A Wicked Lady’s Guide to Accidentally Saving the Kingdom, Vol. 1

Leave a reply

By Manzi Mazi and Yuuya. Released in Japan as “Gokuaku Reijou no Kanchigai Kyuukokuki” by PASH! Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Amanogawa Tenri.

There is a running gag throughout this book where a character is screaming at the top of their lungs in the face of Lettie, the titular wicked lady, and she tells them “TOO LOUD!”. That’s sort of how I felt about the book. It’s a comedy, you see, and it makes sure you know that on every page. There aren’t any straight men here – or rather, because there aren’t, Lettie is frequently forced to be the straight man, which is annoying as it’s her own weird quirks that are supposed to be what this series is about. Her conceit is that she does wonderful things for everyone in her land while pretending that it’s all due to her selfish evilness, but we never really get a backstory about how she came to that idea, and it honestly reads, as many of the newest light novels read, like the author noticed a trend and decided to do a book with that trend. And, well, this has 4+ volumes, so I guess it worked?

Lettie Ungaria is a wicked, evil villainess. She’ll tell you so herself, as she walks through her fancy mansion, announcing to her strangely devoted and grateful servants that she will work them to the bone (for 8 hours, after which they get free time, and of course weekends off). She’s horrible! She buys slaves from a slave trader (who turn out to be the first prince and his loyal army, fleeing from a revolution). She’s wicked! She walks through her city denigrating passersby as she tells them about the potential skin cancer and dental issues that they really should get looked at. Sure, OK, she’s yet another sixteen-year-old who looks ten, but can’t have everything. Unfortunately, everyone keeps calling her really sweet and kind, and there’s a rumor she’s even nicknamed a saint! What’s a wicked lady to do?

So, aside from Lettie being forced to be the least eccentric person in this book about her eccentricities, what else annoyed me? I’m never going to like the pervert guy character, even if you do make him super powerful as well. The prince’s emotional reserve bordering on stoicism is meant to tie into a tragic backstory but, again, looks like the author just wanted that type. The revolution itself gets a brief look-in and it’s the only part of the book that’s not “wacky” – which is a problem because that means it’s a wacky comedy with a scene where a villain decapitates multiple women and talks the new King into murdering his vassals and engineering wars. Clearly we’re going to see more of him later, but since he only shows up in that one scene, it’s just off-putting. And while I do think Lettie’s excuses for handing out money like it’s candy are meant to be seen as flimsy, we still don’t have the backstory to make that work, so it just looks halfhearted.

While Livid Lady made me livid, Wicked Lady just makes me sad. Where are the villainesses of yesteryear?

The Tiny Witch from the Deep Woods, Vol. 5

Leave a reply

By Yanagi and Yoh Hihara. Released in Japan as “Mori no Hashikko no Chibi Majo-san” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Nathan Macklem.

As I was reading this fifth volume, I mentioned online that Misha almost dies, and was warned about spoilers. Is it a spoiler, though? Now, “Misha dies”, that would be a spoiler, and we’d have to find a different tiny witch to take over. But no, if there’s one thing this book shows us, it’s that Misha may have dramatic things happen to her, but she is blessed by the author, and therefore everything revolves around her as it should. She’s on a ship filled with salty old sailors, but she’s so shiny that they all love her. She fishes in the sea for the first time, and the fish all bite. She sees dolphins, they do a little dance for her. Even when bad things inevitably do happen to her, they are part of the action and designed to get her to the next place where the plot demands. Which, and again, this is not much of a spoiler, is not going to be the village of the People of the Forest after all.

Misha and Ryne, along with a seasick Ren, are on a boat headed towards their village. They had to choose between a dangerous land voyage and a dangerous sea voyage, and went with the faster one. For the first third of the book or so, things are great. Misha gets along with everyone, catches some tasty fish, helps out when a sailor falls and breaks a shoulder, and is generally a plucky young girl, in the cheerful sense. Then pirates attack, and she becomes a plucky young girl, in the stressful sense, as when the pirates fail, one tries to kidnap her as she looks rich, and she ends up falling in the sea. Fortunately, ridiculous things happen, and she ends up being helped by a young man in a fishing boat, who takes her to his village that is hidden away from the rest of the world. Which is… bad news for those trying to find her.

