Imperial Reincarnation: I Came, I Saw, I Survived, Vol. 7

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By Masekinokatasa and Kaito Shinobu. Released in Japan as “Tenseishitara Koutei deshita: Umarenagara no Koutei wa Konosaki Ikinokoreru ka?” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gwendolyn Warner.

One of these days we’ll have a nice relaxing book where Carmine is given a respite from constant chaos and attempts to take over the Empire, but that day is not today, and honestly probably we’ll never get that. That said, at least Carmine is finally starting to ditch the need to pretend to be a dumb puppet emperor… mostly. He’d like to do this, and he gets to demonstrate that he does know magic after all in a truly ludicrous sequence where he drops a magic nuke, but for the most part the conceit can still be useful. Especially when, following up on the cliffhanger from the last book, the old leader of the Imperium, the religious republic next door that is the Empire’s biggest threat, shows up seeking asylum. Along with his loser son and a terrified aide. So Carmine once again has to pretend to be kinda dumb while he figures out what to do, because every answer seems to be “but that will lead to war”.

Carmine is so caught off guard by the news of the asylum seekers that he has to fake a contagious illness for a few days to gain time to think and gather information. Then he heads back to the capital, meets the Imperium guys, and big surprise, they’re terrible. The former leader is the decadent Roman emperor sort, and his son is scheming and wants power, but doesn’t really have any smarts to back it up. They also clearly have spies in their entourage. In the meantime, of course, the Empire is still fighting a war on several fronts, so Carmine also has to head over to another front line to see how things are going… where, unfortunately, he arrives far too quickly thanks to Count Ethiac, who essentially drugs her horse to ride at top speed for hours to get there as fast as she can. Oops.

The author seems to be swapping out eccentric but unhinged women every book. At the end of this one Count Ethiac is dumped, mostly due to making everything more difficult. In her place we get Illumino, who is the granddaughter of the Gotiroir, who are the “Mongolian horde” equivalent in this series. She’s very strong and very good at being a bodyguard, but cares nothing about anyone around her, so is a terrible commander. She’s also interested in Carmine, and wants to marry him, mostly because he’s the only guy who’s NOT interested in her. Carmine has now found a third weirdo he doesn’t want, which is a shame, as I think Rosaria is dropping hints she would like a couple more wives, if only to build a power base. I apologize for only talking about the mostly non-existent harem in this series, but the alternative is discussing military maneuvers, and no.

Another cliffhanger, as someone is trying to assassinate Carmine! He’s framed as an old enemy we should remember, but this cast is so huge I don’t. I’m sure it’s dramatic. Will he live? Oh, probably. Decent read.

The Side Character Who Thought He Was the Protagonist Mistook the Real Hero for a Side Character and Accidentally Won Everything, Vol. 1

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By Yuyushita Sasuga and Tamago no Kimi. Released in Japan as “Jibun no Koto o Shujinkou da to Shinjite Yamanai Fumidai ga, Shujinkou o Fumidai da to Kanchigai Shite, Yuushou Shite Shimau Ohanashi desu” by TO Books. Released in North America by Hanashi Media. Translated by Harris Hayes.

Assuming that the average reader of this series gets past the title, which is a bit more ludicrous than usual, they’re going to run up against the lead. And assuming that they get past the lead’s tendency to talk about himself like he’s still a chuuni (which is half of the point of this series), we get to the other point of this series, which likely resonates with a lot of people. The idea that hard work will be rewarded is a good, idealistic one that unfortunately is not always true in the real world. As such, a lot of fiction, particularly shonen fiction, revolves around the fact that you can do absolutely anything provided that you do it often enough. Do you suck at something? Do it ten million times, and you will get better! (True.) And then all the good things in life will be yours (not necessarily true except in series like these).

