Your Castle’s Little Helper: Please Feed Me, I’ll Work!, Vol. 1

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By Kazuhito Minagi and PenekoR. Released in Japan as “Anata no Oshiro no Kobito-san ~Gohan Kudasai, Hatarakimasu~” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

I really enjoyed reading this book, but if it has one big flaw it’s that it cannot settle down with one genre. And unlike, say, Sasaki and Peeps, I’m not sure how deliberate it is – it just feels unfocused. Judging by the cover and blurb, I was expecting the story of a plucky and adorable orphan winning the hearts of everyone she encounters. And it definitely is that. But it’s also the story of a reincarnated Japanese woman who wakes up in a middle-ages sort of monarchy and gradually introduces new foods while also winning over the monsters of this world with her powerful magic. And it’s also the story of a child left for dead who has tremendous PTSD about the whole thing and keeps getting triggered over and over again, either accidentally or on purpose. It’s about how sometimes abuse through neglect cannot simply be waved away or fixed. Still, if you can handle the ping-ponging, it’s a compelling read.

A Japanese woman, who passed away due to a car accident, wakes up in a deserted storeroom as a two-year-old dying of starvation and thirst. Not great. She manages to stagger to a kitchen and is found by the cooks, and it turns out that she’s in the royal castle. In fact, it turns out that her connection to royalty is a lot more intricate and filled with secret plans than anyone realizes. For Chihiro, though, all she wants to do is quietly live her life, eat nice food, and maybe try to find sweets, as this world lacks sugar or honey. Well, it has honey, but in the forest, and there are bees. Pshaw! Who’s afraid of some bees? Well, when she manages to get a mysterious stranger to take her to the forest, it turns out you’re afraid of bees if they’re the size of a human and feed on magic. Good thing that, as it turns out, Chihiro has TONS of magic…

Chihiro is absolutely the best reason to read this. A lot of these “I’m two years old but have my adult memories” series feature the main character trying their best to act like a kid and failing. Chihiro doesn’t even try, she’s like one of the kids in Full House. A scene early on just made me throw up my hands and realize the author was writing this on vibe, where she not only figures out how the commoners are getting their sums wrong, but asks the nobles to forgive them as it’s not the expected “we’re corrupt” but just “we suck at math”. There is an occasional hand wave towards people realizing that a girl as young as her cannot POSSIBLY be doing everything she is (she’s doing perfect embroidery, coming up with new recipes, etc. At two years old), but every time that happens the person ends up thinking “well, whatever, she’s so cute I don’t actually care to investigate this”. As for the conspiracy that led to all this happening in the first place, it never really gets resolved beyond “yeah, those evil maids did this and then vanished”.

Basically, this book is a mess. But it’s a fun mess, and I had a great time reading it. I want more.

Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools, Vol. 13

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By Hisaya Amagishi and Hachi Komada. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by A.M. Cola.

It feels like every review I whine about this slow burn romance being too slow, but, I mean, look at it. Indeed, the author is now anticipating us whining, as we not only get to see Volf once again having people ask if he’s in love and essentially saying “what’s that? Food? Can you eat it?”, but we also see Dahlia realize that she might actually be in love with Volf and practically have a trauma response to the idea. Which makes sense, given what happened with Tobias, who I’m amazed has not been quietly murdered by now by the rest of the cast. But that’s OK, as we also have a lot of other things going on to make sure that we stop paying attention to the lack of romance… or indeed, the lack of barony, as we’re still ALMOST there but not quite, and having looked at the synopsis of the Japanese Vol. 14, I suspect I will be saying the exact same thing next time. Anyway, what DOES happen in this book?

