Monthly Archives: November 2022

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 40

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

If this is your 42nd book of Rokujouma!?, welcome back. As a hardcore fan, you’re well aware of the numbering being off due to the two .5 volumes. If this is your first volume of Rokujouma!?, my god, you’re far too late. We’ve already moved in with this series. We have so many in jokes and memes that you don’t know. You must simply be staring at the chaos from your place by the drinks table in the corner, wondering why you didn’t get Vol. 1, 2, and 3 when they came out (at the same time) in 2017. But fear not, I am here for you. I can sum up the series so you aren’t lost. Nice guy. Alien princess and her aide and her rival. Ghost girl and her real body and her alternate world self. Magical girl and her formerly evil magical girl ally and their mentor. Pellucidar girl. And her things that say “ho!”. Sempai and her soul sister. Landlord and her inner dragon. Annoying best friend. Annoying best friend’s sister. God in disguise. Together… they fight crime! See, that was easy.

OK, clearly not that easy, given the girl on the cover art is “none of the above”. In any event, this is a short story volume but also a prelude to the next arc. The first half is web stories. Koutarou, Clan, the haniwas, and Alunaya all decide to race toy cars. The second story has Maki chatting with Crimson, her former ally-turned-enemy-turned-ally, and has her try to experience things that are not “fighitng is the baddest!”, which mostly fails. Nana goes to visit her old partner Kanae and ends up in a badminton match against Sanae (chan version) and Yurika. Finally, everyone is packing to go to Forthorthe, and we’re even taking Mackenzie and his sister, so that they aren’t quietly killed while everyone is away. Snacks are bought. Underwear is bought. Training scenes occur. And Koutarou remains The Purest Young Lad out there.

Those who have read my Rokujouma!? reviews before know it’s time for the Yurika report, as I gush about my favorite once more. This is a stellar volume for Yurika, possibly as she’s barely around Koutarou at all. In the badminton scene she’s got Nana in the room, so is trying her damndest to show her that she’s a mature and deserving young protege, not even whining when getting a shuttlecock to the face. (That sounds wrong…) We also get a scene showing her training the troops, and seemingly coming to terms with the fact that her “magical girl” magic is unorthodox. Basically, with what appears to be photographic memory and a good eye for improvising on the fly, Yurika is not a magical girl as much as a chemist. And thus is it very important to keep her on the side of good and light. (I hope this is not ominous foreshadowing…)

So as a short story volume goes, this is more important than most. None of the short stories are bad, and the final one is necessary setup for what might (?) be the final (???) arc in the series. And if this IS your first volume in the series… well, you have 41 more to get now.

The Strongest Knight Is Actually a Cross-Dressing Noblewoman?!

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By Iota AIUE and Hakuseki. Released in Japan as “Hyōgetsu no Kishi wa Dansō Reijō: Naze ka Dekiai Sarete Imasu” by Meteor Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Grantas Sireikis.

The latest of Cross Infinite World’s offerings, I mostly picked this up because I enjoyed the author’s last book released over here, As the Villainess, I Reject These Happy-Bad Endings!. That one was a textbook villainess story, with the writing elevating it despite it having no real twists on the standard plot. The writing is not quite as good in this book, but it’s essentially similar: this is a standard reverse harem shoujo where the heroine has to dress up as a guy, and the plot goes exactly how you’d think. That said, there are a few points of interest. First of all, it does keep the identity of “who is gonna be the love interest” hidden for about half the book, which is better than most books in this genre. Secondly, it’s… much gayer than I was expecting. I know the cross-dressing invites that, but much of this reads like a BL series, and there’s also a yuri fanboy in it. For het romance, it’s not very het.

Bernstein von Eisberk was born very weak and was not expected to survive. Possibly for that reason, her father had her baptized as a boy. The weakness quickly passed, and she grew up to love horses, swordsmanship, and magic, which she excelled in. That said, she lives in a kingdom where only men can be Royal Knights. As such, she decides to take advantage of this and join the military academy as a man. The deal is that if she’s ever caught out, she has to leave the academy and never return… and also never see her childhood friend (who knows her secret) again. As she attends the academy, and becomes the very model of an elegant bishonen knight, she attracts a lot of lovestruck fans, both men and women. As for her own thoughts… she’s seemingly indifferent… but that will change.

As I said, the broad beats of Bernstein’s character arc are vigorously unsurprising. The love interests consist of a) one childhood friend, who has loved her since he was a child; b) one prince of the realm, who believes that he’s fallen for another man, and is OK with that; c) one underclassman tsundere who masks his affection as spite; d) one older brother figure from her home lands who watches out for her, and e) a weirdo court mage who discovers her secret and is now really into the idea of her and the princess being an item. The last one held the most interest for me, as it was the only part that wasn’t from the standard tropes. As it turns out, he and the princess share a deep love of pairing Bernstein with other people, and it’s mildly amusing. The main flaw of this book is that it feels rushed – It was meant to be a stand-alone, but for once I think an extra volume or two might have helped to make things flow better.

Still, if you like shoujo romance, or if you like BL novels and don’t mind that the main guy is a girl, this is a good choice.

You Like Me, Don’t You? So, How About We Give Dating a Try?

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By Kota Nozomi and Azuri Hyuga. Released in Japan as “Kimitte Watashi no Koto Suki Nandeshou?” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Tentai Books. Translated by Noor Hamdan.

I sometimes get the feeling that light novels have a quota system, where the author is allowed to actually get to the plot they want to write about provided they include at least three scenes of the heroine teasing the hero, one where it rebounds back on her, five different descriptions of her voluptuous body, etc. There’s even the standard sudden cliffhanger that is there for no reason than to force people to pick up Book 3 and not drop the series. (That said, I will warn readers: this volume came out two years ago in Japan, and there has been no sign of a third.) Fortunately, when the book does get around to actual interesting stuff, such as Kasumi’s past and home life, it manages to elevate itself to ‘pretty good’. That said, now that we’re in a semi-glut of “cutest girl in school goes out with reader-surrogate’ books, it’s going to have to lift a bit above its weight class, and it’s not doing so.

The first half of this book is essentially plotless, showing the low-level relationship our two protagonists are in, and watching Kasumi having fun trying to get a reaction out of Soukichi. The two of them discuss cheating, and the definitions of what it entails, and it will surprise no one that Soukichi is quite pure. Even if he does read erotic light novels. The second half of the book introduces actual plot: Kasumi’s friend Ann corners Soukichi and asks him for advice on how to hook up with Soukichi’s friend Tokiya, who rescued her from her ex-boyfriend the other day and who she is now smitten with. Also, Soukichi and Kasumi go on their first real date, and it’s very cute and fluffy… except for one point where Kasumi has an awkward meeting with a middle school girl, who turns out to be connected to her.

The good part of this book is examining the way that Kasumi carries herself and behaves around others, which she seems to see as a weakness, but nearly everyone else sees as her strong point. It will come as no surprise to find that she thinks of Soukichi the same way. The balance between growing up fast and still being able to be childish is tough, and she’s found someone she can relax and be immature around with Soukichi. As for Soukichi himself, he still puts her on a massive pedestal, but he’s also still working with his editor friend on a new novel… and then gets introduced to an actual editor, in a crossover from another of Nozomi’s light novel series, You Like Me, Not My Daughter?!. Overall, though, the main feeling I got after reading this series was that it was pleasant but also a bit flat. A bit boring. The family bits were good, the Ann stuff felt shoehorned in to make the book the right length. (And it’s not a very long book.)

So yes, if you read the first one, read this one, because it’s okay. That said, the fact that there’s no third volume yet should not devastate too many people.