Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, Vol. 6.5

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By Hiromu and raemz. Released in Japan as “Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

To my surprise, this isn’t a normal short story volume, where the author inserts either stories that fit in in the earlier volume timeline, or uses the chance to officially release all those stories that came as bonuses with various giveaways in Japan. This says Vol. 6.5, but that’s mostly as it doesn’t feature Chitose’s POV in it. What we really get is the continuation of the fallout from the 5th book, in the form of four very long short stories. All the girls have “what now?” on their minds, either wondering how to interact with Chitose again after confessing and getting rejected (Yuuko) or realizing that just continuing to do what they’ve been doing and hope those days last forever isn’t really an option (everyone else). There’s a lot of talk of college and the adult world in this book. The future is coming. And these girls want Chitose in their future, even if he’s still not chosen them. So, they move forward. Bit by bit.

If you’re wondering who that is on the cover art, why it’s Nazuna, the girl who seems to clash with Yuzuki a lot and has been the one supporting female cast member who’s not in love with Chitose. She’s in the first short story, where Yuuko, after the events of the 6th book, is still struggling with reconnecting with her friends and figuring out how to treat Chitose, so invites Yuzuki and Nazuna on a shopping trip in a nearby city. The second story has Asuka get to see what editing is like in a local ‘style’ magazine, and she invites Chitose for moral support… only to come up against the giant wall she still has to climb. In the third story, we get the mirror image of Yuuko’s story, as now it’s Yua who is trying to figure out how to treat Chitose after the last book, and she decides to ask him on a date to try and shake things up. And in the last story Haru is a mess, and it’s affecting her basketball, so the coach asks some old graduates to stop back at high school and be incredibly mean to her until she snaps out of it. This… doesn’t work till she gets a “remember to actually like the sport you like” call from Chitose. Then it works.

The Asuka story was easily my favorite one in the book. In a volume discussing where everyone’s going to be headed in the future, it makes sense that it’s the one closest to that future that would resonate the most. The moment Asuka started to “interview” the editor on her time at the magazine, I winced, because I immediately recognized what she was doing wrong. Worse, when Chitose is given the chance, he doesn’t make the same mistakes, and gets a much better interview. But, as multiple people point out, she has passion, and feels the frustration and anguish at her inadequacy, whereas Chitose doesn’t really mind how he does. It’s the passion that she has to hold on to. I also enjoyed Yua’s story – she’s possibly my favorite at this point, despite the fact that I know she won’t “win” – where she tries to figure out what happens to her current role in Chitose’s life – being his wife figure – if he gets an actual girlfriend. The scene where Chitose meets Yua’s dad is also a big highlight.

So yes, this actually is a short story book you need to read. Next volume we’re back to the main plot, and with a girl I don’t recognize on the cover art, we’re sure to shake things up. One of the best romcoms out right now – well, romdram.

The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices, Vol. 6

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By Mamecyoro and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Gotsugou Shugi na Kaiketsu Tantou no Oujo de aru” by B’s-LOG Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Moon.

I find it amusing how the author goes on in the afterword about the fun romcom parts of the book. Now, to be fair, there is a bit of that, but I… am I reading this book wrong? Are the bulk of the readers less interested in the intrigue than in seeing if Octavia and Klifford will realize they’re in love with each other?” Is this Earl and Fairy? Well, no, probably not, but it has to be said that the far more interesting part of the book is Octavia trying to discover the real past of previous generations while the narrative literally tries to sabotage her. The two plotlines converge when she finally decides on her fake boyfriend, and everything is ready for her to introduce him to her parents and finally get a clue as to how to resolve this and make everyone happy. Boy, sure hope that no one is trying to destroy her schemes! That would suck!

