Raven of the Inner Palace, Vol. 6

July 4, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Kouko Shirakawa and Ayuko. Released in Japan as “Kōkyū no Karasu” by Shueisha Orange Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Amelia Mason.

Yeah, sorry, the days of solving ghost crimes are officially history, unless you mean the overall plot, which is more like God vs. God. Though we do get to see everyone trying to solve the mystery of Jusetsu’s ghost, sort of, and Shiki still has the arm of his dead sister, who actually ends up saving the day. But really, this is the first part of a two-part finale, and as such it’s taking all the political drama and intrigue and fantasy deity stuff from the past five books and setting off all the guns at once. Honestly, it’s hard to put down, as it barrels along till it gets to the final chapter, which slows way down but has more of a devastating impact because of that. In general, if you really enjoyed previous volumes of this series, you will enjoy this volume, and the wait for the final volume will likely prove quite difficult.

There is, frankly, too much for Koshun to deal with right now. After the events of the last volume, everyone knows that there’s a member of the Ran family, who were supposed to be completely wiped out, in the Inner Palace. Jusetsu is no longer in her body, which is now possessed by the Raven, who is only partly helpful after having been betrayed for so long. And there are any number of political allies and enemies looking to take advantage of this. Fortunately, he’s able to calm things down a bit with a few well-placed cabinet meetings, as well as one of our main characters finally having to bite the bullet and admit that he’s a lot closer to Jusetsu than anyone thought. Meanwhile, Jusetsu herself is in limbo, depicted here as a river (the cover shows this), but has to deal with Kosho, the one who started all this, who has been trapped there forever by the gods and really wants someone else to join her in despair.

The last half of the book continues to deal with the main plot, but away from the two leads. We get Senri and Shiki acting as a sort of Holmes and Watson as they try to work out how much of the volcano story is actual history in order to try to get the other half of the Raven’s body back. This is particularly difficult for Shiki as he runs into the man he wants revenge on, the very revenge that his sister is trying to stop him getting. This was very good. The last chapter returns us to the family drama of the Saname family, which, and for once I mean this in a GOOD way, reads a lot like a Sam Shepard play. In fact, it reads like Buried Child. Shin suffers very well, as every around him tries to convince him to get the hell away from there, only in the most awkward and counter-intuitive way. This is excellent, and possibly the highlight of the book, provided you don’t mind awfulness.

Everyone’s arrived at the volcano site by the end of this book, and it’s going off again for the cliffhanger. Can’t wait to see how this wraps up.

Filed Under: raven of the inner palace, reviews

Earl and Fairy: The Changeling Princess

July 3, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Mizue Tani and Asako Takaboshi. Released in Japan as “Hakushaku to Yōsei” by Shueisha Cobalt Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

This feels like it was inevitable. Throughout the series we’ve seen our two leads struggle with everything about their love affair, mostly the fact that it exists at all, but also Edgar’s attempts to be a better person (he keeps failing, but he’s making an attempt, and makes it far more often this book) and Lydia’s self-doubt in regards to not only everything Edgar does but also his past and her own life. Her confession halfway through the book that she worries that she’s a changeling feels a bit out of nowhere at first, but gradually the reader comes to realize that it’s informed a lot of her actions in this series. If Lydia can’t trust her own self, can’t even believe that she’s human, then there’s no way she can trust Edgar, and no amount of reassurances and reenactments of the Orpheus legend are going to change that. This leads to a cliffhanger ending that sure feels like, if this series was not a runaway success (which it was), would lead to the 7th book being the last.

Some more of Edgar’s past is catching up with him – this time a pirate crew, which includes Lotte and Pino, two young people who were with him in America. They watched him toy with Betty, another young woman in their group, who apparently turned out to be a long-lost princess, but more importantly, is also missing, and allegedly kidnapped. This also ties in with a request form one of Edgar’s holdings to look into a baby kidnapping which might be down to fairies. Edgar and Lydia, with Raven and Ermine in tow, thus head off to the village, where they find that Ulysses had not only been there before, but was much better at pretending to be the heir than Edgar is – particularly when it comes to getting the village to commit atrocities in the name of “prosperity”. Now Edgar and Lydia have to rescue Betty, defeat a giant dragon wyrm, and also somehow resolve their tortured courtship. Two of those things end up happening.

