I Guess This Dragon Who Lost Her Egg to Disaster Is My Mom Now, Vol. 1

November 8, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Suzume Kirisaki and Cosmic. Released in Japan as “Saigai de Tamago o Ushinatta Dragon ga Nazeka Ore o Sodate Hajimeta” by M Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

I wasn’t sure whether I’d enjoy this new series, which I mostly decided to read because, well, I was reading CIW’s other two debuts this month, so hey. It begins with the old chestnut of “adventuring party doesn’t see the value in strategy so gets rid of the weak guy who’s actually the pillar of their support”, though most of the time those people are merely thrown out, not butchered and left for dead. The “I’m being raised by a dragon but we can’t communicate well, can we become a real mother and daughter?” plot is arguably the main one, and it’s a lot better, reaching a few levels of heartwarming along the way. That said, the big reason I enjoyed this book as much as I did was the ghost story. Not a literal ghost, but the idea that everyone is haunted by the presence of this guy, but they can’t remember his name. That’s fantastic.

Our nameless protagonist is, as noted above, murdered by his party members. They’re on a very dangerous mountainside and decide to use his corpse as bait to get away from monsters. As he crawls towards his inevitable death, he is picked up by a dragon. Back in the dragon’s lair, she finds she’s now a 10-year-old girl, and has lost most of her memories of her past. The dragon is clearly trying to raise her as a daughter, but has no idea what humans need in terms of food, etc., so they both struggle for a bit. That said, the previously magic-less protagonist, now named Lushera, can now breathe fire and manipulate lightning and other dragon-ey things. Meanwhile, back in the town the adventuring party came from, they’re highly disturbed by his old guild badge, which has his name blocked out but has stats that are out of this world.

The other important thing about this book is that the author calls it a “transsexual fantasy”, as the male protagonist, on being nearly killed and then reborn as a dragon’s child, is now a different gender. This is handled pretty well, mostly through subtext, as we see Lushera’s discomfort when having to wear girl’s underwear for the first time, and her constant astonishment at the fact that her new body is “cute” and “pretty”. But yes, it was the “ghost story” that fascinated me. Lushera’s old life is erased by (presumably) dragon magic, but it was just her name, and everything she did – which was a lot more than the stupid party that killed her thought – is still heavily influential on those in the town. We also learn the tragic reason she and the party were there in the first place, which neatly ties in to the new relationship she has with her dragon mother, one where she struggles to admit that it’s love for a parent.

This is another one of those “there’s more to the story, but it also could easily end in this volume” sort of books. I’d definitely put it in the “better than expected” category.

Filed Under: i guess this dragon who lost her egg to disaster is my mom now, reviews

Stuck in a Time Loop: When All Else Fails, Be a Villainess, Vol. 2

November 7, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Sora Hinokage and Tsukasa Kiryu. Released in Japan as “Loop kara Nukedasenai Akuyaku Reijō wa, Akiramete Sukikatte Ikirukoto ni Kimemashita” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Andria McKnight.

There is apparently a 3rd and final volume of this coming soon, which surprises me, as right until the end I thought that this book was the equivalent of that new Shonen Jump series that is told “you have 3 chapters to wrap up all your plotlines”. This volume hits the ground running and does not let up in terms of reveals, backstories, and monster fights. Thankfully, Selene is no longer stuck in a time loop, as at least in this book she manages to make it all the way through without resetting. Unfortunately, bad things keep trying to happen to her, leading to a change in her goal: escape this time loop’ is now secondary to ‘live freely and happily and screw everyone else’. Well, everyone else except Dier, of course. The romance in this series is so mild as to be almost nonexistent, but it is there, and deep down Selene is probably “quite fond” of Dier. Just don’t ask her to say it.

