Monthly Archives: July 2020

Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 2

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By Nozomu Mochitsuki and Gilse. Released in Japan as “Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari” by TO Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by David Teng.

A majority of the fun in Tearmoon Empire 1 was the dissonance between Mia’s actions, Mia’s reasons for those actions, and the narrator caustically calling her out for the reasons for those actions. That’s still very much present in the second volume – in fact, if anything the narrator’s malice is even more prominent. But something strange happened, because suddenly I ended up being less interested in Mia’s headspace and the silly misconceptions of the people around her and more interested in the world that’s been created here and what’s going on with it. And with good reason, too: here we find that Mia may have jumped back in time to try to make it so she isn’t executed, but that doesn’t mean that the forces behind the scenes are not still gunning for her, or that they don’t still need revolution to happen. Mia, after all, was not the Big Bad in the old world, just a selfish Royal. So can she not only save herself, but the future of multiple countries?

Mia has a lot to do here. It may be summer vacation, but she has to stop arrogant counts from destroying the forest of the tribe that ends up fighting against her in the future; deal with the man who personally executed her; and worst of all, her not-quite-boyfriend Abel’s country is undergoing a very familiar revolution. Fortunately, she still has the magic ability to have her every word and deed misunderstood in the best possible way, and it’s still just as funny. That said, as with the first book, sometimes the misunderstandings have a serious core, as we see her avert a genocide and, yes, stop a revolution, but also force the future rulers of these kingdoms to change the way that they think, and not be so quick to turn to execution and unforgivable actions. That said, don’t worry, the narrator is here to remind us that Mia is shallow and only thinks of herself.

(My pet theory is that these are books commissioned by a future Mia to counteract the slavish hagiographies that are being written about her.)

The narrator, as ever, is sometimes correct but also sometimes full of it, and even they have to occasionally stop and say “OK, Mia was being genuinely good here”. (For a great analysis of the narrator in this book, see this Beneath the Tangles article.) Actually, my favorite scene in the entire book shows us the bad future that Mia originally came from, where a desperate Ludwig is trying in vain to stop her execution, and he points out that Mia, once actually taken in hand and shown she’s being vain or arrogant, is taking pains to actually learn from her mistakes. (It also contrasts with King Sion, who in this bad future did not have Mia’s words to misunderstand and take as well-meant advice.) That said, as I indicated, the plot is the best part herre, with a lot of tension, some good action scenes, and a terrific denouement where Mia takes out the villain as only Mia can.

As with My Next Life As a Villainess, this book feels complete at two volumes, with the main future having definitely been changed and everyone being quite happy. Also as with My Next Life As a Villainess, there’s more books to come, and next volume may see Mia having to face an even more startling future. Till then, this remains an absolutely terrific series. The author recommends in the afterword it be used for book reports. Sounds good to me.

The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?), Vol. 3

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By Toru Taba and Falmaro. Released in Japan as “Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu ~Sou da, Baikoku Shiyou~” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange.

Calling your main character a “genius prince” can be a bit of a two-edged sword, as you need to have him continuing to be reasonable clever while not killing the audience’s disbelief. So far these books do a good job in holding to that balance. Sometime it leans straight up in Wein’s direction, such as when he describes having a book ghostwritten that will give bad advice to nobility and make it easier for him to eventually take them down. And sometimes it has Wein straight up flummoxed or panicking, which is just plain fun (as the illustrator of the book will tell you). And then there are the moment when you realize that Wein has a steel core that lives for one person alone, and threatening that person can cause things to get very dark very fast. All this comes together in this book, where Wein has to deal with possibly becoming one of a group of noble elites… all of whom seem to be extremely broken.

Wein and Ninym (who are on the cover again – these covers are very Strike the Blood in their choice of subjects) have just returned from touring the country in the middle of winter, but have to head right back out again when Win is invited to the country of Vavarin for a conference and also a religious festival. It smells like a trap. It is a trap, but that’s not going to stop Wein. That said, he also has to deal with the Remnant Army, the remains of Marden, which was torn apart in a previous book. After getting separated from his guard by bandits, he ends up taking in a representative from the army, Zeno, who is a) a girl dressed as a boy, and b) probably even more than that. (It’s not much of a surprise, trust me.) Zeno is filled with thoughts of revenge, but is also fascinated by Wein, who is doing his best to keep several balls in the air… and then trying to move as quickly as he can when all the balls drop.

