Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 17

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By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

Last time I was quite happy, as the author was setting up the end of the series, and there was a lot of non-gaming stuff… well, a little bit of non-gaming stuff… that I could get my hands on. This volume is gaming gaming gaming, and the number of times ‘Kaede’ and ‘Risa’ appear in it is zero. As such, here I am again trying to wring five hundred words (see what I did there?) out of “and then Maple put on her angel throne thing again and they all won”. That said, there are differences here. Maple started this series by essentially playing by vibes, and getting ahead by doing stuff no normal gamer would think of. While the words “normal gamer” still don’t apply to her, she is now thinking like a veteran, and knows when to use her gonzo build to acquire additional buffs that will help her get by in future levels. Our Maple has grown up.

The nostalgia tour continues, as Maple and Sally wander the tenth level, which is made up of bits of the previous levels, and try to get bits of the “demon king’s mana” which will help them in the final floor battle. This means hitting the third level part to teach Maple how to use those flying shoes a lot better than she did last time, as well as help Iz (who reminds us again that everyone in Maple Tree is eccentric and looney tunes a bit). They walk the clouds of the fifth level, where they deal with clouds that may suddenly be less walkable than is ideal. They help Kasumi with her quests on the fourth level, meaning it’s a lot of antiquing and sword battles. And they even team up with Lily, which mostly means that she and Maple can combine to make an even more terrifying atrocity. That said, we all know the Demon Lord battle is not gonna be the end of this book.

There is one bit of through line with the previous book, and it’s Sally pining for Maple. No, not that way – I wish – but there’s a scene where they have to decide if one part coming up will be PvP or party vs. monsters, and you can feel Sally’s anguish as Maple obviously chooses the second. Sally really really REALLY has a fight boner for Maple by now, to the point where she fights both Frederica *and* Velvet and neither one can touch her because she’s saving her first time for … look, sometimes a cigar isn’t just a cigar. The trouble is that Sally has internalized “Maple hates PvP and will agree to this but be unhappy” in her mind, and has therefore decided without bothering to ask Maple at all. I other words, in case it wasn’t clear, Sally is a teenager. Maple is not the girl you remember, Sally. She’s grown up.

All this plus Iz has a tank, something that I really feel should have had the cover art, but oh well. Two volumes to go, hang in there, yuri fans. Your scraps that are plausibly deniable will be coming.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: Hannelore’s Fifth Year at the Royal Academy, Vol. 2

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Hannelore no Kizokuin Gonensei” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

It’s been a while since we last saw Hannelore, chasing her love into the past and learning a valuable lesson, that lesson being “Wilfried is not the one”. (Wilfried waxes and wanes as the books require it, but he is absolutely not at his best in this book – I equated his thought process on social media to that of a bagel.) On the bright side, the goddess has allowed her to remember everything she did in the past, and all her character growth. Oh, don’t worry, she still blushes a lot and shies away from the idea that anyone would be in love with her for anything other than political reasons. But in many other ways she’s grown and matured a huge amount. Which is good, as, well, she accidentally created a huge crisis, and Rozemyne is not around to help fix things this time. Mostly as Rozemyne is off in her own adventures… offscreen. Yeah, sorry, she is Miss-Not-Appearing-In-This-Book.

Hannelore is back in the present, and everything has gone bonkers. Since the Goddess of Time used Hannelore’s body as a vessel, everyone is now also saying she’s chosen by the Gods, despite Hannelore pointing out that she was just a messenger. That, plus the fact that she fixed her poor reputation during the recent war, means EVERYONE now wants her hand in marriage… and are challenging Dunkenfelger for it. Sometimes this is merely annoying (most of the lower duchies). Sometimes it’s a lot more serious (Ortwin, who tries to make his case that he really does love her, but suffers from his reputation). And sometimes it’s a nightmare, as Sigiswald is still after her, and he’s set up this Bride-Stealing Ditter match to get her, by hook or by crook. Unfortunately, for everyone who is not part of Dunkenfelger, no one knows what Bride-Stealing Ditter really entails.

It’s hard to talk about this book in brief, as it’s filled with terrific moments. My first favorite moment comes when Hannelore meets with Eglantine, and it becomes very clear that Eglantine, like most people (and the readers) assume that this is just a big soccer match. In reality, Bride-Stealing Ditter is frequently lethal, and a lot more like the war they just had. Eglantine assumes that Hannelore, being a fluffy bunny sort of person, will object to this. Hannelore, though, is only a fluffy bunny sort of person compared to the rest of her friends and family, and is not backing down on this. They need to prepare to die, she says. (Eglantine does not have a fun book.) My other favorite moment is right at the end, when she turns down Ortwin’s marriage proposal. She explains that the protection and sympathy he can offer her, even if it does come from love, is something she doesn’t need anymore and has grown past. She admits if he asked a year ago she might have accepted, but his “timing was poor”. Given that this is something Hannelore has always seen as her biggest weakness, the irony is absolutely delicious.

We end before we get the ditter itself, and while I would never wish death on anyone, Sigiswald is fictional, so come on, throw me a bone. Bookworm fans should be quite happy.

The Tanaka Family Reincarnates, Vol. 6

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By Choko and kaworu. Released in Japan as “Tanaka-ke, Tensei Suru” by Dragon Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sasha Schiller.

Haaaah. Did I say the 5th volume was Part 1 of 2? Try Part 1 of 3. That said, a lot of what was potentially horrible was taken care of in this volume, and for once it was not directly due to Emma and her family. Though you could argue they did it indirectly. It’s also a great example of how this series can have drama, with real consequences, and then turn on a dime and have the most hilarious bullshit imaginable. The first prince returns from the West, and there’s something… off about him. The Queen can tell something’s wrong, but can’t prove it, and everyone else thinks that things are absolutely fine. But then, he talks to Rose, the king’s concubine who we remember from previous volumes… and doesn’t stare at her enormous breasts. And this fact is SO mind-boggling that everyone immediately gets on board with him being compromised and starts to investigate. The sublime and the ridiculous are married in this series, ad it makes things even funnier, as it takes the edge off the fact that there’s about to be a war.

Emma is back at school, despite most of the student body convinced that she’s dying due to being Too Frail For Words. And just in time, as they’re all going on a field trip to view monsters in the forest, an incredibly dangerous foray that few usually do… except not only are all three Stewarts going, but so are all of Emma’s besties. Naturally the rest of the student body falls into line, including Edward and Arthur… and the King, who has somehow managed to finagle himself onto this so he can see what monsters are really like. What they all find is that this is all part of a crafty plan the Western Empire have been doing to invade and wipe out the kingdom, something unheard of in an age where all nations unite to fight monsters. Is it already… too late?

Lest you think that there’s not enough of Emma being a disaster here, think again. One of the big emotional climaxes also balances between trying to bring the King, who is out of his mind due to being covered with monster blood (which acts like a drug), back to his senses, and also trying to feel the King up because Emma is a giant pervert who loves middle-aged dudes. That said, it’s not ALL laughs. The invasion is very real, and while Juana feels bad about it she is also very dedicated to firing the cannons that will lead to mass death in the capital… death that does not happen thanks to the cats and bugs playing a giant game of “hit the cannonball”. And of course the book ends with the Western Empire sending in very dangerous monsters, which make even the Stewarts act seriously as opposed to just seeing them as food and/or goods. By the end of this book, we’re still about to be at war.

So yeah, things look bad, but they’ve already solved most of the really dangerous issues, and I’ve no doubt that Book 7 will be really silly. Let’s just remember the lesson learned from this volume: no man can resist looking at a pair of really exceptional tits. Unless they’re mind-controlled.