Return of the Corpse King: Reining in My Cringe Secret Society, Vol. 2

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By Sty and Tsumeki. Released in Japan as “Shiou no Kikan: Moto Yuusha no Ore, Jibun ga Soshikishita Chuuni Himitsukessha wo Tomeru Tame ni Futatabi Isekai ni Shoukansareteshimau” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

I’m still enjoying this series a lot more than I expected to, and it’s for much the same reasons as the first. I’m not as wild about the “cringe” part of the title, though thankfully there’s less of him regretting his chuuni past and feeling embarrassed here. There’s more of the serious bits here as well, though, and I’m definitely enjoying those. This series has a backstory that it is content to give to you in bits and bobs, rather than as a giant wall of flashback, and I appreciate that. It also wants to remind you about what being absent for nearly two hundred years would do to people who are, shall we say, a bit codependent on you. Likewise, Shio not telling everyone he’s from another world turns out to be for a very good reason, especially given the aforementioned codependency. All this makes me forgive the fact that there’s a tournament arc in this book.

The first volume introduced us to four of Shio’s posse of supernatural badasses, here we meet another. Hræsvelgr, though, is having a much harder time getting over the vanishing of the most important person in her life. Sure, she’s kept herself busy helping out a schmuck of a guy who doesn’t even know how to use her power properly, but really what she is is suicidal. Meanwhile, our protagonist needs, of course, weapons. Which means he needs money. Fortunately, he’s headed to the fantasy equivalent of Las Vegas, where he can enter a fighting tournament to get some cash, as well as meeting the ruler of the city, Kaguya, who is very interested in him. Unfortunately, that fake Helheim is still making a bad name for itself, and it doesn’t help that there are a lot of demons around trying to bring back the Demon Lord Shio killed last time. Only… did Shio really kill him?

Things aren’t all serious, of course. We meet another demon, Furcas, who is basically the terrifying demon equivalent of “dumb meathead girl”, so I was naturally disposed to liking her. (There’s a human equivalent too. TWO meathead girls in one volume, my cup runneth over!). I was amused as well at the creeping horror that Shio has when he realizes that Aleu, the schmuck Hræsvelgr is helping, is not doing a bit but really is that much of a schmuck, and his flirting with Kaguya was first-rate. That said, the best scenes were the serious ones, particularly the ones with Hræsvelgr. Her meltdown after discovering that the gang has gotten back together without her is painful to read. And of course then there’s Shio finally telling Hræsvelgr what he’s been avoiding – that merely by his followers being around the man they love, he is slowly being killed. Oh yes, and Shio also finds that most of what’s been happening is thanks to the complete dick who summoned his middle school class in the first place. He’s not happy.

There’s a third volume of this series out in Japan, but it hasn’t started serializing on JNC, so we may have to wait a bit. This continues to be better than I expected, and not very much like The Eminence in Shadow at all.

Goodbye, Horrible Fiancé, Hello, Fun Magic School Life!, Vol. 2

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By Mashimesa Emoto and Nitou Akane. Released in Japan as “Konyakusha wo Sutetara, Tanoshii Mahou Gakkou no Seikatsu ga Matteimashita” by GC Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

Usually, when you’re writing a romance, there are various tricks you can use to make sure that it doesn’t resolve itself too soon. The usual method is to have the protagonist be dense as a brick, and there’s a bit of that here, as Misha does not seem to realize just how utterly infatuated with her Vil has become. Another way, best suited for longer-running series, is to plant seeds of doubt in the protagonist’s mind, doubt that this is really love. Could they be lying? Could this be betrayal? Are they just being used? The author tries to do this with Misha and Vil as well, but it comes off a bit less well, mostly as she simply cannot fall for the obvious bait. She can’t picture Vil as anything but a swell guy. Which is good news for those who like sweet romance, but does mean that any conflict is gonna be delayed till Book 3. Which isn’t out in Japan yet.

