Category Archives: reviews

The Fearsome Witch Teaches in Another World: Pay Attention in Class!, Vol. 1

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By Mitsuru Inoue and Suzuno. Released in Japan as “Isekai Teni Shite Kyoushi ni Natta ga, Majo to Osorerarete Iru Ken” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

Light Novel readers are very familiar by now with the trope. Our hero ends up in another world and gets all the girls, all the swords, all the magic. And if their high school bullies aren’t literally brought along so that he can destroy them, than the antagonists that he meets will all SOUND like high school bullies. It’s the author living vicariously through the character. But what if the author isn’t really all that bothered with their high school career? What if, instead, it’s teaching that’s the problem? Students unwilling to learn, who are quick to say that their parents donate to the school. Fellow teachers who put in minimal effort and show bias against other students. An administration that wants the teachers to go with the flow and not make waves. Does that make you mad? Don’t you wish you could change it? Don’t you wish you could teach kids in an unbiased way with the help of near-absolute power? This book is for you.

Aoi Konominato dies (we’re not told how) with many regrets. She was trying to become a kendo master, but failed. So she went into teaching, but kept running into problems. Her father must be so disappointed in her. With these thoughts, she wakes up in the middle of a fantasy world, having been taken in by an elf who turns out to be one of the strongest magic users in the world. Over the course of the next decade, he teaches Aoi everything she knows, and she proves to be a fantastic student. Now he wants to send her to the premier magic academy – not as a student, but as a teacher, to instruct the future magic users of the world. There’s only one slight problem, which is that this is a typical isekai, meaning arrogant nobles who look down on commoners and abuse their position. Aoi will have to do something about that.

For the most part I quite enjoyed this, though if you’re a student who dealt with an abusive teacher Aoi might set off a few red flags. She means well, but her personality is very stoic (I’m not sure she expressed an emotion in the entire volume) and she can come across as terrifying, especially once she shows off her magic. I did enjoy the way magic works here – there are ways to teach it, and basic spells everyone should know, but you can modify and alter as you see fit, and people are creating new spells and researching new magic all the time. I also quite liked her teaching friend Elisa, a dwarf who likes to do research. For the most part she’s there to be a bit of a tsukkomi when Aoi does something outrageous, but she’s loud and lovable. And while it was a bit cruel, I admit I laughed a lot at the king and queen giving their son a good talking-to.

So yes, assuming you don’t mind Aoi’s vibe, this is a solid debut. It’s got quite a few volumes, so we’ll see where it goes from here. And no, I’m not sure why Aoi’s teaching outfit consists of a skintight short leather dress and fancy stockings. But I can hazard a guess.

One Last Hurrah! The Grayed Heroes Explore a Vivid Future, Vol. 1

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By fukurou and johndee. Released in Japan as “Jiji Baba Yuusha Party Saigo no Tabi: Oita Saikyou wa Iroasenu Mama Mirai e Susumu you desu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Vasileios Mousikidis.

I was looking forward to this title from the moment it was announced, and I’m pleased that it did not disappoint. It’s not that surprising, but that’s not what you want from a series with this premise, which is comforting and happy, even when it’s dealing with terrible people who are murdering squads of faceless guards. I especially enjoy seeing elderly men in their 60s and 70s, who are among the most powerful in the world, suddenly becoming shy fanboys in front of their senpais when faced with the titular characters. Every grand master was once a young boy or girl, and the same goes here, where we meet the powerful mage’s teacher, or the guy who taught the incredible swordsman what he knows. It also helps to underline the other point of this series, which is that those folks are, while mind-numbingly powerful, at least on the human scale. Our protagonists not only left that behind long ago, but were never like that.