I appreciated that Ermine got more to do here, and I also appreciate that she’s still not 100% trustworthy. Leaving aside Lydia’s belief that Edgar/Ermine is the real OTP, which has more to do with her own self-image than anything else, there’s the scene with her and Kelpie, shown to the reader but very pointedly not revealed to either Edgar or Lydia. There’s something else going on with her, and I hope it doesn’t lead to her dying – again. Her own fluid identity between selkie and human, and the fact that she doesn’t see herself as anything other than human unless forced, also serves as a mirror to Lydia, whose every move in this book seems to be about resolving what she believes – that she’s a fraud, a fake, and that once she returns to the fairy world everything will be fine and happily ever after. Lotte may set off the cliffhanger in this volume, but honestly I think she did both Lydia AND Edgar a great service. These two need a break.

This was one of the stronger volumes in the series, really showing off the reasoning behind both leads being basket cases. I really want to see what happens next.

Filed Under: earl and fairy, reviews

An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me!, Vol. 7

July 2, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Yuishi and Kagachisaku. Released in Japan as “Inkya no Boku ni Batsu Game de Kokuhaku Shitekita Hazu no Gal ga, Dō Mitemo Boku ni Beta Bore Des” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Satoko Kakihara.

The ‘horny’ parts of this series are becoming increasingly hilarious, as it has become apparent the author’s goal is to get the reader as mad as possible at everyone else who is trying to stop Yoshin and Nanami from going further. Which, my guess is, also includes editorial at Hobby Japan, who want this series to go on for a very long time and possibly get an anime while continuing to have them occasionally kiss each other and sometimes sleep next to each other. That said, even Yoshin and Nanami are starting to lose patience with the author. Nanami at one point invites Yoshin to touch her breasts, which he does not. There is a “could you put suntan lotion on me” scene that is filled with erotic tension, including moans. I appreciate that this is meant to be sweet and fluffy, and I enjoy that greatly. But please let these sweet, fluffy teenagers bang each other like drums.

Yoshin and Nanami have a lot going on. The class rep appears to be the one who left the note about the dare, and they’re trying to figure out what she actually wants. Yoshin has started a new part-time job which has a hot college-age gyaru waitress who is very extroverted and quick to get in your personal space. And the combination of both of those sets Nanami into a spiral, as she worries that if Yoshin meets any other girl who likes him, she might be dumped. This despite the fact that everyone who sees her talks about how amazingly hot she is. It just goes to show that self-image does not have to match outer appearance. Most importantly, it’s Nanami’s birthday, and she wants to spend the ENTIRE day with him, from midnight to midnight. Will they be able to resist temptation? (See first paragraph for answer.)

The afterword talks about how easily the tense drama in this series is defused, but that’s good, because you don’t want tense drama from a series like this. With the co-worker it’s a really easy defusion – she’s in college, not interested in 16-year-old Yoshin, and is mostly just bad about personal space. The class rep is harder, mostly as she’s bringing her own bad past into Yoshin and Nanami’s own relationship and laying it over, thus she can’t understand why the two of them are so happy when she’s so miserable. Yoshin lays out the theme of the books to date – we constantly communicate, and don’t let things simmer and fester. (There actually is a brief 2-day fester in this volume, which feels like a month to the two of them, but even in that period everyone around them talks about how they can’t stop flirting.) The resolution to class rep’s issues feels a tad forced for fictional purposes, but I’ll give it a pass, as long as Nanami’s worries can eventually calm down.

These two are basically married, so the rest of the series is going to probably be high school events (Book 8 looks like it’s school festival time) and watching these sweet kids not screw each other till the cows come home. Can’t wait to be frustrated more.

Filed Under: an introvert's hookup hiccups, reviews
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