The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain, Vol. 8

Leave a reply

By Bakufu Narayama and Ebisushi. Released in Japan as “Danzaisareta Akuyaku Reijō wa, Gyakkō-shite Kanpekina Akujo o Mezasu” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Alyssa Niioka. Adapted by Vida Cruz-Borja.

So yeah, I get to deliver a big apology here. I was fuming at the end of the 7th book in the series, which I saw as throwing away most of the good character development that we’d seen at the start of the volume as if someone accidentally set Fermina’s switch to ‘good’ and now it was back to ‘evil. As it turns out, the author was doing this deliberately, and it played into the start of THIS book, which shows us what happened between all that character development and the big brutal ending. Which is a whole heaping helping of gaslighting from “Father Norris”, who is of course Cardinal Nigel. Essentially, after hanging out with the most evil character in the series and being fed lies, of course Fermina is going to snap. Fortunately, this is still a cut above most other villainess books with “bad heroines”, and we get a nice subplot where she realizes that, in fact, being played for a sucker is not something she wants to experience the rest of her life.

As noted above, the prologue shows Nigel twisting the truth into a pretzel about the very real issues with refugees. This leads to the start of the book proper, where Claudia is being taken by Nigel to an Inquisition, where she will quietly be burned to death. Fortunately for all concerned, Claudia has friends in low places, so manages to get rescued and have Nigel put under house arrest for re-entering the country. Unfortunately, this does not solve her being accused of witchery, so she heads to a port to lay low for a bit… and ends up running into a drug-fuelled conspiracy that’s supposed to manufacture more evidence that she’s evil. Can she fix things and also help the adorable children of the town who are just worried why their daddies aren’t coming home? Meanwhile, Sylvester has started to have nightly dinners with Fermina. Which are only partly about manipulating information from her.

So now that I know what was going on, I can once again really love Fermina’s plotline, which only lacks a reunion with her little red-haired girl from the previous book. Sylvester is very patient with her, but frankly, he doesn’t have to do much at all, because it turns out when she’s free of both Claudia *and* “Father Norris”, she’s actually pretty good about thinking things through and realizing how much everyone around her is trying to use her for their own purposes… even when it’s not “evil purposes”. I have also never been so happy that someone keeps a diary. I did appreciate the end when she and Claudia are reunited, as it’s very clear Fermina still is not remotely near being friendly with her, despite literally coming to her defense at her Inquisition. Some things are personal. As for Claudia, she’s reunited with Sylvester (though Helen gets all the affection… damn, why isn’t this yuri?), and they’re both determined to be married ASAP. I also really enjoyed her confession to Sylvester, which, contrary to her assumptions, mostly made him go “ah, so that’s why”.

The next book… does not have a wedding outfit, so don’t expect it to happen there. Still, it feels like we’re nearing an ending. Recommended to all villainess fans.

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Star Rod, Herald of Dawn

Leave a reply

By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian.

Last volume I started with the plot synopsis to avoid instant spoilers, but there’s no need for that here. The last volume featured several big surprises, not least of which was Lydia taking a curse meant for Allen and almost dying, a state that she pretty much stays in this entire book, so Lydia lovers may be a bit sad. (Good news about the next in the series, fear not.) But again, I think we were all expecting that. We were also expecting Allen’s reaction, and the theme of this book is that everyone knows what he’s going to do, they just have to figure out when he’ll do it and bring enough firepower to stop him. Allen’s never met a problem he won’t solve on his own by trying to sacrifice his own life, after all. They can read him like a book, despite his best poker face. Also, as it turns out he’s just like Lydia, really. When faced with her possible death, he also goes bonkers. Just… politely.

The author says the cover is a contrast to Tina on the cover of the first book, and certainly the climax of the story shows how far she’s come, both in terms of overall magic power and in terms of strategic thinking. (Admittedly, I think much of the strategy was Stella.) She is technically the second protagonist, so her doing cool things is welcome. No worries for Tina haters, though, she gets the first half of the book, where she’s so naive that she gets called a sucker by a great elemental. I also joked online about this biggest shock of the book being Ellie doing something, but she also gets more than once chance to be awesome. I really appreciated Allen trying to distract Ellie by mentioning her mother is actually alive, and her response being “fantastic but I’m going to stop you anyway”. And the other main heroines (bar Lydia, obviously) all get nice bits to do and show up near the end (bar Stella, Lily, and Cheryl, who are on “don’t let Lydia die” watch.)

