Spy Classroom: Monika’s Thin Veneer

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By Takemachi and Tomari. Released in Japan as “Spy Kyoushitsu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Thrasher.

Don’t worry, this is still Erna’s arc. I’m sure she’ll get the next cover. But each of these books has featured one of the main characters going beyond, finding new ways to live, new ways to be a spy, and new ways to cope with what they are inside, and then getting ushered off the stage for a while. Last time it was Sara, who spends this volume in prison, being tortured. (I was going to bitch once more about how fiction makes people believe torture works great, but the convoluted plot this series always has makes it work.) And this volume it’s Monika, who gets what may be the best “big action scene fight” we’ve seen in this series to date, and makes the most of it. Because she’s up against Nike, who is strong as hell, smart as hell, and angry as hell. This is a good matchup for Monika, then, who is also strong, smart, and angry. And, as it turns out, they may have even more things in common.

We pick up where we left off, with everything being terrible. Sara is in prison and getting the crap beaten out of her, and we hear that she’s revealed the names of her companions. Erna has PTSD after dealing with Nike, a mental block that makes her natural twitchy mess of a self even more of a twitchy mess. And Annette… is Annette, I’m afraid, no matter how much Erna might be trying to make her see the virtue of not being a psychopath. Fortunately, there are more allies. There’s Sybilla, who accomplishes a hell of a lot in this book by just going around, helping people, and talking to them. There’s Thea, who does what she does best – having amazing sex in order to advance the aims of her nation. And there’s Monika, who sees that Nike has made Erna scared and decides that the best solution to this problem is to kill Nike. Easy peasy.

I remain impressed at how this series is handling Monika’s sexuality. It’s a core part of her character. Its illegality in her nation means that suppressing it, keeping her feelings inside, is not only natural to her but what is the right thing to do for her. And she recognizes that in Nike as well, recognizes a fury and drive that stems from a repressed love for another woman. They’re kindred spirits, and Nike even says that she’s incredibly upset Monika isn’t on her side. (There’s also Thea, who sleeps with both men and women in this book, but her arc is more about “enjoying sex is not only part of my job, it’s also great, and I’m not a slut because I have it.) I also appreciated that – finally! – we got a flashback to Monika’s heart to heart with Lily. Monika being Monika, she triers to do the “let’s pretend it never happened” thing, but Lily doesn’t want to do that. She realizes that she hates it when guys leer at her because of her body (can I read this as a tacit critique of most Spy Classroom artists – she gets more skeevy fanart than the other girls combined) and the only thing holding her back is her inexperience with love at all. Basically, I like that this series makes LGTBQ issues part of the intrinsic plot without making the romance the point or making it for fanservice.

The author says the 5th SS collection is next, but bad news, we already had that one. As a result, we have to wait to see when Yen schedules 12, which I think wraps up this arc. Good luck, Erna! And your increasingly small number of allies!

BLADE & BASTARD: Saga of the Unknown Adventurers

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By Kumo Kagyu and so-bin. Released in Japan as “Blade & Bastard” by Dre Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

I think this may be the 6th time I’ve said this, but I have never played or delved into Wizardry. And so far this hasn’t really been too much of a problem. There’s the vague annoyance of the parenthetical telling you that someone’s mental well-being is really something you should roll for, i.e. all the “hit points”. There’s the hilarity that sometimes comes when one of the ridiculously named spells is accidentally something familiar – TILTOWAIT in this book just kept making me think of the amusement park ride Tilt-a-Whirl. But in this volume, I really get the sense that the author is talking about backstory the reader should already know. Are these characters – who everyone seems to know except Raraja, who I have never identified with more than I do now – something from the Lore? Are they part of spinoffs, sequels, side-stories? And in the end, do I really need to care? Or can I go back to thinking that Iarumas and Ainikki really need to bone?

