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The Mythical Hero’s Otherworld Chronicles, Vol. 2

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By Tatematsuri and Ruria Miyuki. Released in Japan as “Shinwa Densetsu no Eiyū Isekai Tan” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by James Whittaker.

This book takes its isekai and fantasy world tropes seriously. That is its best feature, but also one of its major flaws. It’s refreshing to read a straightforward military fantasy book – as I’ve noted, there’s a lot of Altina the Sword Princess in this, but it feels even more serious than that series did – and Hiro, now with his memories returned, makes a clever and overpowered protagonist who nevertheless does not need to worry about MP expense as he plans his next moves. The flaw is that this also does not really take into account the subversions that we English-speaking readers would really prefer that it did. There are slaves in this book, who are abused, conscripted, and massacred, and they are there to be mooks and nothing more. Only one of them has a name, and she turns out to be the daughter of a village chief. As for discussion of whether slavery is bad, it’s left to a “demon” character to free her. Not happy with that.

After the events of the previous book, Regis… erm, sorry, Hiro… is called to the capital, there to prove the rumors about his lineage and to get a reward. Of course, what this means in reality is that he’s now embroiled in royal politics, and all the nobles are looking at him as if he has a “50% off” sign around his neck. Fortunately, Hiro proves to be very good at judging people’s true intentions… though that doesn’t mean that he still can’t be dragged along as part of someone else’s plan, especially when they’re related to a certain red-haired princess. After this, there’s still a battle to be fought and won, and Hiro gets to prove that he’s just as able as a military tactician as he is at political maneuvering. All that said, the addition of a zlosta warrior to the enemy ranks will prove more difficult.

The cover art of the first three books very much shows this is going to be a “new girl every volume” sort of series, and indeed Liz sits out most of the first half of this book. Instead we get Hiro bonding with Aura, which I honestly preferred, mostly as they vibe with each other straight away – he even alludes to his actual identity in such a way that she can’t help but understand. We also get Rosa introduced to us, who I hope is there to show that, after the events of Book One, this will not have Hiro’s Sexual Adventures as part of the plotline – I was relieved that he rejected her incredibly forward advances. (Going to a noble party dressed in the gown we see Rosa wearing in the color pages raised both my eyebrows.) As for the rest of the book, it’s military strategy, so as usual, I have little to say.

This remains a very readable book, which is probably its best feature. If you enjoy military fantasy and royal succession drama, and don’t mind a new girl in every port, this is a series to enjoy.

Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, Vol. 3

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By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn.

In my review of the first volume, I simply didn’t like her, so didn’t talk much about Keigetsu. In the second review I liked her far more, but Reirin basically bulldozed my talking about anything else. But now it’s finally time for me to talk about Keigetsu, now that she’s finally getting a separate plotline of her own. To be fair, the book holds the reader’s hand near the end in case they missed it, pointing out that for all that Keigetsu spends her time whining, complaining, and fretting, she doesn’t run away from anything for more than a few minutes. More importantly for her future in the Court, though, Reirin notices that the amount of magical talent she has to not only bodyswap them without any complications, but do also potentially bodyswap, say, just a hand or an eye, means she has probably more power than anyone else around. She’ll need it, because there’s a new villainess in town, and I don’t mean Reirin.

Reirin and Keigetsu have bodyswapped a few minor times since the end of the second book, and nothing seems to have come of it. But things are a bit too dangerous now for any swapping to take place: the Harvest Festival will be held in the Shu lands, with Keigetsu in charge of hospitality ad also a performance to the Gods. Which is a problem being that everyone in the Shu palace is quitting. Things get worse when you go to the Shu lands themselves – a group of villagers are being riled up to kidnap and torture Keigetsu, in hopes that, because rumor has it her terribleness is the reason for recent bad weather, her murder will mean everything will improve again. All this stress, unfortunately, combined with a double dose of bullying, means Reirin and Keigetsu do bodyswap at the worst possible time. Now Reirin has to fight for her life.

This third book may also run on “who’s in what body?”, but everything has changed now that folks are aware of the possibility – in fact, it leads to many of the funniest moments in the book, as Reirin thinks that her impersonation of Keigetsu is perfect, when in fact it’s utter garbage. She also has stronger allies this time, as one of her brothers comes along for the kidnapping ride, and the Captain of the Eagle Eyes also shows up relatively quickly. Unfortunately, this is not just a matter of Reirin winning over her enemies by “doing it with a bang” – someone really wants the Shu destroyed, and they’re using people who are using other people who are using other people to do it. The cliffhanger is a double one, but for once the threat of half the cast dying of the plague is not as chilling as realizing who the new bad girl in town is.

The author again apologizes for this needing to run to two books to complete the arc. Honestly, I’m glad – this book is already very long, any longer and we’d be getting into Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere territory. Till then, please enjoy Reirin learning what it feels like to live, and Keigetsu learning what one must do to survive. Or vice versa.

The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes, Vol. 6

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By Bisu and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo wa Kyou mo Hata o Tatakioru” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Esther Sun.

As I got near the end of this volume, with the appearance of one of the characters I least expected to see, I began to realize that everything about this series makes complete sense if you just remember one fact: everyone in the book hates themselves. Now, sometimes this is obvious. Rosemary has humility as deep as the oceans, as high as the sky, to the point where it’s her biggest flaw. But everyone else, when you dig down into their psyche, also seems to suffer from crippling self-loathing and self-doubt. Even Kanon, the otome game heroine who finally gets summoned in this volume, arrives with a heaping helping of “why me?” that does not go away, though events help to reinforce her worries. Hell, even the CAT probably hates himself. The only, bright, sunny confident person in this volume dies only a little ways into it. That said… this is not a giant depressing. bleak read. Though it’s a downer to an extent.

We pick up right where we left off last time, and unfortunately events do not play out with a last-minute reprieve or God being kind. Now back home again, Rosemary has to deal with trying to live up to her father’s theoretical expectations (which are very different in her head from his ACTUAL expectations), the puzzling fact that everyone seems to lose their composure when she’s around them (especially the men), and of course the small problem of the game’s story starting up early, which means that they’re using ancient untested magic to summon a girl from Japan, who can hopefully be the one to contain the demon lord. All this plus mooning over Sir Leonhart. That said, things actually end up going pretty well… until an assassination attempt manages to screw everything up.

First off, I seem to have lost track of how much time all of this is taking, and somewhere along these six books Rosemary has aged 5 years. Since she’s now 15, and will be “an adult” in this book’s world in 6 months, I will try to complain a bit less about every single man in the cast except her father being in love with her. I do think that it’s laid on a bit thick, frankly, but that is kind of the genre of these sorts of romance books, and so I mostly have to sigh and let the flowery prose wash over me. The most interesting part of the book was near the end, where Rosemary’s near-death experience manages to get her mother, who has spent the entire series avoiding her, to her side. Fans of Endo and Kobayashi Live! might find some similarities here, as it turns out that her mother is merely very awkward and bad at love and emotions – a habit she shares with her husband, who admittedly is nicer to his daughter in this book than in the previous five books combined.

There’s two more volumes in this series to go, so I suspect next time we’ll get the darkness before the dawn. Till then, I am enjoying this book about all these sad little royals who have absolutely no idea how to un-sad themselves.