After an amusing start where Dahlia and company try to figure out how to stop killer pigeons nibbling on their vital green slimes, we get down to what has now become a running theme of this series: Dahlia trying to create a cool magic sword for Volf. Volf clearly wants a sword that shoots lasers or somesuch, but instead he gets something that increases speed and is very durable. Indeed, perhaps a bit TOO durable, as after seeing the sword in action Dahlia is asked to visit the Magical Toolmaking Department to explain why this sword has slaughtered twenty huge monsters and still doesn’t need to be sharpened? While there, she meets a duke with a comically evil face, and also discovers that her accident as a child where she dissolved her own hands by touching black slime may have more consequences than just mental trauma. Finally, she and Volf go to meet Guido’s wife Rosaria, who has wanted to see Dahlia… and that also goes off the rails, thanks to Volf wearing his special disguise glasses.

It’s been apparent for a while, but one thing I really like about this series is that Dahlia is not simply doing things like inventing mayonnaise or soy sauce like the usual isekai potatoes, but is essentially creating aides for people who are disabled. We get that really clearly here with Rosaria, who it turns out has facial blindness – she can see, say, a portrait of her husband, but can’t see his face as more than a blur. This is why Volf wearing the glasses that mask his appearance was such a shock – to her, this means she now CAN see Volf’s face. I also enjoyed seeing the magical tool creator who assumes that Dahlia is this smug powerful woman who comes up with amazing ideas every breakfast, and as he watches her struggle to create another pair of fairy glasses – which requires her to hallucinate a terrible nightmare – the creator realizes the reason Dahlia’s stuff is so great is because she’s not got a political bone in her body, and is not thinking of gain at all – she’s just there to help. This is also, of course, why she’s in danger, and I worry that she may run into the equivalent of a stranger offering candy from a van before long.

Next time we’ll get the investiture, right? Surely there’s nothing that can possibly put that off even longer… wait, I forgot what series I’m reading. In any case, still great.

Earl and Fairy: When You Wish Upon the Crimson Knight

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By Mizue Tani and Asako Takaboshi. Released in Japan as “Hakushaku to Yōsei” by Shueisha Cobalt Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

I always tend to have the same pattern when I read a new volume of Earl and Fairy. I start off a bit reluctant, remembering the slow pacing and the fact that Lydia always seems perpetually angry and Edgar has a tendency to always make things worse. I think to myself, “if it weren’t for the fact that I’m the only reader, I would drop this”. Then as the book goes along, it gets more exciting and the thriller aspects take over, and I am reminded once again why I do keep going and why I like it so much: the romance is meh, but the supernatural thriller is great. This book actually manages to improve on the romance a bit as well, as Lydia has admitted her feelings for Edgar, and he is deliberately trying not to mack on other women. Unfortunately, as we will see, both of those things combine to once again make everything terrible for our still not married couple.

Lydia is trying to figure out what to get Edgar as an engagement present, given that he can buy anything he wants. After shopping with Lotta (been a while since we’ve seen her), she goes home and is accosted by a young Scottish man who insists that they need to get married to save the clan. Turns out the short story regarding Lydia’s mom, from the previous volume, is more relevant than expected: the village she left is suffering, and they all think marrying Lydia will solve the problem. Unfortunately, there’s also someone else who wants to marry Lydia – no, not Edgar, although yes, him too. A trow kidnaps her, Lotta, Raven, Nico, and the Scottish guy and says that Lydia will, in fact, be marrying him. Meanwhile, Edgar is still dealing with having the Prince’s memories, and the fact that every problem lately has one obvious solution: access the Prince’s memories and turn more evil.

So I got my wish of Lydia and Edgar growing and changing, but I did not get my wish that this means the entire book won’t be about romantic conflict. Lydia still has huge piles of self-loathing, and while she trusts Edgar now she worries about the depth of his love – especially when, for the plot reasons above, she has to disguise herself as another woman and have Edgar intuitively realize it’s her. Unfortunately for her, reality is not quite as kind, and Edgar, for once trying to be a good fiancee, just finds her suspicious. Much as it makes me uncomfortable, I can’t deny its effectiveness. There’s even a dollop of humor in these otherwise mostly serious books, as Raven learns what it means to forgive someone, and applies it in very funny ways. Oh Raven, one day you will be a real live boy.

All this plus an Ermine cameo! This series is down to twice a year, so I expect we’ll get Book 14 in the spring. But I still really do love it.