I suspect we’re going to be at this village for at least a book or two, and we get introduced to a lot of new regulars. I really liked Ella, the apprentice to the village doctor who is a whole bunch of quirks all at once. She’s a bit hyperactive and ADHD, she has a perfect photographic memory but hates studying, she was a mother at 15, and she both really likes and also feels a tiny bit jealous of Misha, who is a couple years younger than her but already an experienced apothecary. We also get introduced to the village gods, who, it should not surprise readers who recall the last time we met this world’s gods, are not what they seem. Misha, of course, can’t leave this alone, which I think will be both good and bad for her, and I hope she does not end up burned at the stake. And while I joked about it a bit, the village having magical “even homing birds can’t find us, you’re totally stuck” powers made me roll my eyes a bit. Not Deus ex Machina or Diabolus ex Machina, just a “Well, whatever” Machina.

Next time, no doubt, Misha will be plucky, get into trouble, and win people over by medicine and being really nice. Should be fun.

From Two-Bit Baddie to Total Heartthrob: This Villainess Will Cross-Dress to Impress!, Vol. 6

Leave a reply

By Masamune Okazaki and Hayase Jyun. Released in Japan as “Mob Dōzen no Akuyaku Reijō wa Dansō Shite Kōryaku Taishō no Za wo Nerau” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Caroline W.

Every so often with these Villainess books I have to double check the imprint to make sure if they’re a Heart title or not. You’d think with this one it would be obvious. The entire premise is that all the men in the series are in love with Elizabeth, and she is unaware that they are. And to be fair, the series does a good job of keeping a “balanced harem” so you’re not sure who the winning guy will be, or even if there will be a winning guy, as Elizabeth states multiple times that she has no real interest in marriage and doesn’t even know what being in love is like. But we’re six volumes in, and I admit that I’m probably biased towards the one yuri option, but still, I have to say: these guys are kinda dull? I really cannot imagine Elizabeth with any of them, and clearly neither can she. Isaac is her bestie. Robert is a loyal dog. It’s a bit sad.

We’re back at school, and Elizabeth has suddenly realized that what with all the stuff happening to her this summer, she never finished her homework. (Let’s be honest, she wasn’t going to do it anyway.) After attempting to copy off Isaac, she ends up having to do extra studying, which ends up with her and Isaac getting caught up in the Witch subplot from the last book, and Elizabeth accidentally being a bit dumber than usual (impressive given she’s not that bright) and giving away that she knows who her teacher really is. Oh yes, and her masochistic foreign stalker is worse than ever. Given all of this, it should probably come as a relief to her when she actually does get influenced by the ghost, but in fact it ends up being terrible for all concerned, because an Elizabeth with nothing holding her back is the most terrifying thing ever.

As always, the series is at its best when it’s deconstructing the otome games tropes it’s filled with. The identity of the witch appears to be something entirely out of left field (and, like Elizabeth, I had completely forgotten they existed), but if you remember the audience for this game, things make a bit more sense. I also like the fact that the second game was actually a bit of a failure, and they never made any more. For one thing, it helps make losers like Yoh a bit more tolerable. But yeah, sorry, once again it’s the chemistry between Elizabeth and Lilia that most interests me – mostly the fact that they have chemistry at all. The fact that Lilia has actually confessed means that she’s the only one Elizabeth consciously seduces in order to get her way, or to prove a smug point, or just for the hell of it – Elizabeth clearly loves being seductive. Which is good news for her, and whichever guy this series may end up choosing, but bad news for Lilia, who is quite rightly pissed off at all of this. Though admittedly her yandere tendencies are not helping at all. Also, Lilia, please decide if you are gay or just Liz-sexual.

There’s at least one more book in this series, but I must admit I find it far more interesting to see how Elizabeth’s mind works (notice how often she calls herself a villain in this book) than in who gets to marry her.