Monthly Archives: November 2023

Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home!, Vol. 7

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By You Fuguruma and Nama. Released in Japan as “Kasei Madoushi no Isekai Seikatsu: Boukenchuu no Kasei Fugyou Uketamawarimasu!” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Hengtee Lim.

Generally speaking when you get a book in the current genre of “Cinderella”, be they a villainess or just a betrayed female lead in general, the actual betrayal part is rapidly overwritten by the good stuff. Our heroine finds a new life with those who love and care about her, and finds joys that she never had in the past. And that does happen in this story as well – Shiori is extremely happy with Alec and secure in her job as a housekeeping mage. But she’s also been through not one but two traumatic, world-shattering events over the course of just a year or two, and they still impact her every day. She’s been hiding her past in Japan from everyone for the very simple reason that she can’t prove it. As for her love for Alec, and his true identity as royalty, she’s very upfront about what she wants if she is forced to leave Alec forever – the mercy of death. This book can be chilling.

There’s a new visitor to Storydia – a merchant from the East and her bodyguard. This is bad news for Shiori, who has tried to wave off her background by claiming that she comes form the East. Now that there are actual people from Mizuho here, her story is not going to hold up. Especially as she can’t read the written language they have, meaning that her last desperate hope – that she merely went back in time, and this was some unheard of historical period – is dashed to bits. After a mild nervous breakdown, she finally confesses everything to Alec and Zack, and they do believe her – even through her fears that she’ll be abandoned and left for dead, which understandably still haunt her. That said, Alec’s true past also comes out in this conversation, and now that it’s out in the open, it can’t be ignore anymore – Shiori is going to have to have conversations with the local lord. And the king.

Honestly, over the course of this volume it becomes clear that this adventurer’s guild is essentially an isle of misfit toys for nobles with tragic pasts. We already know about Alec. We’d heard about Zack earlier, but it’s fleshed out more now. And now it turns out that Nadia was meant to marry one of the older princes who ended up dying, and that Clemens was also a noble with a promising future who, after being tricked by a woman, had to flee nasty rumors in order to save his family. That said, I don’t think anyone can quite top Shiori. As I said before, having “magically transported from Japan with no language skills, money or belongings” OR having “my adventuring party/family all grew to dislike me and eventually left me to die in a dungeon” would be good enough tragic backstories. Together… look, normally I would criticize the relationship between Alex and Shiori as being too codependent to be healthy. But after this book? Heck, go nuts.

This is not quite happily ever after yet – Alec and Shoiri are together for now, and the lord approves, but there is still the King to think about. And, um, the little matter that folks are starting to consider Shiori a literal Saint. Ridiculous. Her magic power isn’t even omnipotent! In any case, this was an excellent volume in an excellent, if heavy, series.

Anime NYC 2023: Remote Musings, Saturday

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The second day of Anime NYC, were I there (which I am not), would have likely begun with me feeling very awkward at the Ize Press panel. I will admit, I don’t cover Ize Press much in the Manga the Week of posts. There are a few normal reasons for this (I have enough trouble adding all the Japanese releases; I just don’t vibe with the Korean romances as much; I never got the “long strip” webtoon format), but the real reason is likely far more nerdy. See, I started the Manga the Week of lists on Livejournal so that I could point to which series were in Hana to Yume, or Weekly Shonen Jump, or “whatever Wings is”. And, y’see… I can’t do that with the Korean titles! Basically, I suck, and this is why I would be feeling awkward at the panel.

But I’ll still point out what they announced. The big one, which even I have heard of, is Beware the Villainess!, an insanely popular webtoon title that’s been translated into umpteen languages. As for the plot, well, imagine if Bakarina decides to beat the crap out of all the male leads instead.

The Villainess Is a Marionette is a webtoon about, well, a villainess who’s now died multiple times, and decides to be the puppeteer, not the puppet.

Marriage of Convenience is a loop novel, where the horrible villainess realizes, right before she’s killed, the error of her ways, and gets sent back in time to try to do it right.

My Secretly Hot Husband is in the genre of “I was married off to a scary man, but he turns out to be really nice”.

