By Kazuki Amamiya and Gin. Released in Japan as “Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Esther Sun.

Natsuki’s do-over has been going pretty well. He’s got friends, he’s slimmed down and folks think he is handsome, he is able to hold conversations and help others – sometimes to a ridiculous shonen degree – and he has a girlfriend, and their relationship is sugary sweet (what little of it we see in this volume). So it makes sense that it’s time to move on to the next generation of socially inept malcontents, and that means Saya, the first-year who knew him in middle-school and is trying to achieve the same thing he did. Unfortunately, she’s blunt to the point of being mean, and doesn’t care about other people. Or anything other than music, really. And given that she’s in a band with Mei, whose self-confidence is low at the best of times, that’s not great. Is this band that he’s trying to help Serika take to Budokan doomed before it begins? Meanwhile, back in Natsuki’s original timeline, the author takes every reader who was socially inept in high school and murders them.

Let’s leave original Natsuki for later and talk about the main star of this series. He’s more visibly struggling this time around, which I regard as a positive – by now, everyone who is close to him knows that he’s not naturally extroverted and is working hard to change himself. He has been practicing like crazy for the band, but it’s notable that by the end of the book he’s still told he’s not very good – he can’t simply magically gain years of musical experience. It’s also a good thing Hikari is his girlfriend, because he still has a bad case of harem protagonist disease, not really understanding why all those girls want to be in light music till he has it explained for him. As for Saya, she’s also very relatable. One of the hardest things to do as a person is to listen and respond, and that means paying attention to others – knowing their names, hobbies, etc. She’s got to put in the work! At least her love song was so blatant that even Natsuki picked up on it. Oh yes, and Mei’s girlfriend had some of the funnier moments in the book.

So, interspersed with the main chapters we have the original Natsuki Haibara, in the first timeline, trying his best to have a high school debut. It’s genuinely painful to read. Much like Saya throughout this book, he just doesn’t get it, and the person who is trying their best to fit in and be active but cannot understand any social cues is a very hard person to be around when you are neurotypical. Why don’t they just get it? This leads to the epilogue, set in an original timeline where Natsuki did not go back in time to have a do-over. We see a 28-year-old Natsuki, who, without the benefit of time-travel and his past life memories, has had to do what the rest of us eventually did and learn how to be social and function in society by grinding it out day by day. He’s rewarded with a new co-worker… honestly, this final scene felt REALLY fast and tacked on. I understand that the author wanted to throw original Natsuki a bone, and probably does not intent to revisit this timeline. But sheesh, that feels like one of those fake game routes where everything looks fine and happy and then you realize there’s something wrong. It was too pat.

Still, that’s other timeline’s complaint. This timeline is going well, and things look great. Provided there’s not a new volume coming out soon in Japan with an oddly ominous cover, I think Natsuki should be just fine.

By Kazuki Amamiya and Gin. Released in Japan as “Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Esther Sun.

Stage fright (I’m sorry, I just can’t bring myself to call it “the yips”) is a terrifying thing that can happen to even the most experienced performers, and though it may not always lead to literal fainting spells like what happens in this book, it’s something that can’t really be solved by just pure gumption. Unfortunately, Nanase plans to do just that. She may now be inspired to try to get over her issues and try again, but that doesn’t mean that the same dark fears don’t come to the fore when she makes the effort – and the fears she’s thinking of may not be the ones actually causing the problem. Fortunately, in addition to the magical protagonist powers of Natsuki and Hikari, she has actual medical professional help, which makes this one of the rare Japanese light novel series where there are therapists. I am pleased. Admittedly, that makes the climax of this book a bit less dramatic than a big punch out, but you can’t have that every book.

It’s almost time for our cast’s third year of high school, and as with a lot of Japanese high school, they have to make the choice: science or arts? They know this will mean being separated in some way, but so goes life. As it turns out, Nanase seems to be choosing a different path than in Natsuki’s first life, as she’s going to try again to do a piano competition. She used to be a prodigy, just like her mother, but a couple years ago she got terrified and passed out, and since then she hasn’t been able to play for an audience. But seeing Natsuki’s band has made her want to try again. Speaking of the band, they’re getting offers to open for bigger bands, and Natsuki now has to make a serious decision: does he want to pursue a career in music in this second life?

I must admit, I was *so* relieved when Nanase admittedly that she saw Natsuki as what a big brother must be like. First of all, it made all the NTR and threesome jokes being bandied about in this volume actually funny, as opposed to worrying. For another, I think there have already been a few too many people attracted to Natsuki in this series, and we don’t need more, especially as I’m still worried about his future with Hikari. So is he, in fact, as when he sees she’s chosen a pen name for her books that uses his own name, and he worries that she may come to regret that if they split up. To her, of course, this is a horrifying thing to say, as they’re 2-gether 4-ever and would never split up, but Natsuki has a few more years experience, and has seen teenage love turn sour. That said… I can’t see this series ending that realistically and bittersweet after all the volumes we’ve had. I think they should be fine.

I think the 9th volume is out soon, but it’s likely another 6-7 month wait till the next one. Which will start the “final arc”. Romcom fans should be very happy with this.

By Kazuki Amamiya and Gin. Released in Japan as “Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Esther Sun.

One of the things that folks tend to forget about teenage years as they grow older is how wonderful, how absolutely cathartic it can be to see your friends, your pals, those you are closest to and hang out with all the time, be complete and utter dipshits and make the worst choices imaginable. Not in a dangerous and life-threatening way – I don’t mean “I’m gonna take heroin” or that jazz. No, I mean things like “hey, I bet I can eat all these hot pockets in one go” or “I wonder how far I can go if I went down this steep slope on a garbage can lid?”. Dumb teen stuff. So when the cast here try to work out how to get Reita to listen to them and not throw away his entire life, Natsuki is the one who understands: we need to do the dumbest thing. Only that can save us. And it does, of course, because they’re teens, and also because this is a romcom.

Reita’s been suspended for a week for getting into a fight outside school. What’s more, there’s a video uploaded to social media of the fight, which is clearly staged BY Reita to destroy his own reputation. Everyone tries to get him to open up, and they all fail – he is really, really determined to throw himself under the bus. A visit to his home gives Natsuki some answers, but not many – home life not the best. But there has to be something there that’s more than just “I wasn’t thinking about Miori, I am a terrible person”. This also isn’t helping Miori much either – her reputation is not in the dirt anymore, but that’s because Reita is trying to say he forced her to do everything. Can Natsuki come up with a plan to solve everything in one go? See above re: dumb things.

Obviously Reita is the bulk of the book, but there is also the traditional romcom that is the reason you’re reading this. I appreciate that Natsuki and Hikari are dating and yet there’s still an acknowledgement that Natsuki also has feelings for Uta and Miori – in fact, as Hikari points out, right now his feelings for Miori are probably greater. But all of that is irrelevant – it has to be. Yes, he can’t let go of those feelings so easily. But he can reject the others girls and dedicate himself to dating Hikari, which he has done. The last part of the book is a classic Christmas Eve date, and it ends with a big ol’ confession and kiss. I will admit that sometimes this series is a bit too fastball-down-the-middle – Natsuki’s rainbow colored life feels a little too easy – but then again, he already suffered in his first life. And he did get the crap beaten out of him in this book. It evens out.

We’re caught up with Japan again – Book 8 is out early next year – so how things go from here is unknown. I can’t see this series going on too much longer, though. But it’s good overdramatic stuff.