Misha continues to do her best at school, even though her weak snow magic makes her struggle a lot of the time. She’s a little wary around Vil now that she knows his real identity. Unfortunately for her, he’s not about to give up on the one person who treats him like a normal human being. As such, she’s made Vil’s personal assistant, which naturally means she has to treat him the same and be around him all the time. She also volunteers to be staff at the next school dance, mostly as she doesn’t want to buy a new gown. Unfortunately, at the dance, a large number of students start collapsing with sickness, and they have to figure out what’s happened. As for her weak snow magic, well, you’ve read series like this before. It turns out it may, in fact, be strong, powerful magic, it’s just she’s been learning how to magic the wrong way this entire time. In other words, her school life is filled with protagonist-like events, as expected.

This was, once again, pleasant without really knocking me out. I am amused by Misha’s familiar Gem, who not only can seemingly do anything, and not only is hiding their true power from Misha, but is also a filthy little shipper, and manages to get Misha and Vil together despite her best non-efforts. I also liked the drama of the food poisoning at the dance, though I rolled my eyes a bit at the fact that everyone ended up getting a reward. If this is supposed to be a school set up around noble rules, there’s no way those first-years who came up with the food that made everyone ill would not be getting in at least a little trouble. As for the ongoing plot, it’s clear that someone really wants Vil dead, and since poison didn’t work, we’ll turn to vicious rumor. I’m not sure if the prince is in on it, but it wouldn’t surprise me. As for the romance, I did like the cute beta couple, thought once again, I can’t see this being an option if this is written in class war-ese rather than romance novel-ese.

So good, but not great, stuff. Now we wait for a third book.

Observation Records of My Wife: The Misadventures of a Self-Proclaimed Villainess, Vol. 4

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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 will admit, this is the first volume in the series that I wasn’t that wild about. It’s still great whenever Cecil is being Cecil or Bertia is being Bertia, but I get the sense the author thought of this as a two-book arc, and was determined to keep it that way despite the fact that the second book doesn’t have nearly the interest that the first one does. The first book in the arc had a “you’ll never marry my daughter!” dad and a shut-in mom, a deadly and attractive combination. This second book has a family of mostly airheads, and also has a girl who irrationally hates Kuro. Yes, the irrational hatred is the actual plot, and it does turn out to have a reason, but it makes her annoying and easy to dislike. I admit that I was counting pages towards the end there. Fortunately, the book is still narrated by Cecil, which automatically raises it up.

Last time we met Kuro’s family, this time we meet Zeno’s. His mother is a ditz… as are his four sisters, who don’t believe he actually has a girl who likes him, so kidnap him immediately and try to get him to marry the girl they approve of – the niece of the King of Light, Light Sparrow. She’s been sickly, especially lately. She also seems to really like Zeno when she meets him… but she takes an immediate, visceral dislike of Kuro, saying that she can sense she’s evil. This goes badly. Bertia tries to handle this by showing off how cute Kuro really is, which does not work at all. Cecil tries to figure out what is making Light Sparrow sick and why she relapsed, and this goes better. Finally, they return home to a big surprise.

There were a few things I did really enjoy. The revelation of what’s wrong with Light Sparrow ties back into much earlier in the series, and while it’s a bit of a handwave solution, I appreciated how it was handled on the human end, with Cecil, despite wanting to simply ignore it, giving in to Bertia’s kindness. Speaking of things typing back to plotlines I had actually completely forgotten about, one of the minor issues in and earlier book (Bertia’s maid has a “weak presence”, which causes people to ignore her) is also given a solution stemming from the spirit world, and I did appreciate the maid’s resolute “nope” to the solution being offered. Good for her. And then there’s the ending, which is pretty telegraphed, and not entirely unexpected. I did appreciate Cecil, on hearing the news, realizing he now has TWO people to love unconditionally. Cecil is, at best, lacking empathy, so it’s nice to see he’s not going the route of, say, the lead couple in I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!.

If you want to skip this book and start with the next one: Bertia wants to do Halloween, and Cecil will be making it more of a harvest festival with costumes. Also, she’s pregnant. This was OK.