, which almost made me drop the book. It’s beneficial, as it helps sell the ending – it’s hard to be a mastermind when the pawn you decide to trick is unable to carry out a simple murder plot without cocking the whole thing up. But it’s hard to read.

This is multiple volumes, and I really hope Jill does not come back and this becomes an artifact title, but the fact that she’s not dead at the end of this one leads me to think I will be seeing more of her. If you like straightforward, serious protagonists facing off against a girl so dumb she will happily murder a puppy for the guy she has a crush on, this is ridiculous enough to give you what you want.

Filed Under: i abandoned my engagement because my sister is a tragic heroine, reviews

By a Twist of Fate, I’m Attending the Royal Academy in Disguise, Vol. 2

September 16, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Ringo and Tsukasa Satsuki. Released in Japan as “Wake Atte, Hensō Shite Gakuen ni Sennyū Shiteimasu” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Alex Castor.

The proliferation of both isekai series (which take place in a sort of vague middle-late European setting) and villainess series (which usually are more “Edwardian England”) means that we have a lot of writers who are fascinated with the concept of nobility and how it works. And trust me, most writers think it works – they are not here to revolutionize the world. Usually there’s a token evil noble, who tends to be either unattractive, stupid, or both, and they are so over the top evil that it makes all the other nobles look better. We get two of those here, both blonde women. That said, our heroine is a commoner who is (sorry to spoil) going to end up with the prince, so she has to learn why noble mannerisms are important and what they are meant to convey… and as a result, realizes why she was bullied at school. Which, if I’m being honest, makes me tilt my head and say “really?”.

This volume is neatly divided into two. the first part starts where the last left off, with Cesia being set up to take the fall for Marcus’ evil fiancee, who it turns out is far more evil than everyone was expecting. She manages to escape, and holes up with the help of Maria/Marcus (still probably the best part of this series – the resolution works here, and it’s telling that after it happens we never see Maria again). Eventually, by Marcus being incredibly stupid on purpose, they are able to save the day, and Cesia and Marcus are finally able to confess. Of course, Cesia is still a commoner, but they can do something about that – she’s saved enough nobles that one is willing to make her a baroness. Unfortunately, she and Marcus are reckoning without two people who really don’t want to see them married. One is very subtle and clever. The other… is not.

The “you were bullied for your own good” thing rankled on me a bit, but there were other parts of the story I liked. Cesia’s over-serious nature and tendency to blame herself for not being perfect meshes perfectly with the way she grew up, and I appreciated Marcus realizing that and seeing that family was absolutely what she needed. There was also the delightfully silly way Cesia’s “crime” was resolved, – it wasn’t silly how she was punished, of course, but it definitely was silly how our overly serious girl never realized that she was punished at all. The family of her evil duplicate was forced to pay a hefty fine, which no one told her, and she was under house arrest for three months – which she was told was a study camp, and no one bothered to clarify it. Given that she’s one of the most serious of the “villainess” protagonists we’ve met, this was likely for the best.

This ends with this volume, which is good – if nothing else, the title is even sillier in this second volume, which takes place years after those events.

Filed Under: by a twist of fate i'm attending the royal academy in disguise, reviews
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