The series remains a breezy, fun read, but its flaws are still its flaws. This series has a monstrous, gigantic cast, and you’re supposed to remember everyone. And just in case you don’t, the characters make sure to use everyone’s full name, nickname and job title whenever they meet them, just so that you can update your boards with little pins in them. The characters spend any time that they’re not having wacky romantic hijinks praising each other to the skies, to the point where it starts to get annoying. I love Ellie, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t need the entire cast to tell me how awesome she is. As for what they say about Allen, I can think of an appropriate metaphor, but I’ll keep this clean. It’s why this series will always be fun but not great.

Still, good news, Lydia fans! No, not her eventual return in Book 21, though I’m pretty sure that happens too. But we’re getting a Volume 0, taking place during Allen and Lydia’s time at the academy. Will we finally see the backstory that’s been hinted for so long? (This came out in Japan at the same time as Book 20, but you know North American publishing doesn’t work that way.)

Once Upon a Witch’s Death: The Curtain Rises on a Neverending Story

Leave a reply

By Saka and Chorefuji. Released in Japan as “Aru Majo ga Shinu Made: Hateshinai Monogatari no Maku ga Agaru” by DENGEKI no Shin Bungei. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Megan Turner.

I guess I should start with something of a content warning. If you are deeply religious… well, you’re likely not reading Japanese light novels. But it did not escape my attention that a large chunk of this book gives the word “messianic” a whole new meaning. To be fair, Meg Raspberry being the greatest thing since sliced bread is not new to this series. However, she’s taking her act on the road now, and there’s a section in the Middle East where we learn about an all-loving savior who used prayer to heal the world. Named Asura, so we’re mixing and matching mythology here, and I guess I should be grateful he wasn’t explicitly called Jesus. Suffice it to say, though, Meg manages to do everything he did and even more, and saves the world to an even greater extent. It is a bit ridiculous, to be frank, and my “folks who hate OP don’t read this” warning should now be extended to “folks who hate literal miracle working.”

(See, even the cover is religious-tinged.) After the events of the last book, Meg is something of a celebrity among the Witch community. Back home, though, she’s not having a good time, being plagued by prophetic nightmares that are interrupting her sleep. Also, Faust invites Eldora to their home, and Meg discovers that Eldora was once Faust’s apprentice and daughter surrogate as well… and also learns much darker secrets. Now she and Faust are all awkward around each other so it’s great timing that she’s asked by Bennett, the Head Witch, to go on a tour of war-torn battlefields to use the emotional magic that she showed off in order to help save lives and heal the land. She agrees, mostly as this tour will end in Orloff, the country she was born in, laid waste and destroyed by… the witch Eldora.

Lest you worry this is all drama and tragedy, there is still a heaping helping of Meg being incredibly bubbly and annoying, and hitting on women while she continues to talk about a harem of hot guys. That said, the bulk of this book is to expand Meg’s world. She visits places where you have to prioritize which lives to save, and it’s no surprise that “the poor” is lowest on the list. She goes to places where a tree, much like the one she dealt with in the second book, has leeched all life and hope from the land, and the country’s religion is reduced to thievery. And she goes to Orloff, filled with the crystallized corpses of the country’s people, including Meg’s mother (who she finds a bit ridiculously easily, but hey, I’ll handwave it.) This is all well and good, but there’s also ominous foreshadowing. She’s got about 100 tears of joy to collect with 50 days to go, but I think the reader pretty much has figured out that there’s one witch who won’t survive the next book, and it’s not Meg. What is Faust planning, besides trying to assuage her guilt by any means necessary?

I’m really enjoying this series, and the next volume will be the finale. For those who like witches who are full of themselves but absolutely can back up their talk.