Too Many Losing Heroines!, Vol. 8

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By Takibi Amamori and Imigimuru. Released in Japan as “Make Heroine ga Ōsugiru!” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Hayame.

So yeah, Seven Seas has decided to put off the short story collection till the end of the year, so we are in fact getting the 8th book. Which feels like a pivotal one in many ways, ways which I should not talk about till after the picture to avoid too many spoilers. So what can I talk about? Well, Basori is on the cover, so as you may have guessed this is her focus book. She’s painfully earnest, somewhat painfully naive, and wears her heart on her sleeve so much it can be seen from space. This makes her a good match not only with Nukumizu, who despite his veneer of ‘loser guy’ will help any girl who reaches out to him, but also Shikiya, who wants to support Basori as much as she can but, well, also wants to tease and grope her, so it doesn’t go as well. Naturally, there’s one place that Basori seems almost destined to be, and she’s already there: student council.

It’s time to elect a new student council president, and Basori wants Nukumizu’s help. Nukumizu, who has read light novels and knows this will end with him being vice president, which he doesn’t want, tries to refuse at first, but Basori is a cute girl, and also has a bribe he can’t resist, so he’ll try to help as much as he can without committing to anything. Elsewhere, it’s sports festival time coming up. Lemon is running, of course, and we also get to see if she will quality for Nationals. (Since this isn’t a Lemon-focused book and therefore has no drama around her, you can guess the answer.) Chika shows off what a good sister she is while also getting really angry at Nukumizu’s continued obliviousness. Riko is still far too crafty. Kaju is still far too into her brother. And Anna’s eating. Situation normal.

This is a very good book. Basori is a likeable girl, so of course we have to dress her up in sexy cosplay for her big speech. The speeches themselves are well done in a romcom sort of way, though I was surprised at the result of the election. The title “Losing Heroines” refers only to their romantic life, for the most part, and doesn’t necessarily apply to everything in their life. (Likewise, winning heroines may not be all sunshine and roses – the more we see of Chihaya the more like a horror movie villain she becomes.) But the highlight is absolutely the end of the book, where Basori works up the courage to confess to Nukumizu in a way that he cannot misunderstand or brush off. And naturally he has a complete nervous breakdown, and has to resort to “give me time to think about it” and “can’t we just be friends for now?”. When you see him screaming at himself for not saying yes and getting a girlfriend, it’s like he’s starting to get why all the girls call him “enemy of women” and say “that right there, Nukumizu”, with the “is why you’ll never get a girlfriend” implied.

I will be very interested to see if this goes anywhere or if we just reset to default. Houkobaru is the cover girl for Book 9… but first, for real this time, short story volume. And a .5 volume. Which aren’t the same thing? Ah well, gonna be a while, then.

The Hero and the Sage, Reincarnated and Engaged, Vol. 7

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By Washiro Fujiki and Heiro. Released in Japan as “Eiyū to Kenja no Tensei Kon: Katsute no Kōtekishu to Konyaku Shite Saikyō Fūfu ni Narimashita” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Joey Antonio.

I will admit, I was a little irritated by the end of this volume. The whole series has been building to an obvious climax, and we get it here. I’ve talked before about how absolutely nothing challenges our main couple in any fight… except, of course, when they are fighting each other. As such, it makes perfect sense who the final boss is going to be, and it also makes sense that for once Raid does almost die. I wish Eluria also got to do cool fight stuff, but the nature of the battle means that she has to take care of the “journey to the center of the mind” stuff, which is also well handled, with a discussion of magic that genuinely says “murder is OK”, like the meme… provided, of course, you are the murderer and the people being killed are proven to be bad. It’s a really good ending to the series. BUT. Grr.