There is one really terrific scene in this book, which I will try not to spoil much but involves a murder. These books can get a bit too intellectual for their own good at times, so it is good to remind us that Wein is a royal prince who can get away with a lot of things that other people cannot. It also reminds us that insulting Ninym is bad enough, but threatening to kill her means your life is forfeit. Speaking of Ninym, I wish she had more to do in these books – she gets some good scenes, but this is a series about Wein first and foremost. I wish there could be more balance in their relationship which is imbalanced by definition. I also enjoyed the rebellion by home by the traitorous general, which again did not surprise me in its twists and turns but was very satisfying narratively. As was the twist ending, showing how much Zeno really learned from Wein.

These are great books, especially if you like political intrigue. I’m anxious to read the next one.

Umineko: When They Cry, Vol. 21

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Story by Ryukishi07; Art by Kei Natsumi. Released in Japan in three separate volumes as “Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Twilight of the Golden Witch” by Square Enix, serialized in the magazine Gangan Joker. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Stephen Paul.

This is the final volume of Umineko: When They Cry, unless Yen licenses Tsubasa, which I suspect is about as likely as Hinamizawa Bus Stop. It’s a very good climax, essentially divided into two parts. the first is the “action finale”, showing off Ange and Battler doing battle with Erika and Bernkastel, with everyone getting a chance to kick some ass (even Krauss, in one of the funnier bits) and with Lambdadelta going above and beyond the call of duty, essentially sacrificing herself to save the siblings. Now, given we’re in the meta world, sacrificing yourself is not as permanent as it sounds, but it’s still quite heartfelt. From the sdtart, Lambda has been more interested in fun than Bernkastel, who just wants pain and suffering. (Of course, if the pain and suffering was fun, Lambda was all in.) We see another Higurashi flashback that reminds you of Lambda’s origins as Miyo Takano, though honestly there’s a lot of Satoko in her as well.

(It’s also my last chance to complain about Squeenix insisting on using “the first cover” every single omnibus, as it means we don’t get the awesome BeaBato final cover on the outside.)

The second half of the book is the aftermath, which faces up to the fact that most of the cast is dead, and that if Ange wants to have a future she’s going to have to “die” as well. Fortunately, if there’s one thing we’ve learned from Ryukishi07 it’s how words can be manipulated to mean multiple things. Ange erases her identity and lives on as a famous children’s author, who writes books essentially starring Maria and Sakutarou. (Well, mostly. This was based on a game, as you know, and the manga did include the game’s “bad end”, where Ange decides magic is a lie and kills everyone around her, earning praise from Erika. I appreciate the need for completeness, but it feels really out of place in the manga itself.) As a Higurashi fan, I must admit it’s very odd to see a nice, friendly Okonogi here. But then again he’s getting everything he wants. Certainly I’m sure he prefers dealing with Ange to dealing with Takano.

The other reveal is what we’d seen hints of this entire arc: Battler survived the tragedy as well. Well… sort of. One one last twist that combines the real life and the meta world, Touya (his new name) has a sort of amnesia – he recalls Battler’s life but doesn’t think of it as his own memories. This is why Ikuko’s books were so accurate. After a number of years (both are in middle age), Ange is finally invited to meet Touya and get the explanation, and Battler’s spirit is able to find peace (and separate itself from Touya). That said, the REAL ending of the book feels like the one with Battler and Beatrice, showing what really happened as they escape the mansion’s tragedy. Unfortunately, as we already know, this ends badly, as Beatrice/Sayo still can’t imagine Battler accepting her body and can’t forgive herself for coming up with a mass murder plan, even if she wasn’t the one doing the murders. It a gorgously bittersweet tragedy, that ends happily only provided you believe in magic.

So I think in the end Uminako manga readers will be very happy with this. Umineko visual novel fans may be slightly less happy, but this ended up being a story that needed to be told more tha a mystery that needed to be solved. Don’t be a goat. Enjoy Umineko.