SSS-Class Revival Hunter is NOT a villainess book, but it does involve the hero gaining the power to go back in time after he’s killed, so it’s sort of Re: Zero meets dungeon crawler.

Tied to You is a BL title, a first for Ize Press, and is a “red string of fate” book – except the red string is going to the wrong brother!

After this we get Yen Press’s panel. First of all, they announced three “media tie-in” manga the day before, as a treat. Days with My Stepsister manga, based on the light novel (Shonen Ace plus), Sword Art Online Re:Aincrad, which seems to be an attempt to reboot the (very rushed) original manga adaptation (Dengeki Daioh), and The Kept Man of the Princess Knight, the manga based on the upcoming light novel, also from Yen (Comic Walker).

At the actual panel, they started with the Bungo Stray Dogs Official Comic Anthology. These have been around in Japan since forever, but rarely get released over here. It’s by various artists.

Goblin Slayer: A Day in the Life is a manga spinoff of the main series that adapts short stories from the light novels that were skipped in the main adaptation. It runs in Big Gangan.

No Game, No Life Chapter 2: Eastern Union reminds us that this manga runs on a “one arc every ten years” schedule, so adapts the 2nd arc of the light novels. It runs in my nemesis, Comic Alive.

We then got some light novels. Guillotine Bride (Dantōdai no Hanayome: Sekai o Horobosu Futsutsukana Tatsuki Desu ga) is from the creator of Demon Lord 2099. A dragon princess on her way to execution finds herself blown up and lands in front of a young man. He’s even more startled when she asks him to marry her.

Brunhild the Dragonslayer (Ryū-goroshi no Brunhild) was probably the biggest “name” of the panel – it’s a very acclaimed series, and J-Novel Club recently got the rights to release it in German. A girl is raised by a dragon to never harbor hatred in her heart… then her dragon parent is killed by humans. Will she fall to vengeance?

The God of Nishi-Yuigahama Station (Nishi Yuigahama-eki no Kami-sama) is a novel about a train disaster that claims many lives… or rather it’s about what happens after, as a rumor of ghosts of the dead passengers has brought their loved ones there to see if they can see them once more.

Back to manga for She Likes Gays, but Not Me (Kanojo ga Suki na Mono wa Homo de Atte Boku de wa Nai), a manga based on a critically acclaimed novel that ran in Comic Bridge. A gay high school boy hiding his sexuality discovers a young woman with a huge love of BL manga. Can he have a “normal” life with her?

Friday at the Atelier (Kinyōbi wa Atelier de) is probably the manga announcement that most interested me. It runs in Harta, and features a bored woman who agrees to be a nude model for a famous painter. Indeed, she agrees a little too easily. What’s up with her? This honestly looks pretty cute.

Yen Press also announced some new audiobooks, for Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Bungo Stray Dogs… and Baccano!. The last one has me delighted, as the Baccano! fandom is small but fierce.

After this, I would have gone to Dark Horse’s panel, but it appears they didn’t license any new titles. They did say they’re reprinting some Berserk volumes, so that’s nice.

Kodansha Manga began with a big announcement: a new manga, The Spellbook Library, from the creator of Is Love The Answer. And it’s coming out in English first, on the Kodansha app. It kind of sounds like a cuter version of Magus of the Library.

Speaking of that same creator, coming out digitally next month is Sayabito: Swords of Destiny, a post-apocalypse drama about human weapons. It ran in good! Afternoon.

Also out digitally in December is Don’t Tempt Me, VP! (Amayakasanaide Fuku Shachou: Danna-sama wa SSR), a josei title from Ane Friend about an OL, deep in debt thanks to her horrible ex, getting a proposition from her company’s vice-president: marriage.

Next we get a bunch of new licenses out next year. Versus has a story from the creator of One-Punch Man, and runs in Shonen Sirius. A group of humans try to make a stand against the evil demon lords.

Pupposites Attract (Seihantai na Watashitachi) is from Comic Pool, and is a romance between two humans of opposite personalities who have two dogs that are also very dissimilar.

