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Bibliophile Princess, Vol. 6

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By Yui and Satsuki Sheena. Released in Japan as “Mushikaburi-hime” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alyssa Niioka and Andria McKnight.

It’s been over two years since the last volume of this series was translated. In the interim, we have had the Bibliophile Princess anime, which was good but mostly served to show everyone that Elianna is a much better character on the printed page when we can hear what she is thinking. We have also had a global pandemic, which probably explains the delay on this volume; the author admits they were uncertain about whether to continue with the ongoing story given the state of the world (they started the arc pre-COVID. But we now have the 6th volume, and you get good value for money, as this is about 130 pages or so longer than most of the other volumes. And we need all that space, because finding a cure for the Ashen Nightmare, trying to avoid getting assassinated, and protect her position as Chris’ fiancee. That last one might actually be the most difficult, as Chris’ uncle really, really wants to be the power behind the throne and has his daughter ready to seduce the Prince.

We pick up where we left off, with the one book that has the cure they’ve been looking for having been burnt by the traitorous Jean. Elianna has to make a difficult decision here, which is not helped by Prince Irwin taking the time to press his own suit. Fortunately, they soon realize they have a loophole that can help with that burnt book, and are soon busily finding just the things that help to prevent and then cure the Ashen Nightmare. All that remains is to try to convince the noble-hating commoners that they’re here to help, figure out who’s the real one betraying them (yes, technically it’s Jean, but you know he’s agonizing about it), and then make it back to the capital in time to stop Chris getting blackmailed into dumping Elianna – fortunately, something he’d rather die than do. Will books be able to protect her this time?

Literally, in fact. The strength and weakness of this book is that it positively revels in its cliches, which can make for a lot of nice fist-pumping moments but also feels very contrived. There are not one but two “wait, I thought you were dead but you are alive” moments here, one of which I can just about buy but the other one made me roll my eyes a bit. This series also suffers heavily from the multiple narrators, which are simply hard to translate without sounding awkward – Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter has the same issue – and so you get a lot of paragraphs that start “I, Elianna Bernstein, was…” That said, I was so happy to get back into her headspace, especially after the anime rarely let us see it. Every tangent she went off on was a delight.

So a bit of a mixed bag, but overall I was quite happy to read it, and we at last get to the end of this arc. The seventh volume came out in Japan last October, so hopefully won’t be another two years.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 5: Avatar of a Goddess, Vol. 3

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

Ah well, it was nice while it lasted. After my attempts to defend him a tiny, tiny bit and his struggling manfully with Rozemyne being, well, Rozemyne, it’s time to throw Wilfried back into the ball pit, as he once again becomes one of the more hated characters in the series thanks solely to one side-story right at the end. Sadly, this boy just can’t help but listen to people he shouldn’t, and poisoned words just flow into his ear so easily. I expect that this will mostly pay off in the next volume, but it leaves a sour taste for this one. With all that said, he still ends up more popular than Detlinde, who is cringe in all the worst ways, a spoiled rotten princess being manipulated and disparaged by everyone in the series, and I’m fairly certain she is going to die at some point in this series. Wilfried won’t die. But he’s not marrying Rozemyne either.

It’s the end of Rozemyne’s third year at the academy, and for once she can actually attend it, even if this means that she’s going to end up attracting even more attention. Not as much as Detlinde, though, whose Whirl ends up being a disaster (she uses too much mana, collapses, and also looks like a fool) but also a political bomb (she triggers a magic circle that it the rumors say declare she is the new ruler, something that appeals to absolutely no one). As for Rozemyne, most of this volume is spent in conversations with others. There’s the fallout of their bridal battle with Dunkenfelger, there’s the research results that they’re pushing (and trying to get credit where it’s due), and there’s a discussion with the royal family that also involves Ferdinand, who is there accompanying his fiance, so actually gets to meet Rozemyne for a day or two.

Rozemyne is getting better at being a noble, but she’s also getting better at knowing when she has to ignore all the social niceties because things actually have to get done. Her bluntness here in front of both Hannelore’s mother and Eglantine is excellent, and shows off her rising star for everyone to see. (Hannelore also briefly shows a spine, though it’s much harder for her, and I compared her on Twitter to Yunyun from KonoSuba.) She also gets Ferdinand better than anyone else in the world… and he’s just as adept at getting what she’s concealing or hiding. Let’s face it – the two of them make a great couple, and even have nobility writing fanfiction about them in their head, even though the kind sweetness of their head bears no resemblance to the pinched cheeks of reality. Rozemyne had better stop looking 8 years old soon, we’re reaching a crisis point.

All this plus Georgine’s ongoing Evil Plans of Evil. You don’t need me to tell you how much of a must-read this remains.

Return from Death: I Kicked the Bucket and Now I’m Back at Square One with a Girlfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me, Vol. 2

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By Eiko Mutsuhana and Yuki Nezozuki. Released in Japan as “Shi ni Modori no Mahou Gakkou Seikatsu wo, Moto Koibito to Prologue kara (※Tadashi Koukando wa Zero)” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Alyssa Niioka.

You’ll notice that the title has slightly changed between the first and second volume. The first volume was dedicated to Oriana trying her best to alter the present so that she can once again be together with the man she loves, and earning a hard-won victory (albeit for herself, not for everyone) that is promptly destroyed by a nasty little cliffhanger. And now it’s time to try again… only this time it’s Vincent who has the knowledge of Life #2, and Oriana who doesn’t remember Life #1 *or* #2. Needless to say, he’s a bit bummed out by this, especially since this Oriana, who is not really driven to study hard to be near her beloved, is in a different class. Still, he is here to try to win her love anew and also find out why they keep looping back in time. This particular volume focuses far more on the first part of that than the second.

To be fair, that’s probably because it’s a lot harder for him to pull off the first than it is the second. He rather handily discovers that there’s a curse associated with the Dragon Tree that explains (unsatisfactorily) why he and Oriana have now died twice and why they keep “starting over”. He’s even more of an academic in this life (due to a promise he made with his father), so I think he’s got this in the bag. Sadly, romancing the love of his life runs right up against being a teenage boy, and the fact that he’s doing it for the third time (though he does not remember the first) does not really help him, he’s still a bit clueless about girls. Things are not helped by the fact that he is a duke’s son and Oriana is the daughter of a merchant… albeit a very successful merchant with noble connections, thanks to Vincent’s machinations.

This is still cute and sweet, and has lots of teen romantic agita if that is your thing. As with the first book, I found the teen agita a but *too* realistic. I also appreciated getting a bit more backstory regarding Yana and Azraq, which helps explain a lot of what was happening in Volume 1 that we couldn’t quite wrap our minds around. The main issue with the book is the fact that it’s clearly Book 1 of 2 in this arc, and is no doubt based on a webnovel, so it does not remotely have the exciting cliffhanger of the first book, but simply comes to a stop. Presumably to pick up in the third and (I presume) final volume. What’s more, as noted, this is mostly all romance, so any “why is this happening?” is also left by the wayside.

So yes, if you want to see a teenager in love trying to get the girl he loves to overcome class consciousness and feel the same, this is a good book. If you want to figure out why they both died last volume, not so much.