Sabikui Bisco, Vol. 7

April 18, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Shinji Cobkubo and K Akagishi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jake Humphrey.

I had wondered in previous reviews why Sabikui Bisco wasn’t simply in Shonen Jump, given its sensibilities, its dialogue, and its homoeroticism, but I think after this volume I’ve figured it out. Jump is a title where, if the author said “hey, I’ve decided that for the next 26 weeks I want this series to be a samurai drama starring a bunch of cats”, editorial would say, “No, you will not be doing that”. But this isn’t a Jump manga, it’s a light novel series, and the sky’s the limit. So we not only get a samurai drama starring cats, but it is as ridiculously overblown as everything else in Bisco. That said, fear not, because despite the samurai cats, this absolutely feels like a Sabikui Bisco title, it has some hilarious and fantastic dialogue, and its homoeroticism is higher than ever, despite, as always, a strong finish for heteronormativity. The two will simply have to exist. It’s a good thing they’re related.

Bisco is not having a good time at the start of this book. He’s dragged away from a rakugo performance he was enjoying by Pawoo, who did not appreciate that the performance was in fact attacking her. Despite being, supposedly, in wedded bliss, he’s feeling bored and full of wanderlust. And, oh yes, everyone suddenly starts growing cat ears and tails and behaving like cats. Including, of course, Pawoo ad Tirol. The answer lies in the underground nation of Byoma, which is inhabited by intelligent cats, who were affected by the disaster that led to the world of Sabikui Bisco just like everyone else. Their world and Bisco’s are now connected thanks to that reality-bending arrow he and Milo used last time, so they’ve got to go fix it… assuming that they can avoid becoming cats themselves!

This is a particularly hilarious volume, with a lot of choice lines I don’t want to spoil, and features a lot of cat-related puns and cool action scenes. But it does have a serious core at its heart, one that ties the cat samurai stuff in with Bisco’s ongoing plot. The world of Byoma is suffering because, years ago, a samurai and his true love could not separate love and duty, and everything went to hell as a result. Now she is back, ready to destroy the world and remake it in her own image (well, in the image of monster mushrooms, because this is Sabikui Bisco, and everything is mushrooms, let’s face it). But this conflict, and also seeing it literally from the villainess’ point of view (which leads to the funniest line in the book) allows Bisco to resolve his own angst. He’s been trying to be understanding to Pawoo, who is governor and has a lot of responsibility. That’s why he’s not wandering around with Milo being slightly gay. Only… are those his only two choices?

It remains to be seen whether this series, which is very fond of literally hurling Pawoo away from the book for the majority of the pages, will feature her heavily in the next volume. Till then, this was a hell of a lot of fun.

Filed Under: reviews, sabikui bisco

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 12

April 17, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

I’ve said before that I think the Bofuri series works best when it’s just Maple and Sally taking on a fresh new challenge, and the author agrees. Actually, the author may be starting to agree a bit TOO much. This is the 3rd book in a row that’s been about 75% Maple and Sally, 25% rest of the cast. I joked on social media that the extended scene with Kanade was inserted at the request of the editor, as the author had forgotten who Kanade was. (Actually, Kanade gets more to do here than he has since he got his clone, mostly as a lot of the challenges involve translating ancient runes.) Likewise, Kasumi and Iz get one scene to show off, Mai and Yui get one scene to show off, and Chrome exists. Sorry, Chrome. That said, if you ARE here to read this series for Maple and Sally, you should have a lot of fun with this book, which has them both doing what they do best… for now.

Velvet is on the cover, possibly to draw in Fate fans who think there’s a Saber crossover, but she only really appears near the end, to help set up the next volume. Most of this book deals with the 8th level, which is set mostly underwater. Fortunately for non-swimmers like Maple, Mai and Yui, there are diving suits with oxygen tanks, and the more materials you find the better you can upgrade the suits so you can go deeper. It’s the sort of level that works best in small groups, so naturally Maple and Sally team up, rarely having problems with monsters due to their insane builds, but sometimes having trouble working out exactly what it is the game wants them to do. On the bright side, both Maple *and* Sally get new transformations, sort of. And then there’s the 9th level, which may make Sally’s dream come true.

