Category Archives: reviews

Turning the Tables on the Seatmate Killer, Vol. 2

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By Aresanzui and Sabimizore. Released in Japan as “Tonari no Seki ni Natta Bishoujo ga Hore Saseyou to Karakatte Kuruga Itsunomanika Kaeriuchi ni Shite Ita” by Monster Bunko. Released in North America by Tentai Books. Translated by IpsMoink.

There have been so many of these sorts of series since the first volume of Seatmate Killer came out in English that I had to struggle to remember which one it was for a bit. That said, unlike a lot of the sorts of series I mentioned just now, this is not a sweet and syrupy “they’re already a couple” romcom, it’s more of a “rehabilitation project” sort of romcom. The easiest comparison is with Rascal Does Not Dream, and indeed you could describe the plot to Seatmate Killer as “what if Sakuta and Koga were classmates and worked together to help his sister”. That said, Seatmate Killer needed something to separate itself from the pack, and it has decided that something is the com part of romcom. This series is here to be wacky, and it will not let you forget that until about 4/5 of the way through the book.

Yui and Yuuki are still much the same as they were at the end of the last book. She tries to get him to fall for her/teases him, he ignores her/tries to rehabilitate her tendency to do this, and they both pretend to be a couple in order to help his shut-in sister. Things are complicated with the arrival of Rio, Yui’s friend who has been dubbed the “seatmate breaker” by Yuuki’s friends as she tends to make everyone who sits next to her hate her. As it turns out, in reality Rio is a lonely, socially inept teenager who is desperate for Yui to validate her, and now Yuuki finds himself trying to help two different girls… which unfortunately ends up reading quite a lot like him cheating. Can a party help to resolve this, or will it just make everything worse?

As with the first book, the payoff in this volume is quite good, as each of the characters reveals depth that they normally tend to conceal. Mina, in particular, was impressive here, quietly mentioning to Rio that she is well aware that her brother and Yui are faking a relationship for her benefit, but is leaving it alone mostly as she thinks they make a good couple. The trouble is that we have everything before the payoff to get through before we get to that. Everyone has that friend who tries to hard to be funny and “on” all the time but just ends up exhausting and annoying everyone, and Seatmate Killer is this friend, as it’s simply too manic. Yui especially, though at least she admits that this is the mask she wears at the end. If this does get an anime, and liberally cuts some of the repetition, it could be fast-paced fun. But I was definitely sighing about halfway through and asking Rio “can you please just snap and have a breakdown soon so I can get to the good stuff?”

So this remains about mid-tier romcom, worth it for those who love the genre, but not essential.

The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 11

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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.

This is the start of a new arc, and also a point at which this series says “OK, we’re in it for the long haul”, so there’s a ton of setup both for the next couple of volumes and for the foreseeable future. That said, the difficult part is that it’s almost ALL setup, with payoff presumably coming down the road. If you enjoy seeing balls thrown in the air, though, this is fine. It also gives Aura more of a role than she’s had in some time, as even through she starts the book off delegating a huge chunk of her power to others, she still has to keep a close eye on them to make sure they are not trying to undermine her own rule. She’s also quick to see that something very ominous is coming, and that their desert neighbors are making a ridiculous amount of concessions in order to make sure to stay in their good graces. Is there an upcoming war brewing?

Aura’s pregnancy and birth of her and Zenjirou’s daughter goes very well thanks to the healer that Zenjirou was able to get. Now, though, it’s time to move some other pieces on the board. Freya has to return home to tell her family that she’s going to be the kingdom’s first new concubine, and it would probably be best if Zenjirou went with her to try to show her family he’s not a creep or evil. More importantly, the events I mentioned above show Aura that they REALLY need a second concubine from the Twin Kingdoms. He gets along better with Bona, but Lucretia has the drive, the political clout, and the tragic backstory to put her in the running. There is, of course, one slight problem. She got off on the wrong foot with Zenjirou trying to lean into “seduce”, and now he’s wary of her. The solution? Join Freya’s sea voyage!

I’ve joked before about how, over the course of the series, the title has become the opposite of Zenjirou’s life. That said, I do wonder if he still sort of sees it as applying to him. His Japanese reserve comes across to everyone else, including his wife, as a complete lack of desire to have ANYTHING for himself. She knows that he objected to both Freya and Lucretia as his concubines, but he gave in really, really fast despite this, and she now is getting concerned that eventually he’s going to start to resent her. I don’t see that happening anytime soon, but it’s probably not a bad idea for the two of them to try harder to understand each other. The rest of the book, as I said, is mostly setup, with perhaps the most interesting thing being that the “problem maids” are split up, with Dolores being sent with Zenjirou on the sea voyage. This allows for a nice, touching scene where Faye and Letti worry about her.

Having talked in the first paragraph about the series settling in for the long haul, I’m sure someone will remind me that there hasn’t been a new volume in almost a year and a half. But that’s future me’s problem. For now, this remains a good political intrigue series.

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Saint’s Guidance and the Battle for the North

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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 digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian.

This book internally takes itself seriously, and there’s no sense that it’s winking at the audience or anything. That said, if you, the reader, take this series seriously at all, you must absolutely hate it, because every volume gets more and more ridiculous. Allen is not so much a character as a Macguffin at this point, though he does get one chapter to himself. But his purpose in the series is to help everyone else find THEIR purpose in the series, and here it turns out that his legacy means that he can do that even with 200-year-old elves and dragons. And of course there’s Stella, who gets the cover and the focus of this book and ends up delivering so well that everyone starts to call her The Saint. Honestly, the only one still doing badly is Lydia, who gets one scene in the volume, but also gets Allen reflecting how she must be running wild and he worries about that little scamp, contrasted with The Hero and Lydia’s own mother coming up with contingency plans to murder her.

The rebellion continues, even though it’s rapidly becoming apparent the rebels don’t have anyone who can really see the big picture or due long-term planning. They still may end up getting control of the Great Tree, though, as the beastmen are near their limit, and they have to rely on Caren and Lydia’s brother Richard to scream and yell at the old, conservative leaders until they finally allow a “Gondor Calls For Aid” moment. In the South, the Leinsters have cleaned up easily, and are headed towards the capitol, but Lydia is still unapproachable and dangerous. And in the North, the Howards are waiting patiently for the enemy army to think they’ve won before they spring one final trap. At first Stella’s father insists she cannot join the battle, but later events will prove that it’s a good thing she didn’t listen to him.

This is not the first series to have “battle maids”, as fandom tends to term them, and it won’t be the last, but this volume really manages to sell exactly what we love about them, which is being insanely powerful and sadistic while also keeping that “ara, ara” feel you get from a maid character. Well, one type of maid character. Don’t worry, we get all types here. In any case, Anna saving the day is probably the highlight of the book, with apologies to Stella, and I would love to see more. (As always, this series has backstory that it’s constantly implying is more interesting than the actual story being told.) As for Allen himself, he’s picked up a new girl who worships him, this one apparently a little girl version of a great spirit/spell/something, but again, this volume isn’t about anything Allen does, it’s about what Allen represents. He improves literally everyone who’s ever come into contact with him and makes them their best. (Well, except that gang of Beastmen teens. Sorry, gang, you suck.)

The next volume should end the arc, and also has Tina on the cover, so I assume she’ll get the focus she didn’t get here… assuming she’s not overtaken by Lydia. Again. A good series to read if you enjoy ridiculous bullshit.