From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 10

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By Shigeru Sagazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga Ore o Hōttekurenai Ken” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

This series has always been pretty light on the harem aspect. There are several girls, they kind of like our lead, he’s been told to find a wife. But honestly, right now no one is “main girl” and nothing is happening at all. This book in particular is uninterested in the question. possibly as the “main girl” of this book, if there is one, is Mewi, who definitely fills the “daughter” role more than a romantic interest. But, as the cover art indicates, the real star of this volume is Bel himself. He still is very bad at self-confidence, at seeing himself as anything but just some average guy with a sword. Which is unfortunate, as sometimes when you continue to improve, to get to the next level, you need to know that you can take on the best of the best and still triumph. And Bel has leveled up.

While cooking with Mewi, Bel cuts himself with a kitchen knife. He regards this as something that could happen to everyone, but those around him are startled. Then, at the training hall, he spars with Vesper, the guy who was nearly but not entirely killed a number of volumes ago, and is now well enough to start light training again. While fighting him, Bel notices that his eyes can see the future of what Vesper is about to do… and Bel is so flummoxed by this he loses. This *really* startles everyone. Now Bel has to worry: is this all a part of his getting old and starting to lose his edge? Or has he genuinely unlocked some instinctual skill? He’d better figure things out quickly, unfortunately; Mewi went out with friends one day and never came home.

I admit when I got to that plotline I was wondering if the answer would be “whoops, Mewi was doing something entirely innocent and it’s all a misunderstanding”. But no, Mewi is essentially going through the exact same thing Bel is, only he has decades more experience than she does and knows his own limitations (in fact, one might argue he exaggerates his own limitations). Mewi, on the other hand, is learning fast and getting stronger, to the point where she thinks she can take out some random kidnappers with the help of her friends… only to find they’re not just random thugs after all, and she really is still a kid who is learning. I am… grumpy about Bel slapping Mewi after she’s rescued, but I’ll gloss over it. As for Bel’s future vision, I’m pleased to see it has very definite limits, but it does also allow him to stay ahead of his young students for now… which means, of course, he will still think of them as students. Which ties back to the start. No wife for you.

The anime’s second season is going on, and it does a pretty good job. For those who want to read about a far too modest guy and his amazing sword skills, this is top tier.

The Isle of Paramounts: Reborn into a Slow Life Among the Strongest in the World, Vol. 4

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By Heiseiowari and Noy. Released in Japan as “Tenseishitara Saikyou Shu-tachi ga Sumau Shima deshita. Kono Shima de Slow Life wo Tanoshimimasu” by SQEX Novel. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alex Castor.

I was talking online about how comfy and relaxing I found this series, and someone pointed out some quotes I made while reading the first book that talked about how tired and cliched it was. And of course both things are correct. There’s nothing here that’s going to make you say “wow, that’s something I’ve never seen before” or “didn’t expect them to react like that!”. But it’s like a nice meat and potato stew in the middle of winter. There’s meat. There’s potatoes. There’s carrots. And that’s about it. You don’t really want much else. We’ve got lots of Arata and Reina being married in all but name but still too shy to do anything about it. They’re raising their adopted daughter, adopted niece, and girl who’s still a bit too loli to get into the harem sweepstakes but she’s working on it. And, of course, we have today’s cover star, the blonde vampire who is hundreds of years old. She’s exactly what you think as well. Thank goodness.

It is pointed out to Arata that while he visited the dragonfolk village, he hasn’t yet visited the ogrefolk village, so he and the rest of his family decide to do just that. There they find that it’s essentially a Japanese hot springs town, and the ogre vibe is so “Japan” that Arata is somewhat overwhelmed by the whole thing. He meets Sakuya, the sister of the ogre he met in previous books, and thankfully she’s not falling for him – though she does help accidentally facilitate the big fanservice scene of the book. A problem comes up, though, when Luna, who is hitting puberty but still can’t remember her ancestor (the trigger for it in this series), winds up possessed, then dying, then back to normal but occasionally possessed again. And then there’s Mina, who’s spent three volumes tormenting our main couple but it’s been hiding her true desires – and Arata wants to give them to her.

There’s some nice backstory for Mina here, which doesn’t tell us anything we hadn’t guessed but does help to set up the big problem. Arata’s wish is to have everyone on the island gather together in peace for a big banquet. Mina is a vampire who wants a really, really really good fight, so that she can finally die. These two are fundamentally incompatible, but this is basically a shonen series, so the outcome of their fight should not surprise you. Honestly, as blonde vampires go, Mina is on the nicer side all round, though Arata and Reina may disagree after she tries to seduce Arata in Reina’s body… and we’re told that she does the same for Reina in Arata’s body. I like to think of that as Mina being a stand in for the reader, who wants to knock their heads together and say “You two need to fuck”. As for the rest of the book, it’s cute. It’s relaxing. It’s uneventful, mostly.

That said, a large number of additional cast may hit in the next volume. We’ll see if that stirs the pot any. Till then, I’ve come to like this quite a bit.

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.