Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools, Vol. 12

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By Hisaya Amagishi and Hachi Komada. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by A.M. Cola.

It has not escaped my attention that the Lucia and the Loom spinoff series to Dahlia in Bloom has not had a volume out in Japan for the last three years. I was reminded of it with the plot for this book, 2/3 of which revolved around Jonas, Guido’s attendant and one of the many suitors in the Lucia partner sweepstakes. You’d assume that, with a much larger role for Lucia than actually happens here, this should be something happening in that series. And yet, here we are, Lucia is back to being a minor character, and every man in the series is though to be in love with Dahlia or actually *is* in love with Dahlia. Sorry, Lucia. Still, good news for Dahlia, who gets something to do other than work at her company and have delicious food and drink with Volf, her platonic bestie. Unfortunately, some of the things that happen in this book end up being things Dahlia really doesn’t WANT to experience. At least not again.

Dahlia and Jonas are still not QUITE barons yet, as they need to visit the Castle first. Dahlia has fewer issues, as she merely has to deal with stress about the visit and her own dreadful self-confidence (she’s back to calling herself plain and dull again, and I dearly want to slam her head into a heated table till it fills with confidence). Jonas has far more problems. He wants to remain Guido’s attendant and bodyguard, but Guido’s family is also getting elevated, so guess what? Class issues are happening again. What’s more, he needs to be adopted by a noble family for this to work, and for some strange reason, no one seems to want to do it. And then there’s the matter of his actual mother, who is back in Israna, and his stepfather, who is here, who really want to mend fences that Jonas is still very reluctant to mend.

Aside from the usual frustrating “just bang already!” romantic antics, the highlight of this book is undoubtedly Jonas’ stepfather, Yusef having a stroke, and Dahlia recognizing the signs because of what happened to her father. It’s wonderful that because of her quick thinking she’s able to help save Yusef’s life, but it does end up stirring up a whole host of grief-stricken memories. As you may recall, the “extra story” that’s been at the end of each volume reached an end last time with Dahlia’s father’s death (it turns out that tragic backstory is still on the menu, fear not, we merely get Volf’s mother before HER death), and she’s still trying to come to terms with it. This is another reason why, much as they understand his reasons for not wanting to, everyone wants Jonas to reconcile with Yusef. Fortunately, it’s not all downers: watching Dahlia and company twist themselves into pretzels to try to avoid taking huge rewards for things and feeling that it’s overkill takes on even more hilarious proportions.

The next volume is also not getting near Dahlia finally getting her barony, so instead we’ll see more monsters, more Volf and Dahlia drinking, and meeting more really powerful women. Till then… again, Lucia, hang in there.

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

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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

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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.)