Secrets of the Silent Witch, Vol. 8

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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.

(This book, by necessity, goes into spoilery detail about what happens in this volume, bar the final scene.)

This is an ongoing series in Japan, and I think the 13th volume just came out. That said, I was starting to wonder if we were getting near the end of the “main plot”, as it were, especially after the revelations from the last volume. Not only was I correct, but I was very correct. If I can misuse the expression for a moment, this entire volume is busy taking all the rifles off of Anton Chekhov’s mantelpiece and firing them all at once. It’s thrilling, if also quite tragic, especially in the first half. And it leads up to what we’ve been waiting for since this series began. Monica has to decide which is more important to her, the leaps and bounds she’s made as Monica Norton, or her old life and secret mission as Monica Everett. Her choice is the cliffhanger ending of this book, and one the author says they’ve wanted to write since it began. I admit I’ve waited for it as well. Bravo.

We’re getting closer to the end of the school year, Felix graduating, and the end of Monica’s mission. We’re also getting closer to the throne war coming to an end, as Duke Clockford and Felix go around using and/or killing off various pawns at their disposal. And then there’s the Empire, who decide to threaten Monica. They end up reaching a deal. Either Monica stops the war, or she has to personally kill the entire royal family. We then get an extended flashback, which shows the backstory of Isaac Walker, as well as the fact that Monica doesn’t need to worry, one of the royal family is already long dead. Unfortunately, Felix misjudges how important he is to the Duke, and when one assassination attempt fails, finds himself accused of being an imposter, arrested, and locked up in preparation for execution. Given that all this is true, it’s gonna be hard to stop.

I will admit, apart from the dramatic climax of the book, it’s the tragic bits that stand out more here. Isaac’s memories of his past are just as depressing and horrifying as you’d expect, and pretty much tie in with everything we know about him. And when Monica gives him the name of her father, he also discovers that he is, technically, responsible for her father’s death as well. All this causes him to have a massive death complex, so things are not just going to be as easy as “let’s have you escape”. Monica too is not having a good time, though it’s quite noticeable how much better she’s gotten at communicating since she became Monica Norton. Cyril is also handled well here, though I have bad news for him, as Monica “senpaizones” him. Isaac probably has the best chance, though I still think the most likely romantic option for Monica is “none”. We also see the return of a character I never thought I’d see again, and it was wonderful to catch up with them.

The 9th book is not scheduled yet, and I hope it doesn’t take the 9 months it took to get from 7 to 8. Fantastic stuff.

The Holy Grail of Eris, Vol. 5

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By Kujira Tokiwa and Yu-nagi. Released in Japan as “Eris no Seihai” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Amelia Imogen.

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? This is a series that I thought ended with the third volume, and then we got a fourth, which at first was “digital-only” in Japan. Then the series changed publishers in Japan, and DRE Novels put out the first four books with new cover art, and I think a couple of bonus short stories. (No, Yen will not be redoing those.) Meanwhile in North America, we had a series that was contacted between Yen Press and GA Novels, now belonging to a different publisher that works exclusively with J-Novel Club. Talks had to be had. But here we are, with Book 5, and Book 6 is just around the corner! In between Books 4 and 5, we had the anime, which was received pretty well, though the reaction by fans felt a bit familiar, and this fifth book underlined the fan reaction with a highlighter. Namely, with the intense intimate female friendship between the two leads, why is the series het? The answer is, of course, that women are allowed to have intense intimate female friendships and still like men.

Connie is back from her vacation, and everything seems well. Unfortunately, the dregs of Daeg Gallus are still around, and they’re targeting the Kingdom’s important mythology. To help deal with this, a baron by the name of Camille Miller has decided to take steps to discredit them. This first involves, for some reason, framing Connie for the bombing of the statue of the hero in a town square, which goes about as well as you’d expect given her fiancee is head of the police and the king is in her debt. Changing tactics, he then decides to announce that she’s another Saint, just like the Saint Anastasia of old. Can Connie try to figure out what’s going on, stop the terrorist group that is still trying to destroy everything, *and* not punch Camille Miller in his smug face? Meanwhile, in the past, we see Scarlet’s grandmother and find out the real story of both Saint Anastasia and the Grail family.

