Royal Spirits Are a Royal Pain! Give Me a Regular Romance, Vol. 4

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By Rei Kazama and Fujiazuki. Released in Japan as “Tensei Reijō wa Seirei ni Aisarete Saikyō Desu…… Dakedo Futsū ni Koi Shitai)” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by okaykei.

First of all, I feel the need to apologize to Karla, who I clearly jinxed in my last review. Thanks to her family, not only is she no longer a candidate for Prince Andrew’s hand, she’s barely in the book at all. She’s not particularly happy about this of course, and I think is quietly trying to get herself disowned as well. In the meantime, this is good news for Monica and Susanna, the other two candidates. First of all, because hey, Andrew is a catch and you get to be Empress, but also because the “loser” in the wife wars gets Chris, who is himself just as much of a catch. Of course, there’s also the elephant in the room, which is who Deirdre is going to marry. The longer she waits, the worse her options get, and the political kudzu that is her home nation means that there’s a limited number of partners available there. Fortunately, there is one obvious option.

Just as everyone learns about House Johannes blowing up Karla’s social status, the spirits come to take folks to Kohaku’s domain, so that the spirits can meet Andrew properly. This actually ends up defusing another small crisis, as the second prince, Eldred, has been feeling so guilt-ridden over what happened in previous books that he wants to leave the royal family altogether. Elsewhere, Deirdre is busy with her various projects, such as a book – one for children, one for young adults – about how to care for and raise spirits; getting a decent edible chocolate, with the help of Kamil and his country; watch how her other brother proves to be far more romantically adept that her and Chris will ever be; and also meet the spirits of other nations, who quickly get involved in a bidding war for her favor that promises to turn nasty in future volumes.

I appreciate the fact that, by the end of this volume, Deirdre has acknowledged her own ineptness when it comes to perceiving romantic interest, and she’s rapidly also coming to realize that her choice of potential partners who will not somehow make her life a misery is down to one. It was pretty clear in the third book that she and Kamil would be endgame, and it’s made crystal clear here. That said, the combination of Deirdre’s reluctance to get engaged at the age of ten, and her own discomfort with the fact that she’s not only an adult in a child’s body, but an immature adult n a child’s body, lead her to kick the can down the road. Fortunately, a road trip in the next book may help there. As for the rest of the book, there are a few dark suggestions of Deirdre’s future in the story of another woman who was found to be beloved by spirits, and possibly a reincarnator, who ended up killing herself out of depression. Let’s avoid that Bad End, please.

We’ve got a ways to go, though (this is book 4 of 13), so I’m sure there will be drama a-plenty before Deirdre gets both old enough and politically savvy enough to tie the knot. In the meantime, this is a great deal of fun.

The Twelve Kingdoms, Book Six: A Thousand Miles of Wind, the Sky at Dawn, Part 2

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By Fuyumi Ono and Akihiro Yamada. Released in Japan as “Kaze no Banri, Reimei no Sora” by X Bunko White Heart. Released in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. Translated by Kim Morrissy. Adapted by Monica Sullivan.

This is a book – well, the whole series is, but especially this book – with a message. This whole volume shows us what life is like in a city, and indeed a county, that is so used to corruption and venality that it doesn’t even matter that the new queen is supposed to be better than the old one, things will still continue. We see, over and over in this book, the normal law-abiding folks turning away whenever there’s something horrible going on – or worse, cheering it on – because they’re scared that if they speak up, it will happen to them and their loved ones. The trouble is… sometimes that happens anyway. Youko’s friend in the village, whose name I couldn’t remember from Book Five so I just called her “tragic girl who’s going to die”, lives up to her name. Fortunately, things do get better by the end of the book, as Youko finally comes to terms with that fact that, advisers or no, in the end, she’s the Queen.

Our three heroines continue along their journey of self-discovery. 1) Youko goes touring around the land of Wa in disguise, occasionally helping people out, and discovers that things are much, much worse than she expected… then goes back to the village where she’s staying to find death and disappearance; 2) Suzu decides, after the death of her friend by the evil guy in charge of the city, that murder is okay, but fortunately before she can put her poorly thought-out plan into action she hooks up with the local resistance group, who are here to tell you “murder is okay but only if you have a plan for post-murder”; 3) Shoukei, having finished being shown the life of an abused commoner and also having finished being educated about life in other countries by Rakushun, manages to hook up with the OTHER local resistance group. Eventually the three women meet each other, and they all agree that while murder may be OK, revolution is the way to go here.