Once the world was on the brink of destruction. The sky was blood-red, monsters were everywhere, many died, and everything was about to fall to the Demon Lord. Then the Hero and his party won the day, the sky turned blue again, and they all lived happily ever after. Now, over seventy years later, the hero and his wife the saint, now in their nineties, decide that they are going to be dying soon, and want to see their great-grandson for the first time before they do. He’s not on that continent, so it’s time for a journey. Along the way they meet the other surviving members of the hero’s party – a drunken swordsman and his witch wife, a bald “exhibitionist” monk with a muscle fetish, and a lying merchant who keeps changing his name. They’re all incredibly old… but I would advise against thinking they’re feeble.

There’s a lot of shonen stereotypes here, as you may have guessed. There’s one character who reminds me a lot of Usopp, but he has a surprising backstory, and also a surprisingly hidden power. The big guy who loves muscles and walks around with only a loincloth comes up a lot (I saw it in Last Dungeon Kid, and it wasn’t new there). That said, the main thing is that all of them are now called “eccentric” but back then had nastier names applied. Ferd the hero is so powerful that after the final battle he has to live on a remote mountain as almost no one can get near him, Elrica the saint was literally built to fight against evil (and has all the cliches you’d expect from that role), and Sazaki the swordsman is from the school of “If I sword good enough, I will be best at sword”, with an added drunken master aspect. This shouldn’t work as well as it does, as they’re all such types. But it does, as they’re all fun. I love it when Ferd and Elrica play at being a feeble, elderly couple. I also liked seeing the next generation of heroes, who are far more “normal” than Ferd and company but also appear to be writing their own story.

I’m not sure how much more of this we’ll get, but there’s at least a second volume out. Given the first book ends with them actually starting out to see the grandkid, I’m not optimistic we’ll get there. But I’m gonna love the ride. On a robot horse carriage.

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Divine Gun, Piercer of Darkness

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By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian.

This series does, believe it or not, have a bit more to it than simply a lot of cool fights and all the women in it fighting over who gets to be Allen’s #1 girl. We get lore dumps every volume, and this one is no exception, and while that can be difficult sometimes (all the old great families of yore had last names ending in -heart or -field, and while that’s aesthetically pleasing it does mean I wish this had a more comprehensive wiki), it also lends this story an epic take, a bit of gravitas that, frankly, it really needs so as not to overbalance into harem antics. 500 years ago or so was a lost age of powerful families and races that are mostly long gone, but the relics and dregs of the age still survive, and they’re either fighting to regain power or preparing to pass that power on to the next generation. Of course, finding where the power is hidden can be even more difficult…

In the aftermath of the death of apostle Io, the hero’s brother Igna, and Grand Marshal Moss Saxe, Allen can’t put it off any longer: he’s got to get a last name and some perks for saving the world – again. He tries to pawn this off on someone else as usual, and even when he figures something out it manages to be something beneficial for all – Allen simply doesn’t have many worldly desires, as those trying to get him to love them most know very well. Now they have to go off to the north to try to find another Sealed Archive so that they can gain access to a sealed book. It makes sense that Tina plays a big role, given that her late mother Rosa was the one who did most of the research into this. But why on Earth does business genius Felicia need to come with them? Only the cat knows…

I would normally avoid talking about spoilers, but it’s literally on the cover. Just as the last time Allen faced a secret archive he had Stella possessed, we now get Felicia’s body possessed by Anko, who has been lurking around this book as a black cat but of course turns out to be far more. That said, mostly what this battle serves to do is to make Felicia realize that in terms of girls who loves Allen, she’s at the bottom of the list. Allen, who is hated by a large portion of the population for various reasons, most of which are bullshit, needs someone at his side who can keep up with him – which means fighting, and Felicia is far better suited to, well, being a businesswoman. While she doesn’t say it to his face, she’s basically removing herself from the Allen sweepstakes here. As for the others, well, the title character might make more strides if she stopped acting like a child, but that seems impossible for her for now.

This was a solid volume, though I am starting to feel that this is being dragged out a bit too much. If the author wanted to make sure the series kept going till after the anime, no fear, feel free to wrap it up now.