Observation Records of My Wife: The Misadventures of a Self-Proclaimed Villainess, Vol. 5

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By Shiki and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Jishō Akuyaku Reijō na Tsuma no Kansatsu Kiroku” by Regina Books. Released in North America by Hanashi Media. Translated by Ethan Holms.

I did enjoy this volume a lot more than the previous one, let’s get that out of the way. With that said… there is a point at the start of this book where Charles tells Cecil that he’s going to have to do something that might look very suspicious to others, and Cecil wonders out loud “shouldn’t you tell your fiancee?” The trouble is that what this involves is a minor bad guy who’s been sleeping around and getting women pregnant, and the men in this series all want to shelter their significant others from the horrors of that. That said, Charles’ response wasn’t quite “no, I have to keep her in the dark, or else this book will be 40 pages long”, but it was close. This plot is designed purely to have the girls get mad at the boys, and even then, it’s mostly an excuse for Bertia to be mad. The trouble is, she’s terrible at being mad, but very good at being trouble.

Charles’ brother, who we’ve heard about since the first book, has been getting worse and worse in his lothario ways. Unfortunately, their father, after a throne-war struggle during his generation, does not want family drama and has already said the eldest is the next head of the family. To fix this, Charles plans to confront and interview his brother’s victims, and also try to protect them. Unfortunately, because this involves sex, cheating, and other distasteful topics, he decides not to tell Anne, and Cecil likewise wants to avoid mentioning it to Bertia as she’d just run and yell at the guy. Unfortunately, what this means is Charles is rumored to be cheating with all these girls. As such Bertia, Anne, and the other women are various kinds of furious. And nothing can be solved until the evidence is gathered, meaning this gets dragged out.

My absolute favorite part of the book was seeing Heronia again. This was hinted at in the last arc, when they found that piece of Pii, but Cecil doesn’t like Heronia, so there was no reason for him to do anything nice for her. But towards the end of this book, Bertia does something that requires another Japanese import to explain, so he’s forced to make a deal. We see that Heronia, post-villainy, is a) not putting up with any of Cecil’s shit (she calls him the “android prince” multiple times), but also b) adapting to life in the convent and helping out the younger children. I love seeing broken villainesses break out of it and do better. I also liked the other antagonist in this book, who seemed to be yet another petty brat, but turned out to have a lot more depth than I expected, and it’s set up that we’ll be seeing her again. As for Charles and Anne… eventually, they work it out. Not everyone can be as shiny as Bertia, though Anne does come close.

This series continues to have legs long beyond what it should have, and I’ll continue to support it.

Repeated Vice: I Refuse to Be Important Enough to Die, Vol. 5

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By Kuroakawa Hitsugi and Kushiro Kuki. Released in Japan as “Repeat Vice: Akuyaku Kizoku wa Shinitakunai node Shitennou ni Naru no wo Yamemashita” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by piyo.

While amusing, it can also be a pain in the ass when I decide what I’m going to base a large chunk of my review on and then have the author, in the afterword, say what I was going to and that they are well aware of it. So yeah, let’s just get this out of the way: for a harem series, Lilka has been getting a lot more attention than the rest of the girls. This is especially true in this book, where Fol and Yusurika are basically absent, and much of the book features Lofus and Lilka arguing like a couple that says they hate each other but will totally be married by the end of the book. That said, the author may not agree with me, and tries to stick a fork in this relationship by having Lofus point out that she’s not his type, and that he finds another kind of woman attractive. Which, fine, but the narrative disagrees. Also, still 13 years old, I believe.

We pick up where we left off, with Lofus, while being very grumpy about it, rushing to the rescue of Lilka and the rest of the sky pirates, who are about to be annihilated. As it turns out, they’re about to be annihilated by a monster that is FAR stronger than it was the first time Lilka went through her life. Fortunately, Lofus brought Raymond along, and so his able to, if not defeat the monster right away, at least slow it down. Unfortunately, he also runs into a guy named Lars, who. like Raymond, wants Lofus to join him, and goes on to explain how Lilka’s assumptions of what needs to happen are bullshit. Unfortunately for Lars, he’s a smug kind of guy, and Lofus naturally hates joining up with anyone anyway, so we get another big battle, this time involving the soul of a long-dead warrior. And after that they have to go rescue Lilka’s pirate ship, which involves meeting yet another heroine.