The bulk of the character development here goes to Suzu, who got the least last time. She spends most of the first half of the book in a rage, snapping and deciding that murdering Shoukou will solve all her problems, then realizing that in fact it doesn’t solve the most important part, which is that she blames herself for Seishuu’s death, and then realizing that her entire life here to date was built around passively accepting abuse without doing anything, and that changing that is what she needs to do. Youko, meanwhile, simply needs to be galvanized into being proactive, and once she gets past “I don’t know enough about this world” by going on the road and finding out, she quickly cleans house and starts what will hopefully be a prosperous reign. As for Shoukei, she’s not only had recent experience as an abused commoner, but also years as a pampered princess. I admit her character arc here was a bit too “I’m suddenly mature now”, but hey, talking with Rakushun for weeks on end can do that to a person. I’m not sure we’ll see those two again (Youko I’m sure will turn up), but it was nice to follow their journey.

Next up… short story collection? Short story collection. Till then, please read this lovely series that reminds you that overthrowing the state can be a good thing… though admittedly it helps when the leader of the state is on your side.

Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden, Vol. 10

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By Umikaze Minamino and Katana Canata. Released in Japan as “Kyōran Reijō Nia Liston: Byōjaku Reijō ni Tenseishita Kami-goroshi no Bujin no Kareinaru Musō Roku” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by okaykei.

If you have been following A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even: The Anime, and felt that she was perhaps going a bit TOO far and getting a bit TOO evil, may I recommend the latest volume of Nia Liston? In which Nia gets very angry, and gets her revenge. But it’s the sort of revenge that may actually make everything better, and, while she confesses this is a surprise to her, no bad guys actually die who are not giant insects. Ah yes, that reminds me: if you like to see tiny ojou-samas fighting ants with the power of fists and kicks, also good news! Nia is here to kick ass and kick more ass, and she’s not remotely out of asses to kick. She does have a soft spot for her cute l’il orphans, of course, as well as the Fourth Princess, who she, um, literally buys. OK, that’s a bit too much like Livid Lady. But it’s OK, it’s not as a slave, it’s as her next disciple.

Having had her mansion destroyed by Mech Knights, Nia returns there to find that officials are busy erasing the evidence that there was any wrongdoing done there, and shortly thereafter they send Nia a bill for all the repairs. To the neighborhood. This is, by the way, while Shylrane has been desperately trying to get Nia on their good side, as she needs her to defeat the insects that are barely being held back by the country, which turns out to be on the verge of doom much more than folks know. Needless to say, Nia is unhappy with the bill. She decides to work off her stress by beating up the head of the mafia underworld, taking the contents of his safe, and then going on a bug-hunting party, where she wipes out the first level of the bugs – the only level, so far, the nation had been able to fight. This, of course, means the more dangerous bugs are no longer held back. And then she’s arrested and thrown in prison. Really, we’re very lucky this ISN’T Livid Lady…

I’ve always found the “Nia beats people up” part of this series to be the least interesting, and I always like it when the author throws in curveballs. Of which the biggest has to be Akashi’s obsession with inventing the car. This may seem baffling, given this is a book filled with sky islands, pirate airships, and flying cars, but the idea of cars on the ground – and, in particular, the prototypes crashing into walls – is not only hilarious and fun, but a terrific Magivision idea. Which, in case you forgot, is why Nia is here at all. I am also very amused with the Lynokis subplot. I’ve never had time for her stupid lolicon persona, which is present and incorrect here as always. But now Nia not only has a royal princess who’s studious and respectful towards Nia’s teachings, but also a young prodigy orphan girl who’s blazing through leaning about chi in record time. Seeing Nia get tired of her maid/bodyguard who doesn’t really want to get stronger is magical. As in it’s basically “let’s torture her”.

We’re still in the middle of this arc, but I am hoping that the next book has a bit less people being awful and a bit more filming reality TV. Oh yes, the anime is out soon!