Monthly Archives: July 2021

My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 9

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By Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka. Released in Japan as “Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei Shite Shimatta…” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Marco Godano.

This was a strong volume of Bakarina, despite doing absolutely nothing that I thought it would do. I thought it would be action-filled, instead it’s merely the last quarter or so. I thought it would be more serious, but it’s no more serious than any other volume of the series. But that’s a good thing, as really, who wants to see these characters suffer? Unless they’re suffering because the woman they love is as dense as lead, in which case, yes please. The book also benefits from most of the cast being absent – Katarina is on a secret mission in another part of the country, and so for the most part it’s just her, Maria and Sora. Which is bad news for fans of the other love interests, but very good news for those who love KataMari or KataSora, as both of those pairings get some good attention. As for the actual plot, it goes pretty much as you’d expect, with Katarina walking into the solution.

Katarina, along with Larna, Maria and Sora, are following up on the “kidnapped citizens” plot from last time, heading to the tow “Ocean Harbor” to try to get to the bottom of things. (I love that the name of the town sounds exactly like what you’d name a plot-point town in an otome game.) They end up at a restaurant owned by Larna’s friend… well, frenemy Regina, who uses the restaurant as a front for ferreting out stuff for the Ministry. However, since they have Maria (who can cook) and Katarina (who is not only an excellent waitress but also knows how to market), they can now run it like an actual restaurant, and maybe turn a profit! Was there something else? Oh right, the kids being kidnapped, along with the noble girl. But that’s OK, I’m sure there can be someone for Katarina to befriend who will lead them to the bad guys.

Probably my favorite thing about this book was seeing Katarina as a waitress. Everyone is blown out of the water by how good she is at it, because she’s supposedly the daughter of a duke, but honestly I was surprised as well, as even though we know she has her past life from Japan and probably part-timed as a waitress before, the temptation would be to make her bad at the job for a laugh. Instead, she turns out to be fantastic at the job for a great character moment. I also really enjoyed Katarina’s “dates” with Maria and Sora, which are basically catnip to us readers, and also features Maria once again literally confessing to Katarina and having her say “You lost me” in the best Shirou tradition. Props to Sora, too, for realizing that, rather than Keith or himself, Jeord’s biggest competition in the Katarina Sweepstakes is Maria. As for the plot itself, it proved to be resolved fairly easily, but we got to see Katarina in peril, Katarina biting someone to try to get herself out of peril, Maria being a light magic badass, and so all is well.

It’s still pretty clear that someone is trying to destabilize the countries in some way, and while the reader likely knows who’s behind it, the characters do not as of yet, so expect more investigation in the next book. Till then, enjoy Katarina Claes, waitress extraordinaire!

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 4: Founder of the Royal Academy’s So-Called Library Committee, Vol. 1

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

It’s two years later, and we’re starting a new arc in Ascendance of a Bookworm. The longest one yet, this arc is 9 books long. After Rozemyne wakes up and comes to terms with life moving on without her, she barely has any time to get her footing before she’s supposed to start going to the Royal Academy as a first-year student. Good news: The Academy has a pretty large library, with actual books. Bad news: she can’t go there till she passes all her written and practical starter exams, and thanks to an unthinking Wilfried, everyone else also has to do this. There’s also the usual class struggles, not helped by the fact that she STILL looks seven years old. Still, she’s been thoroughly prepared by Ferdinand for this sort of thing, the people who tried to kill her have gone back into hiding, and she’s making new friends. How hard can a magical academy be?

There’s a lot of new people in this book, many of whom e will probably have to remember – there’s a reason why the best Bookworm fans are the ones with the colored spreadsheets. The most important so far seem to be Hirschur, an eccentric teacher who was fairly hands off with students… till she meets Rozemyne and realizes she’s Ferdinand 2; Solange, the Academy’s librarian who takes a shine to Rozemyne right away when she accidentally activates two dormant magical tools designed to help run the library (those would be the rabbits you see on the cover); and Hartmutt, a new attendant of Rozemyne’s who seems to think she’s the second coming of Jesus Christ. Can’t imagine where he got that idea, given that she’s resurrecting long-dead magical rabbits, plowing through the coursework in record-breaking time, and completely upending the Academy’s music department.

