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.

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.

There’s always been an element of drama to this series, which has sort of waffled between teen romcom and teen angst at times. But this volume pretty much jettisons the humor entirely, and any romance we get is of the tortured variety. This is also to be expected. Natsuki may have 7 extra years on the rest of the cast, but that does not make him any less of a dumbass when trying to see feelings that are so close to his nose that they’re invisible to him. We also not only get a nice round of high school bullying here, but also how how it ties in to elementary school bullying from the past, and that “conformity”, needless to say, is rewarded, while being an outcast gets you… well, even more outcasted. And then of course there is Miori, who has apparently decided that everything is her fault, that she’s the worst person alive, and that the only solution left to her is to fix the “alive” part. Fortunately, this isn’t quite THAT dark a high school romantic drama.

Nasty rumors are spreading throughout the school, helped along by a girl who really hates Miori (because of her relationship with Reita, of course), and Miori has actually been home from school for a week. Though honestly that’s more due to the fallout from realizing just how much she loves Natsuki and despairing about how it’s far too late to do anything about it. Natsuki, of course, is also not being helped here, given that he’s accused of cheating on his girlfriend with another girl. As for Hikari, everyone’s worried about how she takes this, but honestly we may need to be more worried about what she feels after she hears the actual truth. Unfortunately, Miori eventually snaps and decides to run away… and Natsuki worries she may take things even further.

So yes, word of warning, there is a suicide attempt in this book. That said, it’s resolved fairly quickly, and there are not many “real world” aftereffects, mostly as only Miori and Natsuki know what she was about to do. That said, honestly, the best scene in the book comes right before he rescues her, when he confronts Reita, who is determined to rescue her first and win over Natsuki. Natsuki, naturally, is livid, pointing out that Reita is only thinking of himself and not Miori at all. Accurate, and this leads to the cliffhanger of the book, where Reita apparently decides to solve his problems by becoming a delinquent and getting suspended. I think these teens need better coping mechanisms, honestly. I’m sure Reita will be the subject of the next book, though how his relationship with Miori will fall out (or fall apart) remains to be seen.

The next book is gonna be a bit, though – this volume only came out in December. So feel relief that Natsuki was able to defuse things, and hope that Hikari can get over her hangups about cooking. And Miori, please feel better soon.