We see Kaede and Risa for only about three pages, but they’re very important pages. I’m not sure if the author has an end to this series in mind (from what I understand, the webnovel is huge, and Vol. 17 came out in Japan last month), but time *is* passing in the real world, and the 12th book takes place about 18 months after the first book. This means that Kaede and Risa have started their second year of high school… which means soon studying will take precedence over games. Kaede’s grades are good, Risa’s are… okay… but it’s clear that Risa’s mother, at least, is not going to let her game her third year away. That’s why the next couple books may be very important, as they’re a PvP event where players can choose one of two sides. We know that Sally’s big wish is to fight Maple one-on-one, but she’s been putting it off, mostly as fighting a friend is just not Maple’s thing. But this might be a way to achieve it.

And, of course, there’s also the other guilds. Will they stick together? I realize that I just made this volume seem like a brief downtime while we wait for the next really exciting floor, but it was very good. And Maple and Sally held hands a lot.

Filed Under: bofuri, reviews

Secrets of the Silent Witch, Vol. 4 ~after~

April 16, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Silent Witch” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

I had been referring to this as Silent Witch 4.5, which some retailers are using, likely to better differentiate it from the 4th volume. But the author states in the afterword that they did not want to have it be a .5, and I get that. Generally speaking it’s hard enough when you realize that the next volume is going to be a short story volume, and when the volume number ends in .5 it can be even more highly variable. You never know if you’re getting stuff that was too goofy or too pornographic for the main series, or if you’re getting a bunch of titles that were written for various DVDs, Blu-Rays, and store giveaways piled into one book for completists. Fortunately, this new volume of Silent Witch has none of those problems. The book could easily read as Book 5, except there’s less conflict than usual. The stories all tie together, and all influence each other, so that the climax ends up tying everything together. Which makes sense, because this time we get Monica the Detective.

We begin with a prologue, showing Louis kidnapping… erm, leading Monica and Ray to a decaying library that is filled with magic books that are starting to leak mana, which they have to rebind and reseal. We then get four short stories taking place directly after the 4th volume, in the two weeks after the festival. In the first, Monica has to deal with Nero and Ryn getting addicted to mystery novels, and Felix trying desperately to read a book (well, essay) by the Silent Witch that is in the library’s second floor. She then joins Cyril in trying to prove who stole meat from the kitchens – Glenn insists it wasn’t him, despite a lot of circumstantial evidence. After this we get Benjamin, who always falls in love with women in love with someone else, falling for Claudia – you can imagine how well that goes. Finally, there’s a “charm” going around that apparently will get your true love, meaning all the girls are now gunning for Felix. But is it a charm?

This volume continues the previous one’s evidence that Monica is slowly but surely gaining social skills and confidence. Sure, she barely knows how to sew, but she actually picks it up fast. Her sentences may be slow and awkward, but there’s a lot less stuttering and biting her tongue. She also continues to bond with the rest of the cast, especially the student council (minus Bridget, who no doubt is a final boss in a future volume, the lack of attention the books have paid to her so far is deeply suspicious). That said, Felix’s obsession with Monica Everett is very worrying. The book is written as if it will end, if it does, with a Felix/Monica pairing, but at the moment that would be very unhealthy and has high potential to go wrong. I’ve heard fans tend to prefer Monica/Cyril, and I can see why (for one thing, you get Claudia as an in-law). Felix needs to drop the hero worship. Fast.

The next volume isn’t scheduled here yet, but I assume we will get back to serious assassination attempts and Monica’s identity being at risk. Till then, enjoy an excellent example of how to craft a short story volume in a LN series.

Filed Under: reviews, secrets of the silent witch
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