The Boy I Loved Became the Jaded Emperor (Mukuchi na Koushaku Reijou to Reitetsu na Koutei – Zense Hirotta Kodomo ga Koutei ni Natte Imashita) is from Comic Zero-Sum. A prince whose life was saved as a child by a mysterious woman grows cold when she’s killed, however, he discovers her reincarnation is a duke’s daughter.

Snow & Ink (Yuki to Sumi) is a seinen title from Comic Days. A criminal accused of murder is purchased by the daughter of a rich family, and takes him on a journey to the north. Can they both escape their sordid pasts?

Home Office Romance (Telework Yotabanashi) is a one-shot from the creator of Sweat & Soap. It ran in Weekly Morning. A man whose life has been turned around by remote work falls for his grad student neighbor. But what about the poor office building landlords?

Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up (Kusunoki-san wa Koukou Debut ni Shippai shite Iru) is a josei title from Comic Pool, about two high school students who each completely redid their look and personality for high school. Will they be able to hide everything?

Spoil Me Plzzz, Hinamori-san! (Amaesasete Hinamori-san!) is a yuri title from Comic Yuri Hime. Our heroine looks up to the “perfect maiden” of the school… only to find she’s a childish brat who needs to be spoiled or else.

Sheltering Eaves (Koboreru Yoru ni) is a josei title from Kiss (!) from the creator of Perfect World. A young boy who was abused by his mother ended up at an orphanage, cared for by another orphan. Now they’re both in high school, and he’s trying to wrestle with his past and his feelings.

Lastly, they’re doing an omnibus release of Your Lie in April, for those who just like to cry a lot.

Today has just two Industry panels I’d be attending – Azuki Manga and Star Fruit. Hope the last day is a good one!

I’m Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness: I’ll Spoil Her with Delicacies and Style to Make Her the Happiest Woman in the World!, Vol. 2

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By Fukada Sametarou and Sakura Miwabe. Released in Japan as “Konyaku Haki Sareta Reijō o Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto o Oshiekomu -Oishi Mono o Tabesasete Oshare o Sasete, Sekai Ichi Shiawase na Shōjo ni Produce!-” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Yui Kajita.

Last time I said that how much you liked this series depended on how much you could put up with its one joke, that of the protagonist using the word “naughty” to mean things other than sex. Thankfully, there is far less of that in this second book. That said, there’s still a caveat here. How much you like this series now depends on how much you can deal with the syrupy sweetness of it. This is clearly not meant to be a long-runner, as Allen and Charlotte realize their feelings and confess to each other over the course of the fist half of this book. There are, in the words of one of the other characters, the “pure” sort of couple, the kind where you have to look away when they hold hands as the light is too blinding.

Things are much the same in Allen’s mansion… even if he finds out that its previous owner is not quite as vanished as he would like. That said, there is still the issue of Charlotte being wanted by her kingdom, dead or alive. And the fact that he sees a legendary bounty hunter and his goons hanging around the town, waiting for her. Still, all that pales in comparison to the most important thing: confessing to her. Can he do so smoothly and lovingly? Or will it accidentally come out in the heat of the moment when she’s kidnapped by a monster? And even if they do become a couple, what about Charlotte’s sister? The only one of her abusive family who truly cared about her? Is she doing all right? Or has the stress of the whole situation made her become… a delinquent?

This is definitely a book that gets better as it goes along. The first chapter, with the elf who’s also a novelist, had me groaning and rolling my eyes, and was not all that fun except in the places where it focused on the couple’s cuteness. Better was the “let’s have a date while avoiding assassins” chapter, which has a very obvious punchline, but it’s a punchline we don’t mind, because the purity of the heroine is just that good. The best part of the book is the back half, where Allen and Charlotte return to his old school, where his father has asked him to deal with a little problem: Natalia, Charlotte’s younger sister. This had a lot of great comedy and character building, and Natalia is adorable in a “she can beat me up and she’s only 7 years old” sort of way.

This isn’t going to win any awards, but it’s inoffensive enough, and the next volume is, I think, the final one. Still have that pesky wanted poster to deal with. If you are the sort to buy a sugar donut and sprinkle more sugar on it, this might be for you.