Our nameless main character rescues a kid from the inevitable truck, dies, and ends up in front of a bored and amused Athena, the goddess currently in charge of reincarnating people. He grew up in Japan thinking he would be IMPORTANT, and idolizing shonen main characters. So she offers to put him in the world of Chronicle of the Round Table Heroes, a visual novel, as the Hero Fey. He immediately accepts! Unfortunately, she’s amusing herself. Not only is Fey the guy who bullies random people and gets the shit beaten out of him in the game itself (the real hero is named Tru), but the VN is also pretty damn dark, with most of the cast meeting Bad Ends. But that matters little to our guy. What is perhaps more concerning is that the game limits how much he’s able to change – the original Fey was an asshole, after all. So he has to train as hard as he can and join the Holy Knights… while still being kind of a jerk.

Clearly I finished this, so there were things I liked. It’s quite readable, as I’ve come to expect from TO Books, who usually do a good job selling their product. I really liked the main “heroine”, named Arthur (the names sometimes skew Arthurian due to the game’s title), who is incredibly beautiful and talented but has the social skills of a brick. Since Fey, as he is still very much “sullen asshole who simply trains constantly”, also has the social skills of a brick, they get on quite well. Other than that… while I did like the teacher’s backstory, and I appreciated that she was allowed to avoid her cruel and horrible fate (and I hope one days she avenges her family), describing her as the “busty loli” type and having her fall massively in love with Fey by the end made me sigh. Ah well, so goes life. the actual lead, Tru, also fades into the background as the series goes on. I’d have liked it more if he ended up an antagonist, but the author seems content to have him just be wary of Fey but still basically a hero. Which is nice, but duller.

So this wasn’t great, but wasn’t terrible. I might read another. Recommended for fans of the genre.

The Petty Villain Plays by the Rules: Rewriting This Otome Game with Honest Work!, Vol. 3

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By MIZUNA and Ruki. Released in Japan as “Yarikonda Otome Game no Akuyaku desu ga, Danzai wa Iya nano de Mattou ni Ikimasu” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

Ah, we’ve hit that difficult third album, I see. It was inevitable, given that the first two volumes of this series basically ended up being “this is better than I thought”, that I’d run into one that was on a level of exactly what I thought. In practice, this means that while this volume is for the most part enjoyable, it has a subplot that actively grates on me and which I found interminable. What’s worse, I worry it will crop up again – this seems the sort of author who would try to think of other ways to use that subplot in the future for “comedy” reasons. Sigh. Other than that, this basically wraps up the two-volume arc from last time, shows Reid simultaneously behaving like a prodigy and also having the emotional capacity of the child he is, and also giving us a cute dwarf girl to go with its cute elf girl. Though the dwarf is an adult.

After last time, Reid has impressed the dark elf king and helped to take down an evil noble, but he also showed off a bit TOO much, so his dad forbids him from going into town. This is a problem, as he has to find the herb that’s used in the medicine needed to cure his mother, one that’s supposed to be in the neighboring evil forest (yes, it’s called the Evil Forest, really). That said, his fiancee is not prohibited from visiting the town. So clearly Reid has to dress up as a maid in order to get around this. Hijinks, as you might guess, ensue. They come across a skilled dwarf brother-and-sister blacksmith shop, though they’re currently being threatened by a different evil noble. They also come across a guy who does know of the herb in question under a different name. But he’s ALSO being threatened by that evil noble. man, how many evil nobles does this series have?

So yes, everything about Reid dressed as a maid, and (inevitably) Prince Rhesis falling for “her” made me wince like I was hearing nails on a blackboard. Every single “gag” paid off like a pie to the face, and that’s not a good thing. I have no doubt we’ll see Reid in disguise as a maid again, even if I don’t want it. Other than that, this was pretty good. Reid gains a new butler/intelligence officer, who has a better gag in that he’s one of those “I don’t know how to smile properly as I am stoic as hell” types. That’s fun. This also, oddly, causes the dwarf girl to fall for him – since I’m not getting the hot gay bodyguard romance I want (due to them tragically not being gay), I guess this one is OK. I was also amused to see that Reid’s father is essentially a pushover when it comes to his family, and I have no doubt that, if this series ever lets anyone age, Farah will be able to manipulate Reid the same way.

That said, future volumes imply that this is not going to be a “two years passed” kind of series, but more “Volume 12, 5 days after Vol. 4”. I’ll keep up, but less wacky crossdressing hilarity, please.