We pick up right where we left off. The prince is missing (and sorry, court ladies, I guess you’re all really dead dead after all), and the dungeon is being overrun by essentially possession goop monsters. Iarumas’ group has to go down there, as they’re the main characters. Schumacher’s group is also going down there, as they’re the less good, more realistic ones. And as for the top party in the city… well, they’re missing, whoops. It will come as no surprise to learn that the bulk of this book is spent is a slow, almost lethal, sometimes actually lethal dungeon crawl, with trick doors, hidden doors, hidden chutes, zombie dragons, and everything else a teenage boy could want to roleplay with. And when they finally reach their destination… wow, are we finally getting Iarumas characterization? Yes! Spoiler: he shows multiple emotions in this book!

Generally speaking, Japanese light novels tend to have first person narration, or third person omniscient. This one has the POV spin from character to character from scene to scene, and frequently within the same scene. One could argue this is bad writing, and to a degree it is, but it also helps to get across the desperation and determination this book is meant to ooze. Iarumas’ party have become, mostly thanks to Garbage, something pretty famous, but the party themselves are filled with doubt and fear. Schumacher’s party is filled with even more of that, along with a heaping helping of self-loathing (hell, even the left-behind childhood friend seems to hate herself), despite the fact that they’re really freaking awesome this book. There’s also a lot of trying to get past the thing you hate the most, be it a dragon that killed you before, a demon that enslaved you before, or just an evil boss who has your face but does a lot more than you do. Ah well. In the end, we can always listen to the words of Garbage. “Arf”, she said.

We’re caught up with Japan again, but fortunately this book finishes up the arc. What will happen next? My guess: dungeon crawling.

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 48

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

I had not realized that it had been over a year since the last volume of Rokujouma. The author apparently had heart issues that left them in the hospital for a while. As such, it’s something of a relief to hear that the series is coming to a close soon – thought I’ll take “soon” with a grain of salt, given I originally thought this was gonna end at Volume 29. This is also the 50th book in the series, counting the two .5 volumes, and I was wondering if we’d get an old-fashioned short story volume of fluff to celebrate. But no, we’re in the middle of the big final arc, and there’s no time for delays. As such, the bulk of this book is something that can be fun to read about but is very difficult to review: it’s strategizing and fighting, as our heroes try to rescue Kenji and Nalfa from the clutches of the Gray Knight. That said, if I’m being honest, having Kenji around may be just what the Gray Knight needs right now.

Kenji has figured out who the Gray Knight is, and is trying to see what makes him tick… as well as get a little more freedom so that he can check on Nalfa, who spends most of this volume asleep or depressed. Also depressed is Koutarou, who is dwelling a lot more than he should. Fortunately, although a lot of contingency plans failed, and some people even died, Clan’s last contingency plan worked, and they can mount a rescue mission much quicker than the enemy might expect. They end up on a planet that seems ready for battle, with drones galore, automatic defenses, and reinforcements coming – for the Gray Knight. So things are not looking great. Fortunately, Koutarou not only has a harem, but it’s a Battle Harem, so he and the girls are all in sync with each other and ready to kick ass and rescue their friends!… maybe.

While it’s always nice to see the girls again, and I enjoyed seeing Sanae, Shizuka and Theia kicking ass, and Maki and Nana being really clever, the most interesting parts of the book revolved around the hostages. Kenji knows that the Gray Knight is really Koutarou from an alternate world, but is trying to figure out how he ended up the way that he did. We’re reminded that Koutarou has the power of eight dead girlfriends at his beck and call, with only Sanae (yeah, remember alt-Sanae? It seems so long ago) missing, and we have assumed, to be honest, that the major point of divergence was that something went wrong and he lost nearly everyone. But that’s not the case, as we find out here. This is a Koutarou that grew up without KENJI. A Koutarou that never ended up trusting anyone because he never had that first crack that made him begin to open up. That’s really fascinating. And it helps me accept the fact that in the end we read 160 pages of fighting back only to achieve very little. They’re still hostages, and will be as long as Kenji gets to play therapist.

There won’t be nearly as long a wait for the next book, though that will catch us up with Japan again. Stay healthy, author!