I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 7

December 17, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Sarasa Nagase and Mai Murasaki. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijo Nanode Rasubosu o Katte Mimashita” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

This is a short story volume, but it contains the basic theme for the entire series, which is that when Aileen is doomed, or on the verge of execution, or otherwise has to work really hard to achieve anything, she’s fantastic, amazing, stupendous. When she’s surrounded by her loving husband, loyal allies and BFFs, she has a tendency to… well, there’s no getting around it, she’s a sub. The end of the book discusses Aileen and Claude’s first time, which we briefly heard about at the end of Book 6, and it’s immediately apparent that Aileen is in terrible denial about the fact that, in bed, Claude can not only wrap her around his… not-so-little “finger”, but she also just gives in to him, which embarrasses and humiliates her. And also turns her on, we’re meant to understand. If this is a surprise to you at all, this must be your first volume. That said, there’s more to this volume than that.

The short stories in this book are in chronological order, with the earliest happening after Book 1 and the latest ones taking place at the end of Book 6. Most of them are short, and it wouldn’t surprise me to hear that they were extras with a store exclusive or DVD release. There are bulkier ones, though. One goes into much greater detail about how Walt and Kyle went from the Church’s honed weapons who are there to kill the Demon Lord to his most trusted bodyguards. (If your response is “because the Church is evil, congrats, you read Japanese light novels.) Because this is an otome game world, Valentine’s Day exists, and we get to see the ladies of the book (minus Lilia, who is notably absent from most of this volume) dole out candies and chocolates to all. And, as I mentioned above, Aileen and Claude have had their first time. He’s very, very happy. She’s a wreck.

I mentioned the lack of Lilia. She does show up at the very beginning, in a scene taking place before the start of Book 1. It mostly just shows off her perfect heroine vibes that she’s deliberately cultivating. More interesting is the end, where we see all the main couples do something. Aileen and Claude consummate, Isaac and Rachel decide to elope (their parents are against it) and buy a house. Auguste proposes to Serena, who reacts in exactly the way you’d expect a furious tsundere to react. Roxanne gets reassurance that she’s not just “the top of the harem” but the only wife. And Sahra… um, exists, I guess. They can’t all be gems. But Lilia is determined to avoid her fate. She declares she’s staying “All Ages”, despite being married to Cedric. What’s more, the thing that gets her over the moon more than anything this volume is not Cedric doing anything, but Aileen re-enacting, just for her, one of the villain CGs from the game. Lilia is far more like Maria Campbell than we’d expected, adn Cedric is still coming in second to the villainess in her heart.

So that was not essential, but it was pretty fun! Claude fans will love seeing him 100% in charge here. Presumably back to more “if Aileen doesn’t fix this immediately she’ll be executed” next time.

Filed Under: i'm the villainess so i'm taming the final boss, reviews

The Magician Who Rose from Failure: Tales of War and Magic, Vol. 6

December 16, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Hitsuji Gamei and Fushimi Saika. Released in Japan as “Shikkaku Kara Hajimeru Nariagari Madō Shidō! ~ Jumon Kaihatsu Tokidoki Senki ~” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

So many series these days are some form of “magic academy” that it actually feels like a step backwards for The Magician Who Rose From Failure to go there. I mean, Arcus has invented the magic thermometer! He’s taken part in a major war, and killed bad guys! He’s even survived his uncle’s arduous training! But of course, all of that doesn’t mean much to the population at large. Especially since the royal family wants to keep the invention a secret for now, to make the impact greater later on. And Arcus is, to the population at large, that kid with almost no aether, the disgrace of the family, a worm who does not deserve anything. Certainly his family (minus Licia) still think so. And, well, we’re going to a magic academy. So here we are, back to the beginning in some ways, with everyone bullying and belittling Arcus. Fortunately, he has his sister and his future wives. And, well, we may need to add more wives to that stack.

