Tearmoon Empire: Short Story Collection, Vol. 1

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By Nozomu Mochitsuki and Gilse. Released in Japan as “Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Madeleine Willette.

It’s honestly rather surprising that we haven’t had one of these yet for Tearmoon Empire. Other light novel series are very fond of their .5 volumes or added bonus story collections – hell, Spy Classroom almost has more short story collections than regular volumes. But Tearmoon Empire has pretty much been too busy with Mia trying to save history and make it so she’s not guillotined, poisoned, or does not otherwise live to see her grandchild grow up. As a result, we not only have this collection, which seems to go up to about the 9th or 10th book in the series in terms of the timeline, but there’s a second already out in Japan. I’m not certain if they’re bookstore exclusive-type short stories or if they’re written for this volume. One thing is for sure, though, which is that while Tearmoon Empire is hilarious, and also a thriller, and sometimes a mystery, one of the things it does best is show off that doing good things, and paying it forward, makes everyone happier.

There are too many short stories here to give a breakdown as I sometimes do. I will therefore note some of my favorites, starting with the wraparound plot. Empress Mia, now a grandmother, is having trouble sleeping because her husband Abel is away visiting Sion, no doubt for another sword battle. As it turns out, Bel is also awake, mostly so she can get into mischief. To prevent this, Mia starts telling Bel old stories from back in her teenage years, i.e. around Book 1-10. Anne later shows up, and the whole vibe of these sections is just so nice to see. Seeing Mia at rest, having accomplished what she set out to do, and everyone else living their best lives, just puts a big silly grin on your face. I also loved the glimpses into Mia’s mother, and how this passes down into the wedding dress she shows her father before she marries Abel.

There’s also another ongoing plotline throughout this, which has to do with how Mia’s story is being retold. I’ve talked before about who I think the identity of the snarky narrator of this series is, and while we don’t delve into that we do get two other strands of the story escaping from the bounds of reality. Mia and company go to see a theater group putting on a “fictional” play that seems a little too real to Mia… it’s her life, right down to the time travel! The writer seems to get divine inspiration, rather than it being sinister, but I did love Mia wondering when she’ll tell Abel the truth about herself, as she knows she’ll have to one day. The other subplot shows Mia trying to stop everyone overselling her accomplishments – Elise’s history books have Mia literally flying, something that causes the actual Mia to cringe in embarrassment. She reassures herself that everyone will realize it’s exaggerated. That does not, in fact, happen. Sorry, Mia, you’re just that amazing to everyone. Even Ludwig. (The fountain pen gift, and how Mia makes him accept it, was also brilliant.)

Basically, these stories put a smile on your face and a song in your heart. Now let’s get back to the main plot, as if Mia is killed off in Book 17 all this may be irrelevant.

Royal Spirits Are a Royal Pain! Give Me a Regular Romance, Vol. 3

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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.

It continues to be entertaining watching Deirdre wondering why everyone in the cast considers her to be less of a human and more of a monster – or worse, a bomb. It’s especially amusing watching Chris and Alan doing it, because of course those two are also considered to be not quite the same as normal humans in their peer group. In this book full of nobles and their politics,l this is definitely a top-down series – the crown prince, dukes, and marquises are heavily involved, as are their children, and it tends to be counts and barons who end up wither as the villain of the subplot or struggling to accomplish what the rest of the cast can easily do. One reason that light novel authors have glommed onto noble teenage politics is that it’s the best of both worlds – you can write all the pretty rich kids and courtship you want, and then see them screw it up, as they’re teens. Albeit teens with assassins after them, in some cases.

Deirdre is ten yours old, which means at last she gets to attend the magical noble academy that’s a staple of all these books. If nothing else, that should at least slow down Prince Andrew, who continues to drop by their estate to chat whenever he feels like it. She also reunites with Kamil, the young boy she mistook for a girl four years prior. He and his suspicious merchant friend are trying to sell them chocolate… but alas, it’s “we don’t have modern conveniences” chocolate, so she’s not as delighted as they hoped. And there’s also a heaping helping of romantic tomfoolery, as almost all kids are engaged by the time they’re fifteen in this world. The prince is interviewing marriage candidates, an arrogant guy is trying to break up a true love couple (we know how that will go). As for Deirdre? Well, she’s not interested in anyone right now, but the author does give us a few hints.