Raid and Eluria are finally ready to take care of fixing the First World’s polluted mana problem, mostly as we’ve finally figured out how to teach Raid to use magic. It will come as a surprise to no one that the way Raid uses magic is basically just “punch and sword things, but with magic”. They then go to the Divine Realm, which is basically Heaven, to meet up with elderly Raid, who is a Sage, and the one who set the stage for Raid the Hero. Sadly, Raid the Sage spent much of his life either stealing other people’s ideas using his future sight so he got the credit, or watching a young girl invent magic, despair as people used it for war, and destroy the world. He’s tried to find the timeline where he can change her fate, but was unable to. Now he needs Raid and Eluria to do it, which should be easier than expected, as the young girl is Eluria herself.

Again, most of this is great. The love gossip part was very amusing, featuring a ton of women who are very bad at realizing they’re in love, and Eluria, who also used to be that but got better. Raid’s mom is a stitch, and I like how her reaction to “I’m going to near-certain death and may not come back” is basically “OK, but come back anyway”. The engagement party would be a wedding, were this a final volume, and Eluria’s letter is adorable, as well as Raid’s proposal. The way the conflict is resolved works thematically, and we get to see Raid actually struggle for once, as well as fall into a month-long coma. Unfortunately… the series isn’t over. Now there’s a demon lord. For Chrissakes. You had a great ending! Why keep going?

So yeah, we’ll be back with Book 8, though it’s not out in Japan yet, so get ready to wait. Or pretend the book ended here with a wedding instead.

Reluctant Space Commander: From Death Wish to Galactic Hero!, Vol. 1

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By Norasiro and John Dee. Released in Japan as “”Koko wa Makasete Saki ni Ike!” o Shitai Shinitagari no Nozomanu Uchuu Gekokujou” by TO Books. Released in North America digitally by Airship. Translated by Kim Davis. Adapted by Mark Brezinski.

This book has so many flaws I don’t even know where to begin, so I might as well start with what I did like. The core plot and concept is a good one. Making Legend of the Galactic Heroes only staffing it with petty Japanese office workers is something that could be amusing. The series relies on “nobles good and get the good assignments, poor orphans bad and should know their place”, and knows that it’s something bad and needs to change. And… hrm, I’ve now come to the end of the things I like. That’s a problem, as I have a ways to go for this review. I can’t even say this book was bad and do a rant, because the book doesn’t even deserve a rant. The author simply doesn’t know how to write characters. Even the “eccentric girls” in this story are faceless and you forget which one is which. And the hero is a potato-kun… at least after the first part.

Nao is an orphan who’s all set to take the exams to get into an elite college… but he fails. And then is dumped by his girlfriend. Who reveals that even before he failed she was getting into polyamorous orgies with the most attractive guy in their orphanage. Orgies which they show Nao a video of. (Honestly, the first scene made me wonder if this was a parody of “incel” fantasies, but no.) Despondent, Nao tries to jump off a cliff but hasn’t got the nerve. So he decides to join the military, so he can die in battle. He somehow ends up in the elite Military School for Officers… he’s not sure why… but since his grades are intellect 100%, soldier ability 0%, he’s sent off to the Coast Guard, the least important part of the military, and from there assigned to the losers unit in the Coast Guard. How can he possibly have a glorious death now? Especially since it turns out he’s really good at commanding.

Nao is whiny, useless, and constantly talking about killing himself at select times during this book. When he’s not doing that, he’s a void where a person should be. He commands a group of thirty young woman, who are all supposedly there as they’re difficult to command and eccentrics… except, for the most part, they act like elite soldiers. Yes, one is an engineer who likes to take stuff apart, but she’s far too reserved for the role. Another accidentally chokes her commander out… and it’s the one thing she does. On reflection, there is one other thing I liked about the book. Despite being surrounded by hot women under his command, and also meeting up with an elder-sister childhood friend from the orphanage *and* a royal princess, both the characters and the author are not interested in romance at all, and there’s zero fanservice – except at the start, in the NTR bit. Which honestly reads like a different series.

I may actually read a second volume of this for the plot. But I don’t recommend it. Try Dorky NPC Mercenary instead, which does much the same thing but at least has better character writing. Also, if you cut out the naval protocol part of this book, it would be 55 pages long.