Category Archives: reviews

Repeated Vice: I Refuse to Be Important Enough to Die, Vol. 1

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By Kuroakawa Hitsugi and Kushiro Kuki. Released in Japan as “Repeat Vice: Akuyaku Kizoku wa Shinitakunai node Shitennou ni Naru no wo Yamemashita” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by piyo.

I’ve started to read a few more “villain” novels, the distaff counterpart to the villainess genre. Generally speaking, their strength lies in the fact that they’re not afraid to keep their main character an absolute dickhead, even as he’s trying to change his fate and ends up saving the world. That’s the main reason to read this book. 11-year-old Lofus is introduced to us as an arrogant little shit who is not afraid to beat the crap out of anyone who slights him, and by the end of the book that is, at least on the surface, much the same. He will not be learning how to be sweet and nice. Mostly as the game he’s trapped in seems to make no sense, and his main goal is to try to figure out why he’s being targeted at all. That said… this *is* a male villain novel, so of course he’s ludicrously overpowered and gets two girls to fall for him. Some things never change.

Lofus Ray Lightless is a noble kid and heir to House Lightless. He has piles of magic, but is also a massive asshole, so keeps firing his magic teachers. Then one day he starts having nightmares. Nightmares where he’s at a magic academy, bullies a commoner, and is one of the first ones to die when the plot inevitably turns into a game. He’s horrified. Not because he was killed by the hero, but because he was killed early on as a minor villain. That cannot stand. What’s more, the plot made no sense – why are they blaming him for things out of his control? He therefore decides to set out with his trusted attendant Carlos to a remote fishing village, where he knows three years from now a disaster will occur. Only… it seems the disaster is happening now!

This book has one big weakness, which is the giant battle against sea monsters in the middle of the book. It goes on forever, and mostly just consists of “Here is my big attack!” “Here is my bigger attack!” ad nauseam. It drags it to a halt and bored me. It also has to be said, if you’re going to hide someone’s gender, to the point where the translator uses he/him pronouns through most of the book, it’s best not to put the reveal in a color page. J-Novel Club must assume that now that they put the color pages in the back to appease Amazon, no one looks at them first anymore. Other than that, this is a decent villain book. There’s clearly more going on here, including a very suspicious head knight, and I suspect Lofus will be uncovering a lot more secrets earlier than planned.

If you’re fond of the genre, and don’t mind that our 11-year-old has all the magical power in the world and gets the only two girls in the book to fall for him, this is pretty decent.

Adachi and Shimamura: Short Stories 2

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By Hitoma Iruma and raemz. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Molly Lee.

Several volumes ago, I mentioned hearing that the author had worried they would die before the series was finished, which is the main reason we’re getting all these short story books and “Vol. 99.9” in between volumes. You’d think, given that, that the author would also be trying to bring the series to a conclusion, but no worries there. 13 is out in Japan. What it does mean, though, is that the last few volumes have been drenched in mortality – death and what you do after you die, as well as what your loved ones do if you die before they do. We get a few more stories here showing the elderly Shimamura, having lived longer than everyone else, playing an old video game with Yashiro to try to reconnect with her beloved. We also get Adachi waiting in an afterlife parking lot,. unable to move on without their partner. It’s meant to be sweet, and it is, but I also found it a bit grim, to be honest.

The stories, as with many prior books, divide themselves neatly into two. The first part of the book is set from Shimamura’s POV, and shows her life with Adachi as a working adult, with them living together. Adachi has mellowed – a bit – and Shimamura is attempting to be proactive – a bit – and they’re both really fantastic together. The next chunk is from high school days, and Adachi’s POV, mostly showing her interactions with Shimamura’s family and the aftermath of her and Shimamura becoming a couple and sort of trying not to tell anyone yet. We also get a couple of stories in the future of Hino and Nagafuji, showing Hino living at her estate and Nagafuji working there as sort of a part-time maid. And of course we get Yashiro throughout, the same age and mentality even as the characters grow older and move on with their lives. She has a ukulele now.

As the series has gone on, and especially as Adachi’s mother has become one of the main supporting characters, we’ve seen more and more of Shimamura’s mother and her… um… zeal for life. To Shimamura, she’s just an annoying mom. To the Adachis, she is utterly terrifying, as the two of them are both incredible introverts who are terrible at just making conversation, and Shimamura’s mom tries to drag them into that constantly. She can be incredibly annoying, but it’s never malicious, and you can definitely see how Shimamura is a product of her mother as well as her father. As for the short stories themselves, they’re mostly short and sweet. I really loved the marriage proposal, which was very much exactly the sort of thing Shimamura would do. It’s also nice to see that, ambiguous though it is, Hino and Nagafuji are mirroring the relationship Hino’s mom and head maid had. Oh, and we get a semi-sequel to the “Adachi rant”, which is hilarious.

There is, mercifully, no real creepiness in this book, and aside from a “oh no, I woke up and Adachi is a cat” stories, few alternate universes. If you like the couple, you’ll like this.

If the Heroine Wants My Fiancé, I’ll Marry a Yandere Villain Instead!, Vol. 1

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By Kobako Takara and Jun Natsuba. Released in Japan as “Heroine ni Konyakusha wo Torareru Mitai node, Akuyaki Reisoku (Yandere Character) wo Neraimasu” by B’s-Log Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Emma Schumacker.

I admit I did briefly roll my eyes at the ineptness of the antagonists at the start of this book. The titular fiance is a drip of a man who our main character immediately falls out of love with after she gains her memories from Japan. The heroine is one of those who doesn’t actually care about walking up to the crown prince of their nation and saying “wow, great CG art!”. The “yandere villain” is being abused by his family, whose father is actually decently evil but whose brothers are so dumb they can’t even pretend that our main character is anything but a convenient woman to stay home while they play around. It then occurred to me that despite all this, both main characters have to struggle to get what they want, and still barely do. It’s almost like evil does not have to be competent or smart to succeed. Some lessons to learn there for all of us.

Cynthia Rhuddlan is a viscount’s daughter, and engaged to the son of an earl. Sadly, the son of the earl is pretty pathetic, but she still tries to work on their engagement with him. Then she remembers this is a game, and she’s one of the villainesses. And that Elly, the new girl who’s been muscling in on her fiance, is the “heroine”. Since her fiance suddenly no longer appeals, she tries to find another love interest who’s not already engaged, and comes up with Siraiya, the third son of a duke. He has a tragic abusive backstory, and if the heroine helps him he gets very attached to her… which can lead to a murder-suicide if done poorly! Can she try to win over this man, help him overcome his family, and get a happy ending?

Cynthia is very likeable, and is in the “highly competent” variety of heroines, so it’s nice to see she’s not immediately exiled or arrested, and she even breaks up with her fiance herself. A lot of this book requires negotiating the noble title arena, as well as who one can and cannot make a pass at. The game, tellingly, completely ignores all this, because only light novels are interested in delving into class warfare like that. Sireiya, meanwhile, is the sort of boyfriend who, once you give him a nice haircut, teach him things, and treat him like an actual human being rather than a tool, turns out to be nigh-on perfect. Her parents are understanding and supportive, and basically adopt her new fiance. The crown prince even helps after Cynthia accidentally solves his own tragic romantic subplot by virtue of her game knowledge. The outcome is not in doubt… even with rather pathetic villains.

This wraps up nicely, but there is apparently a Vol. 2, which surprises me. For genre fans.