After a brief prologue showing us who our “villain” might be, though like half the cast they’re dealing with past memories and evil manipulation, we see Octavia trying to meet up with Hugh… only to find he’s been moved too a secret location. Unfortunately, Sirius is back to being brainwashed, so he’s no help. Her father the king knows where Hugh is and will tell her, but under one condition: she has to introduce her boyfriend to everyone in a week. You know, the fake boyfriend she still hasn’t nailed down. After briefly doing some boyfriend math, she settles on Derek, and he seems amenable to it. She also discovers a lot more about the relationship between Derek’s father and her own, and finds that her father may not be as happily married as she’d thought. Turns out just because a couple is hot and BL, it doesn’t mean they can’t be torn apart by… well, that’s still a secret.

Let’s get back to that romance. I think by now both Octavia and Klifford are very, very, unconsciously aware that they’re in love with each other. It’s the unconsciously that’s the problem. Octavia is held back by the whole “I will obey every order you give, please give me an order” thing coming from Klifford, and the climax of the book features him dragging her kicking and screaming into finally giving him a real order rather than one of her requests. And Klifford, as is pointed out by the king, is supposed to be unable to feel love like a real human being, though anyone who has read the previous six books might be snorting at that. It helps that immediately after this we get Klifford’s perspective briefly, where he wonders what these strange feelings are? The rest of the book was the usual excellent intrigue, though I am annoyed that the only way to get our leads to step up was the brainwash the opposition. If nothing else, that means one less ally, and Octavia needs allies, as the world is out to get her.

And now the words everyone dreads: we’re caught up with Japan, and Book 7 is not out there yet. So get ready to wait. But till then, yay, they’re fake lovers! Yay? Maybe?

Death’s Daughter and the Ebony Blade, Vol. 7: Finale

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By Maito Ayamine and Cierra. Released in Japan as “Shinigami ni Sodaterareta Shoujo wa Shikkoku no Tsurugi wo Mune ni Idaku” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sylvia Gallagher.

I’ll be discussing the final pages of the book, but only under the picture, so be warned.

Before we get around to how this series seems to love to lead me around by the nose, we need to, I suppose, address the fact that this is definitely the second part of Book 7, not a book in itself. I probably should have saved the two books and read them as one. If only as this is 95% fights, and I just don’t have it in me to talk about those. Wow, those undead really are hard to kill. Oh man, the goofy scientist is mortally wounded (and then never seen again). The large cast means that we have a lot of viewpoints to flit between, but I’m going to be honest, I don’t care about most of these people. I like them well enough, and wish them well. But in the end, I’m here for Olivia, Ashton, Claudia, and maybe Felix. If pressed.

Felix and his knights, along with the sleeping emperor, have defected to Olivia’s side in hopes that she can do something about the emperor (easy) and the man currently causing the undead to overrun the entire country (difficult). Fortunately, while they may not have Ashton anymore, they do have that old librarian from previous books, who also turns out to be a strategist, and she comes up with a plan: Fernest, Mekia, and Sutherland all join forces and offer a deal: one big battle against Darmes’ undead army, and if they lose they’ll surrender. Olivia knows he’ll take the deal, but that will also give her and Felix the opportunity to run straight for the castle to take out both Darmes and Xenia, the evil God supporting him. That said… they still have to fight scores of undead. No getting around that.

Even given the fact that it’s the second part of a 550-page book, this book is still badly paced, and needed an epilogue that was longer than the 4 pages or so it gets. I was starting to get a bit suspicious of the ending around 3/4 of the way through the book, when we see Claudia and company fighting valiantly but NOT dying tragically. If this book was going to keep going the way it had been, we needed a lot more death, and no, that one woman from Mekia doesn’t really count. Then at the end, when Olivia wins (yeah, sorry to spoil, but you guessed that) and she is told she can get one wish that’s anything she wants, I knew where it was going. So yeah, I was wrong. AGAIN. And it’s fine, I’m OK with it. I’d be a lot more OK with it if the epilogue was 20 pages rather than 4, and showed ANY of the other characters in the book. Which, um, guess that means I did care about people other than Olivia, Ashton and Claudia.

I think I’ve now run out of “military battle fantasy” series that I’m following, and this certainly was one. It’s worth reading for Olivia’s eccentric, striking personality, but also in seeing how much she grows and changes, particularly in the last two books after Ashton’s death. And she has only more room to grow.