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.

I’ve enjoyed Bofuri over the years, but as I hit the end of this volume, and realized that the next book would be the final one in the main series (yes, of course there are after stories), I could not help but think “thank God”. This is a classic example of a series that just went on far too long. In this penultimate volume, the author is not about to introduce any fun new characters, or give Maple a weird new skill. The series has also shifted away from its “look at what Maple’s doing now” sense of humor, and while I do like seeing Maple using strategy and not just relying on vibes, it also means it’s not really funny any more. As a result, what we’re mostly left with is what this series has been about from the start: reading someone else’s game logs, and watching them fight. Even worse, the fights are all pretty anticlimactic. No one’s really giving Maple trouble any more.

Sally is on the cover, looking like she’s auditioning for Made in Abyss. The book is more about her than Maple, as she tries and fails to work up the nerve to ask Maple to marry her… er, sorry, to ask Maple for a 1-on-1 fight. They’re all going through the 10th floor, which has aspects of the other floors, in order to be able to fight the demon lord. They’re fun dungeon battles with tough bosses, there’s fun dungeon battles with tricky puzzles, there’s teaming up with other groups to help them clear tough areas with the power of Maple and Sally simply being really, really good, and there’s the dreaded 6th floor battles, where Sally must try to overcome her fears. By the end, everyone’s now ready to take on the Demon Lord, with the help of Mii and her friends and Frederica and her friends. The developers are sure the Demon Lord is not something anyone can take out on their first try. I suspect Book 19 will prove them wrong.

In terms of things I can actually review, there are two. The first is the series’ longest running gag that isn’t Maple acquiring new powers, namely Sally’s fear of ghosts. Give the nature of this floor, it was inevitable that they’d need Sally to get past this. She doesn’t, but she’s actually pretty clever in how she manages to battle enemies while at the same time remaining utterly terrified. And then there’s Sally’s request of Maple, which she STILL isn’t able to spit out. Maple clearly knows Sally wants to say something but is never going to push, so it lies there, and you just get more irritated with her. (Maple has the patience of a saint.) Maple, meanwhile, when asked by Sally what she wants to do for some downtime activities, takes Sally to a secret cafe where they have a repeat of the food dates they’ve had in the past. This is never going to be explicitly yuri, but the best part of it has actually become the implicit yuri. It’s why I read the series now.

The demon lord is set up as the focus of the final volume, but come on, we know Sally will eventually ask for that PvP match with Maple, and that’s gonna be the big end. Who will win? Will it have a kiss? (No.) One thing’s for sure, next volume will sound like a game log most of the time.