Sorry to anyone thinking she’d end up with the prince, but a) clearly having her as a queen would be a disaster and they both know it, and b) Kamil is given over one-third of the entire novel, as we hear of his entire tragic backstory and his present struggles, including his own POV of his initial meetings with Deirdre. Foreign prince, still somewhat a secret prince, who’s handsome and clever but has also renounced his title so she can do whatever she wants with him? Yeah, this guy’s endgame, though it may take a while. Taking less time is Deirdre and her posse starting to grow up to be incredibly powerful young women… though admittedly with some of them it may be with regret. (Karla, you need to get it together, as I suspect you’re right in Andrew’s sights.) There’s also some really good heartwarming stuff among this intrigue – I enjoyed Deirdre’s happy memories of her family back in Japan, which had a “difficult dad”, and I was also surprised when the standard “there’s a rumor of a ghost” turn out to be not only 100% true but they even got the identity of the ghost right.

This thankfully lacks the high body count of the 2nd book, so is more relaxing (leaving aside Kamil’s backstory), but I’m still intrigued to see how things play out in future books. A lot of fun.

My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 15

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By Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka. Released in Japan as “Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei Shite Shimatta…” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Joshua Douglass-Molloy.

While it’s still a disappointment to the Western fandom who still wishes it were a lot more gay, there’s no doubt that recent volumes of Bakarina have been much better than the doldrums of the single digits where the author was asked to write more but didn’t really have much of a plan. This now reads like it’s traveling to a destination, at least in terms of the dark magic plotline and the state of the country. In terms of the romance, things are still pretty much at 1) Jeord, 2) Maria, 3) everyone else. This volume has a new character (though don’t get attached to them), lots of backstory going back hundreds of years, a final battle that comes close to taking out our heroine and villainess, and a bountiful amount of produce. All this plus Mary at her absolute cattiest, and Jeord at *his* absolute cattiest. These are getting to be a lot of fun again.

After a brief “let’s have all the original love interests together in one scene” bit where they harvest the sweet potatoes from Katarina’s garden, she’s off to the ministry, trying to stop Raphael from overworking himself to death… which he has to do as Larna has been busy at the palace lately. Katarina knows that’s because she’s really Susannah, but the other’s don’t. Things really get going, though, when Katarina’s body is possessed by a dark spirit… one who’s been asleep for five hundred years! Katarina knows this plot, it’s part of the 2nd game that she’s watched in dreams… only there it happened to Maria. As it turns out this spirit, Lucie, is closely tied to a tragedy from long ago… the details of which may be very important to stop it reoccurring. Especially as those folks from 500 years ago seem awfully familiar.

Lest folks misunderstand, there’s no indication that Katarina and Maria are somehow going to go back in time or anything. But several people mentioned here, particularly Susannah’s magic tutor and Lucie’s master, are described in such a way that makes me suspect they’ve been reincarnated from Japan and are, like Katarina, a wee bit eccentric. It’s even more obvious with Jean, who has her own Maria Campbell as her best friend… or rather Maria’s ancestor. I liked how this tied into a folklore tale from her own family, rather than (as I suspected would happen) reading it in the white magic book she’s been translating. As for Lucie, she’s sweet and cute and what happened to her was very tragic… and what happens to her here is slightly less tragic, but also bittersweet. I’m not exactly sure what we’re doing with all this backstory, though it may also tie into a generation before, when the throne war wiped out so many people. Unfortunately, a cliffhanger implies the wrong sort of people might also be better informed.

If you’re reading Bakarina for the plot or characters, this is really solid. And she’s still not interested in romance at all, so status quo there.