Category Archives: reviews

The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 10

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By Tsunehiko Watanabe and Jyuu Ayakura. Released in Japan as “Risou no Himo Seikatsu” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT.

Gonna be honest, I have not warmed to Lucretia yet. Frankly, I’d be happier with Bona as a 2nd concubine, as the two of them could nerd out together. That said, after getting Lucretia’s backstory here, we certainly see why she’s so desperate to seduce Zenjiro and get into his good graces. Unfortunately, we know our hero better than she does, so she keeps striking out over and over here. It takes Freya spelling it out for Lucretia to get her to change her approach: any attempts to make Zenjiro fall in love with anyone but Aura are doomed to fail. Accept this is a purely political negotiation. She’s in a much stronger position there, especially when her family offers Freya something that, as she herself narrates, she would kill for. But in terms of audience appeal… I think I’m not alone in not really warming to her, and so she’s going to have to work harder in the next few books. But at least now she’ll BE in the next few books, even if she’s still on the outside looking in.

After their error in the last volume, the King and heir to the throne of the Twin Kingdoms are trying to get back into Zenjirou’s good graces, which is unfortunate because he’s still really pissed off. That said, he knows when he can afford to be emotionally furious and when he cannot. Getting a healer is easier, as he negotiates with the Pope there, and it goes very well. A bit too well, in fact. He’s then asked by Freya, who is slowly drying up in the Southern climate, if she can go with him to the Kingdoms to negotiate on behalf of her own nation. This proves to be OK with the Twin Kingdoms as well, who are absolutely delighted to be negotiating with Uppasala. Unnervingly so. What is really going on here?

What’s going on is that the series is now popular enough that things can be planned out for a long-runner, which means we’re setting up plots here for a payoff several books down the road. Honestly, I’m amazed Freya was able to keep her cool as much as she did given the tool they gave her is basically exactly what a nation sailing on a long dangerous voyage would most desperately desire. And then there’s Francesco, still essentially this world’s equivalent of a mad scientist, and trying to invent something that would lead to complete upheaval of the world as everyone knows it. This makes everyone unhappy, but as Zenjirou notes it also may be something that can’t be avoided, so it might be best to control the metaphorical explosion when it happens than to be caught up in it. It might lead to war. The Twin Kingdoms certainly think so.

But yes, Lucretia may be on the cover, and Aura may still be the one Zenjirou loves, but frankly Freya is still the most interesting heroine in these books. I loves her joy when Aura offered her a dress as a gift (which implies she accepts her as Zenjirou’s concubine), which very rightly also got interior art. Given that the next arc will involve Freya’s return home, the author may agree with me.

Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village, Vol. 7

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By Mizuumi Amakawa and Mai Okuma. Released in Japan as “Fushi no Kami: Henkyou kara Hajimeru Bunmei Saiseiki” by Overlap. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Jade Willis.

I would like to take this point to mock those reviewers who suggested that this was not going to end up with Ash having more than one wife. If I could quote one of those foolish reviews, one… let me check my notes here… Sean Gaffney, he said in the review of the sixth volume “I’m pretty sure this is not a polycule sort of book.” And yet here we are, and the outcome of the 7th book is so little in doubt that I’m even spoiling it in this opening paragraph. There are no more battles with demons or werewolves here, and the only new ridiculous tech is the finished airplane at last. No, this entire book is about politics, about the fact that Ash and the frontier territories have gotten far too powerful for the royal family’s comfort, and how they can get Alicia away from the royal family and back to her rightful place next to Ash and Maika. The cover art tells you how this turns out.

After the events of the previous book, refugees are flowing into Sacula, and everyone has their hands full trying to find ways to not have them dying in the streets or turning into bandits to stay alive. Towards that end, they have asked for help from the central territories and the royal family. Unfortunately, the king is ambivalent and also weak, and the crown prince is completely hostile. Fortunately they have Alicia, who gets the help of the Church to send much needed supplies. Unfortunately, she’s proving far too popular, so much so that even though she doesn’t want the throne, some nobles want her to take it anyway. As a result, she’s locked away in the palace. Ash is going to have to find a way to rescue her.

I find it amusing, given how Ash has gone out of his way to avoid taking credit for the many things that he’s spearheaded over the years, that the solution to his problems here is to cash in on all those things, admit they WERE all his doing, and get royal recognition (which essentially comes with an “I get whatever I ask for” coupon). As for the two wives thing, it’s pretty clear from the start that Maika is absolutely fine with this, and as a matter of fact might be more annoyed if Ash didn’t make that the solution. She and Alicia have been close ever since Alicia’s days as “Arthur”, and I can definitely see the two of them teaming up on him in the future. We don’t get a wedding, because in the end it’s the civilization that’s more important than the romance – the real climax of the book is the working plane, not Alicia declaring she loves Ash.

This is the final volume in the series, and a quick epilogue puts a definitive capper on things. It’s just about the right length, and I enjoyed this far more than I was expecting. Please enjoy this ridiculous boy becoming a ridiculous man.

The Abandoned Heiress Gets Rich with Alchemy and Scores an Enemy General!, Vol. 1

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By Miyako Tsukahara and Satsuki Sheena. Released in Japan as “Suterare Reijō wa Renkinjutsu-shi ni Narimashita. Kaseida Okane de moto Tekikoku no Shō o Kōnyū Shimasu” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book try to get the reader to abandon it and walk away quite as much as the start of this book. First off, and this is less the fault of the author than the fact that English-speaking fans are VERY tired of this by now, the very first chapter is called “The Abandoned Heiress Purchases a Slave Swordsman”. Those of you following the Sugar Apple Fairy Tale anime will know how this goes, but it’s still a side-eye moment. Things are not improved by the two leads snarking at each other egregiously for the first 40 or so pages – indeed, Chloe’s banter feels very forced and unnatural. Then, as you read on, you realize that this is not a fault with the writing but a fault with Chloe, and things get a lot more interesting. It’s not a must-read, but by the end of the book I was perfectly satisfied.

Chloe is an alchemist, and she’s just purchased Julius so he can help her kill monsters, which will get her materials so that she can do more alchemy and make more money. Both have tragic pasts. Chloe was a duke’s daughter, but when her stepsister arrived she became the unfavorite, and then when her father was accused of crimes and executed, she was thrown out onto the street. Julius, meanwhile, was a general for another country, and as part of the peace agreements was sold to the enemy and forced to fight in an arena for three years. Chloe responds to all this by keeping up an optimistic, cheery front that hides a very fragile young woman, while Julius has simply given up on life altogether. Fortunately, both are very good for each other, and they’ll have to rely on each other more as it turns out that Chloe’s past is still very much in the present.

This is the first of a series of books Cross Infinite World licensed from PASH!, best known here for the Kuma Bear novels, and it’s not a bad choice. I enjoy unreliable narrators, so seeing Chloe’s chipper yet slightly fake running monologue and constant praising of herself made me look for something more, and I was rewarded. Julius, meanwhile, is a jerk to Chloe at first, in the best shoujo manga tradition, but, like the better shoujo manga with that trend, he gets better. The book is very much a ‘game’ fantasy in the way that monsters, when they die, happen to drop labeled items you can use in alchemy, but honestly, that’s par for the course now. Its biggest flaw may be that it’s a stand-alone – there’s hints of Chloe’s alchemy mentor that go nowhere, and the eventual bad guy doing all this gets away and things stay unresolved. So in terms of plot it’s not great. But in terms of romance it’s absolutely fine.

That said, there does appear to be a second book in the series due out in Japan in March. Till then, if you like disgraced heroines falling for hot guys with sharp tongues, this is a good choice.