The thing I liked best here were the various perspective shifts. Lofus has his knowledge of the game, but that’s third-person, so when he’s asked why he specifically joined Raymond’s doomed rebellion he doesn’t really know. Lilka has her own perspective, but also died early in her first life, so doesn’t have access to everything. As for Raymond, when told about Lofus’ “dreams” and what he did in them, he’s just as puzzled as anyone else – if he wants to rule the world, why choose the worst possible way to do it? This, more than the Demon Lord shenanigans, are what makes me want to read more. Well, that and seeing Lofus and Lilka fight. I love 30s screwball comedies, and there’s a lot of that here, with Lilka finally admitting by the end of the book that she really has fallen in love, and while Lofus doesn’t feel the same, he is forced to admit that he actually cares for people quite a lot. Certainly more than his image can bear.

Also, I think we managed to get through a volume without something major ticking me off. This remains an underdog sort of book, the type that is more interesting than it sounds.

The Tale of a Little Alchemist Blessed by the Spirits, Vol. 4

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By yocco and Junsui. Released in Japan as “Outo no Hazure no Renkinjutsushi: Hazure Shokugyou datta node, Nonbiri Omise Keieishimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Andria McKnight. Adapted by Lex Reno.

It’s genuinely hard to review this series. I’ve said before that I prefer happy endings and don’t need to read books where lots of people die. But, I mean, I do like SOME conflict. This is a fun, enjoyable series, but in terms of things I can grab on to to review, I’d rather be reading a tournament arc. Daisy is here, and she’s making cool things. She’s setting up her Montessori school. She’s spending time with her adorable adopted sister, who is starting to show an interest in blowing things up (for good, not for evil, so you can relax). She’s going on beach vacations with her friends, which seem to be excuses for the author to put in the standard “I am jealous everyone has bigger breasts than me”, which at least this time is coming from an actual 11-year-old. Oh, and in her spare time, she’s the messiah saving the world from its inevitable end. Just girly things.

Most of Daisy’s activities in this book are meant for her to get her party ready to tackle That One Level again. You remember that tower that no one has ever climbed, with the unkillable boss? Well, they killed the boss, but still couldn’t get to the top of the tower, so it’s time to try again, which means lots of fire weapons, lots of ice cloaks, and plenty of cool magical doodads. Elsewhere, she’s busy making Schwartz and Weiss from Ascendance of a Bookworm, and also discovering the soul of her mysterious older sister has also now leveled up. (Yeah, I know. More on that later.) Oh yes, and in the middle of one of their difficult quests for materials Gondor calls for aid, as those elves that said they’d solve their own problems suddenly have a Hellmouth. Well, the spirits coming out aren’t really evil, so it’s more of a Heckmouth.

There is a hint of theoretical future conflict, as we get a scene with a bad guy very upset that their plan to poison the elves’ tree has been undone for some mysterious reason, and they now vow to use their final last resort but of evil. That said, I laughed my ass off when Daisy just ran up the side of the tree, poured potion all over it, then grabbed an evil worm and threw it to the ground. And then multiple Gods showed up to thank her. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a messiah. As for the older sister, I had to go way back to the start of this series. I remember thinking the voice wishing Daisy farewell was the previous “soul” in that body, going to the afterlife. It turned out to be a spirit basically making sure she had the skills to be a title character. And now she’s back, and has also leveled up, because everyone who hangs around Daisy gets ludicrously strong, except maybe for the kid who still struggles with math. But at least he has a childhood friend waiting back home.

I do enjoy this series quite a bit, and there’s only two more volumes to go so it won’t wear out its welcome. But man, it’s OP as hell.