Unfortunately, Selene, Dier, and the king find that even taking all the other powers from the guardians is not enough to change the mystery stone tablet. Fortunately (?) for Selene, a solution presents itself fairly quickly: her little sister Soleil has finally gained the powers of the sun, and her mother is now telling Selene to step down. Selene says no, and so the two of them have to have a fight to determine who gets to be head of house. Which… makes little sense, given that Selene is a master of shadow and Soleil just came into her power last week. What’s stepmom’s real agenda here? Well, it’s a big one, and is tied deeply into their family, the past of this country, and Selene’s own late mother. Unfortunately, none of these revelations are particularly good news, and Selene spends most of the book in battle.

I was pleased to see that little sister was not evil as I’d theorized at the end of my first review. She just has an evil mom. That said, Soleil is not all that interesting, being the standard “yes, mother” daughter who must break free of her shackles, etc. Selene is the star of the show, and the reason we’re here. I’ve mentioned her emotional walls before, and they’re still very high, making the narrative sometimes feel as if she’s reading off a phone book when she’s actually facing off against monsters who have possessed her family. The best part of the book is probably Selene’s father, who I had written off as a minor part of the series, returning and showing that, like his daughter, he does actually feel things but has tremendous difficulty expressing them. This forces Selene to have her one and only major emotional moment in the book. That said, it’s only about halfway through the book, so she doesn’t “change for the better” or anything.

The cover to the third volume, due out in Japan next month, has the characters walking into the twilight but looking back at the reader with a smile, and you know what that means. I’ll be back, and continue to hope Selene has a love epiphany or something.

Filed Under: reviews, stuck in a time loop

A Misanthrope Teaches a Class for Demi-Humans, Vol. 1

November 6, 2023 by Leave a Comment

By Kurusu Natsume and Sai Izumi. Released in Japan as “Jingai Kyōshitsu no Ningen-girai Kyōshi: Hitoma-sensei, Watashi-tachi ni Ningen o Oshiete Kuremasu ka……?” by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Linda Liu.

Look, I appreciate a surprise as much as the next person. I love it when a book I thought was going to be one thing turns out to be something totally different. But sometimes there is also joy in picking something up because you know what it’s going to be, and have it be exactly that. This is one of those books. The plot description made it sound exactly like the Japanese sub-genre of “new teacher enters the lives of their students and changes them for the better”. Now, Hitoma is never going to come close to Onizuka, or even Kumiko Yamaguchi. But that’s OK, because these series live and die on the strength of their student cast, and these students are fun, and they do have one or two big surprises. It helps that we don’t have to deal with a huge cast herd. This is a school for demi-humans, and there’s only four in their “senior year”.

Hitoma is a man in his late twenties, and he’s been holed up in his family home ever since a traumatic experience when teaching led him to quit. But he spots an ad for a teacher at an all-girls school in the middle of nowhere in the mountains, with great pay and benefits. He arrives for the interview, and discovers the catch: this is a school for non-humans trying their best to become human. He’ll be in charge of the advanced class, which has upbeat mermaid girl Minazuki, teasing bird girl Haneda, sullen rabbit girl Usami, and shy wolf-girl Ohgami. Each have a wish that can only happen if they learn how to be human and graduate, and Hitoma is here to help them. That said, the graduation rate is very low…

As you might guess, there are individual chapters dedicated to each girl and her circumstances. Minazuki is descended from Poseidon, and really should be mermaid nobility, but wants to be a dancer. Ohgami has a different personality every full moon, one that is her polar opposite, and also is a reverse werewolf. Both sides have suicidal tendencies and a desire to sacrifice. As for Usami and Haneda, the spoiler is the point there, so I won’t go into detail. They’re all fun. As for Hitoma, “misanthrope” is not really all that accurate, “depressed” fits better. This does not stop him for earnestly helping all the girls – he’s a good teacher. (They tease him about teacher-student relationships, but he never rises to the bait – he IS a good teacher). Given the cover of the 2nd book has three different girls, I wondered if the entire cast would leave the series at the end of this volume. That’s not true, but it shows just how much everyone has grown that it’s totally plausible.

So yeah, Book 2 is the latest out in Japan, and as noted, there are different girls on the cover. I’ll be here for it, though. This is heartwarming and life-affirming, and I greatly enjoyed it.

Filed Under: a misanthrope teaches a class for demi-humans, reviews
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