The first quarter of the book is taken up with a very awkward party, where the royal family greets people while Arcus has a series of encounters ranging from irritating and upsetting (his father) to irritating and discomfiting (the various foreign leaders, many of who Arcus knows, trying to lure him to their country). After this Arcus takes the entrance exam to the magical academy, where he hopes to gain some new knowledge in his quest to learn more about magic. And he does! It’s just that, well, he runs into teachers who try to “publicly execute” him (Arcus’ words) for his low aether, to the granddaughter of the school’s Headmaster, who regards Arcus’ mere presence at the academy a farce, and demands a duel so that, if she wins, he has to leave the school. She’s never lost before.

Let me get my biggest annoyance with the book out of the way first: all of the girls who started this series around the age of 10 years old have hit puberty, many of them with a bang, and it has become apparent the artist really enjoys drawing large breasts in a thoroughly awkward way. Not a fan. Aside from that, and the fact that this is a magical academy story at all, this was a decent volume in the series. Sue didn’t show up till the back third, but when she did she made her appearance count, and I enjoy the fact that she and Charlotte know they’re rivals for Arcus but also don’t hesitate to team up when there’s a threat from someone else. I also really liked the scenes of Lecia and her pet demon, who I suspect is going to make life a lot more difficult in the future, but honestly it’s just good seeing her get something to do at all. And there’s a new girl, Setsura, who seems to be written in as “the annoying one”. And, well, she is.

So on the whole, I’m pleased that we got more of this series, but I wish it was going in a different direction. And got a new artist. Oh well. I still want to read what comes next.

Filed Under: magician who rose from failure, reviews

The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend, Vol. 5

December 15, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Kennoji and Fly. Released in Japan as “Chikan Saresou ni Natteiru S-kyuu Bishoujo wo Tasuketara Tonari no Seki no Osananajimi datta” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sergio Avila.

I am reading too many of these high school romcoms, to be honest. There’s been a big glut over here the last few years, spearheaded by Oregairu and Tomozaki, but the best of them all have some motivation to them beyond “which girl is he going to end up with after finally having a clue beaten into him?”. You can’t simply ride on that alone, or you run the risk of… well, of being this series, which is running on fumes in terms of “I am not getting that these women are all throwing themselves at me”. Theoretically there should also be the film/acting subplot, and that does vaguely rouse my interest a bit. Hina is getting it ground in her face that acting is a series of failed auditions forever till your break, and Ai has gotten that break on the back of her idol work, but is dealing with the cattiness and fending off date requests that that entails. It SHOULD be interesting.

Ryou’s film is nearly finished, just requiring Ai to film some remaining scenes when she’s not doing her acting gig. He’s still trying to get Shizuka to star in his new film idea he’s had, but a) there’s no script yet, and b) she really doesn’t want to. It doesn’t help that her mother is overly worried about her, which is coming out as anger. It also doesn’t help that, as a result of that, Shizuku is lying to her. This leads to a run away from home plot!… that lasts about five pages. This series just can’t get that dramatic. As for Hina, since she’s still depressed about her failed audition, and lacking much else to do, she’s helping Ryou study for school… mostly by forcing him to do it. Ca they all get together in time for a summer festival? And will the girls manage to convince Ryou they like him?

This series is not much like Oregairu at all (Ryou wishes he had Hachiman’s narrative panache), but they do share one thing in common, which is that the relationship between the lead and his little sister is the best thing about the series. Mana remains the best character in this by a country mile, being cool, self=confident, chiding but also supporting her brother, and being friends with all his various girl friends. If she had a spinoff, I’d read it, mostly as it would not be this series. There’s nothing wrong with this except that it’s boring, and I keep waiting for a payoff that I know is a good 7-8 books away, if that. The reason that a lot of romcoms these days have the leads hook up early is that everyone got tired of series like these, where we know who will win (it’s Hina) but we have to watch Ryou being thick as a brick for ten more volumes before he gets it.

If you have to read every romcom out there, this is one. I think I’m going to drop it here.

Filed Under: girl i saved on the train, reviews
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