It can be a bit frustrating for the reader to see that Rozemyne is not only still in a short seven-year-old body, but also still tends to get exhausted easily – though not nearly as much as before. It can also be a bit frustrating for her, as she’s not taken very seriously by the nobles that are above her in status – some are ignoring her so they can get closer to Wilfried, some see her as an eccentric wind-up toy, and some seem to only want her for her mana compression teachings. Fortunately, she does have quite a few allies – Wilfried has matured since she was asleep, as has Charlotte (who is now taller than she is, to Rozemyne’s horror) and her attendants are mostly on her side, and also a bit eccentric. Though for eccentricity it’s still hard to pass Angelica, who remains Bookworm’s favorite rock-stupid knight.

Despite Sylvester’s growing horror as he hears of just what Rozemyne has gotten up to in the first few weeks of her classes, this is still mostly setup – we haven’t really had any serious threats or plot shakers yet, although Detlinde might prove to be one. Rozemyne’s biggest enemy right now might be herself, as her lack of court manners leads her down dangerous roads, such as forgetting that she promised to meet after school with the PRINCE. Still, I’m sure she’ll get through it. In the meantime, welcome to a new arc of one of the best novels currently being translated.

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 2

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By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

While the first volume of Bofuri was concerned with Maple and her introduction to and subsequent interaction with the game, the second book is all about Maple and Sally and their friendship, which shines through both in how they fight well together and their relaxed interaction with each other in non-relaxed moments. These two are best friends, who have known each other most of their lives. And it shows, as we see right away why they’re a terrifying combo if you happen to go up against them. That said… Maple’s not big on the PvP end of the game, preferring to face off against monsters. Sally does not have that issue at all, and you get the sense that she’s generally more comfortable in a role where she can simply stack the bodies high. Maple may be a monster because of her unconventional build and ecentric thought processes, but Sally is a monster simply as she’s a really, really, REALLY good gamer.

The entire book is taken up with the second major event of the game, which involves finding 300 silver medals scattered across a very large map. What’s more, the winners of the FIRST major event already have one gold medal (the equivalent of ten silvers)… and yes, if you kill off the players you get their medals. Maple and Sally team up on this one, and end up in a forest (which has ghosts, Sally’s one weakness), an ice cave (taking on a nigh unkillable monster… and killing it, which nets them two animal companions), an underground maze (where they are chained together – literally – with Kasumi, a samurai player who fights with swords), a beach (where Sally, who can swim, scouts, while Maple befriends a mage named Kanade and they build a sandcastle together), and an underwater area (where they have to fight evil doppelgangers of each other). As this goes on, they do get a few medals, but it’s not quite enough to place in the top 10… so Sally decides to go player hunting.

The most significant cut from the anime is where Maple fights not-Sally and Sally fights not-Maple, two tough fights that get both of them a bit paranoid (which leads to the book’s funniest moment, where they reveal private info about each other to prove they’re the real one, and it’s super embarrassing). The cast is increasing, and it’s nice to see Kasumi and Kanade. I did note that there was some added character drama in the anime… here, after a brief fight at the start, Kasumi gets on fine with Maple and Sally. Two other things I noticed. First, this book really hammers home how often Maple uses poison in the early days… the book is almost coated with poison, to the point where the reader might get a bit bored. The second is that the novel is far more into the gaming mechanics of everything. The anime loves to show off Maple “being Maple”, but the book gives us that plus all the times Maple isn’t being Maple, but just a normal player doing normal things. It can sometimes be a bit tedious… I absolutely see why the anime cut a lot of this book… but it’s also fun if you love these two girls.

This book ends with the “giant turtle makes acid rain” sequence, so I assume the next volume will feature the forming of Maple tree guild. As with the first book, you aren’t really missing vital info the anime skipped, but you do get to see two best friends having a ball fighting things for 250 pages. And that’s enough.