From Villainess to Healer, Vol. 1

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By Punichan and Yoh Hihara. Released in Japan as “Kaifukushoku no Akuyaku Reijō” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Adam Seacord.

I do appreciate that an author might feel that the villainess genre is played out. There have been many, many, MANY villainess books in the last eight years or so. They all tend towards specific types. Some have the villainess actively trying to change her fate, as they were reincarnated long before the “break off the engagement” event. Some have them fighting death after they’re unable to avoid that fate. Sometimes they go to a different country, where they’re welcomed with open arms. Hell, this particular author will do almost the exact same premise and first chapter in a later book – you could have copy/pasted much of the start of this book into the start of Camper Van Villainess. So I do appreciate the conceit of this book, which is “what if the villainess is an RPG nerd who just wants to be hitting up dungeons and grinding levels?” Oh wait, we had that too, with Villainess Level 99. That said, this does get the “boring as hell” part of these RPG books 100% correct.

Mitsuki loves playing the RPG game Reas Life Online, as well as its Otome Game side story game, Reas Love. When we next see her (and it’s never clear how she dies), she’s in the body of Charlotte Cocoriara, the daughter of a duke and fiancee to the prince. But this is one of THOSE games – the player is a commoner girl who the prince falls for, and Charlotte is the villainess, who the prince exiles. Expecting her to object, he’s a bit stunned when she says “OK” and bolts instead. (It’s really, REALLY just like Camper Van Villainess.) She runs home, tells her parents what happened, and leaves to achieve her dream – become an adventurer and play Reas Life Online rather than Reas Love!

There were some things here I found interesting. Unlike most otome game worlds, where the “heroine” has to be yelled at by the villainess for treating it like a game when in fact it’s real life, but here it really DOES seem like a game, inasmuch as our protagonist can see status screens, levels, etc. I also like the conceit of the otome game being a side spinoff of the main RPG core. As with Camper Van Villainess and Otome Survival Game, this is more interested in taking the skeleton of a villainess plot and spinning it off into a different genre. Sadly, the genre, generic RPG power leveling, is something I’ve tried to avoid for the last few years when trying out new books, and seeing it in a villainess book really didn’t help much. At least the RV book is meant to be more ridiculous – this is just basic. And then there’s the same problem the villainess genre as a whole seems to have – by emphasizing the villainess as good and the heroine as bad, it plays into “commoners should know their place, only noble people have the breeding to rule”. Which is not helped by this heroine being, well, a generic selfish heroine.

I’ll happily read more of the author’s other series. But as for this, if I wanted an OP isekai, I’d read an OP isekai.

An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me!, Vol. 9

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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.

I honestly hope that this series does get an anime some day. Not just because it’s cute and sexy and all that. Some of you may recall back in the day there was a manga called My Dress-Up Darling, which also spawned an anime. That anime spawned Episode 11 of same. And Episode 11 spawned 80 million fanfics on AO3, the basic summary is “but what if they’d had sex?”. And that’s not going to happen with a light-novel only series like this is now, but if it gets an anime, I can’t help but think that frustrated fanfic writers are going to take matters in their own hands. Not only have they only kissed (and not even with tongue, as Nanami is reminded by her teacher), but their every move is now being watched to make sure they don’t go too far in the school. And yet these two have no idea what the definition of “too far” is. They revel in being sexy together.

Last time the author said we’d finally be getting the class trip, but I was dubious, given that the cover art showed what was clearly a sports festival. And yes, that’s absolutely what we get in the first half, as a reluctant Yoshin is convinced by Nanami to actually try for a change, and they end up competing in the Piggyback Race, a couples event where the goal seems to be “how embarrassing can we make things?”. That said, the back half of the book actually does give us the preparation and the setup for the class trip, which ends up being in Hawaii. This is possibly not the wonderful news you’d expect. Both Yoshin and Nanami’s parents had their honeymoons there, and given Yoshin has already proposed – more than once – they joke that this will be a “pre-honeymoon” for the couple. Which gives them ideas. Ideas of getting even closer. They may even get to extreme hand-holding.

Theoretically this book is still a sort of “guide” to new couples who may be reading it, showing the value of communicating everything to your partner and being open about your feelings and desires. The difficulty is that Yoshin and Nanami have a broken sense of shame. They don’t have NO sense of shame, otherwise this would be a very different series, and possibly in the Ghost Ship line. But it seems to activate late, which means they have no idea that they’re talking about intimate couple things while they’re in class surrounded by other students. Nanami in particular has this funny combination of innocence and salaciousness, meaning she can say things like “When you’re ready, feel free to really take me for a ride” and not get the implications, but also spend at least a minute sensuously licking and biting her boyfriend’s ear. I think being a guide on how to be an open loving couple has long left town.

Will they finally go further in the 10th book, when they’re in Hawaii? Probably not. But I’m sure we’ll all want to read it anyway.

I Could Never Be a Succubus!, Vol. 5

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By Nora Kohigashi and Wasabi. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Succubus Ja Arimasen” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

(This review assumes you want to be spoiled about the last third of the book.)

I will always love the fact that this series is “come for the horny, stay for the funny”. And rest assured, this is still a very horny series. But there are several points in this volume where it appears that the book is finally going to take a bit of a serious bent, and then it absolutely takes a wild leap back into the broadest comedy. And that’s good, as this is one of the few light novel series that does broad comedy really well. Even the horny – especially the horny – works so well because it’s so over the top that you can’t really kinkshame it. So yes, Liz really will where those panties with the magic-infused elephant trunk that can act like a real penis, because it means the artist will have to draw art of it, and make it funnier. And thus, when we resolve the cliffhanger from the last book, with the new hero menacing everyone, it turns out to be hysterical.

Dia the new hero, shows up and proceeds to not only give Cain a serious wound, but also kidnap Liz. That said, once Liz finds out what’s going on, she realizes that not only is Dia not nearly as villainous as previously advertised, but she’s also a cute young catgirl, which sets Liz’s heart throbbing, though she’s not quite sure why. Liz is rescued soon enough, but finds herself teleporting back to Dia’s location (basically figuring out a teleportation spell on the fly and instantly doing it perfectly, which reminds you how powerful this horny succubus really is), where she finds that Dia not only does the bare minimum of cooking and cleaning, but wears… bloomers! With holes in them! And no bra! This will not stand! It’s time for a lingerie shopping trip!

I ended up trying to overthink this. Yes, as it turns out, Dia’s story about her having the “real” hero sword and Cain’s being a suspicious fake does in fact turn out to possibly be the case but that’s not what drives the climax. The entire climax is driven by the scene where Cain walks into the lingerie shop and sees not only Liz but also Dia, and we realize that he already knows the new hero very well. Once all the identities are revealed, this gets even funnier… at least until we get to the fight to the “death”, which, of course, Cain wins. Again, this should be a dramatic scene, either tear-jerking or heartwarming, and it’s 100% undercut by Liz literally holding up cue cards for the reluctant Cain to read aloud to resolve things properly. Hell, even the sad finale where she leaves to find herself is ruined by Liz, albeit unconsciously. The main reason they want Liz’s memory back is so that when they punish her she actually a) knows why, and b) enjoys it again.

Again, I don’t recommend this to anyone who is not ready for our heroine to be dressed in panties with a working penis shaped like an elephant trunk on the front. But if you are, this remains 10% cool, 10% heartwarming, 30% sex-obsessed, and 50% LOL.