So, for those who loved the anime and are curious, Randolph is technically in this, and he and Connie are still engaged. But even the author admits he’s not in the book very much. This isn’t, at its heart, a romance, it’s a mystery series with added thriller aspects. As such, Connie and Randolph aren’t the main “couple”, Connie and Scarlet are. Thematically, this series is about them. Likewise, in the past, we expect to see the story of a romance between Cornelia and her somewhat fanatically loyal friend Percival Grail, but that’s also pretty much a fakeout, and the important relationship is between Cornelia and her maid and best friend Asha. That said, again, the relationships take a back seat to the mysteries here. Fortunately, the mysteries are very good, and I found it amusing that most of the present-day sleuthing was just Connie reading old histories till she got bags under her eyes.

There is a short story volume after it, but the 6th book, with its incredibly bisexual cover (she has two hands!), does appear to finally wrap the series up after a couple of fakeouts. I’m delighted to see it continue. I hope we never see Camille Miller again, but I’m not optimistic about that last part.

Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 13

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By Hitoma Iruma and raemz. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Molly Lee.

Glory be, we finally get a volume that isn’t just short stories, and takes place in the present day! After so many alternate universes, flash forwards to the future, and the terrifying vision of Adachi’s idea of heaven, we are back in a normal yuri romance. OK, yes, no series with Yashiro is normal, but you know what I mean. As always, Shimamura is the narrator. It’s amazing how far she’s come since the start. Adachi, when not dealing with Shimamura, is pretty much as she’s always been, introverted, uncommunicative, and giving off a strong “fuck off” aura. Shimamura, who I described as attempting to learn what human emotion is in prior books, is absolutely filled with them here, and a lot of the book is her suddenly breaking down as she once again deals with her childhood dog maybe dying (again, the dog does not die in this book), or her cutely realizing how much she’s in love with Adachi. A depressed teenager who barely interacted with life is now happy and content. It’s nice to see.

First bit of the book: Shimamura goes to see her grandparents, gets overcome with emotion at seeing that Gon is still tired and listless but not dead, unleashes Yashiro on a new set of folks, meets a “childhood friend” from another Iruma series (more on that later), and comes out to her grandma. The rest of the book: it’s school festival time! Honestly, Shimamura wasn’t aware they had one, and neither was Adachi – they likely skipped before now. But this is a new, dynamic Shimamura who does things, and so she comes over to help with their classes’ candied fruit cafe. And Adachi also comes, because Shimamura asks her, and that’s the only reason. The festival is cute – we see Adachi serving and Shimamura waitressing, they get to tour the sites together on a date, they go see Hino and Nagafuji in a class play that sounds like it was based on another work by the author, and they see a concert that I’m pretty sure is based off ANOTHER work by the author. Then, after the festival is over, Adachi invited Shimamura to her house for their own private festival. (No, not like that.)

I’m sure hardcore fans of Iruma are delighted at seeing all the cameos from their other series pop up in A&S. I did work out the girl making the ceramics is from a collection called End Blue, I think? And yes, the series can be read without knowing who the hell these people are. But man, for people like me, who want to track down references, it’s a pain in the ass, as 90% of Iruma’s work is never coming out here. (And, let’s face it, the crossover with My First Love’s Kiss was deeply unwelcome.) That singer and piano player are no doubt from another series, and I don’t know which one, and that just bugs me. And because Iruma doesn’t own the characters, I won’t even get Sayaka from Bloom Into You showing up. Other than that niggle, this is a strong volume, absolutely drenched in Shimamura’s feelings for Adachi, and I can mostly ignore Adachi’s obsessive “there is only one person in my world” feelings, which Shimamura sees as cute but a bit worrying. The “roleplay us ten years in the future” at the end is really sweet.

So yes, a nice, relaxed volume, with no child predators or possible heat deaths of the universe. Next up, a third short story collection, though that doesn’t count 99.9, or the other numbered volumes that have basically been short story collections in all but name.