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The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes, Vol. 5

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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 Tom Harris.

Again, how much you like this series is going to very much depend on how much you can tolerate most of the cast being in love with a girl who is not yet “of age”. It’s been around since the start, and it’s not going away anytime soon. Leaving aside her main love interest Leonhart, who at least has the decency not to moon over her in an obvious way (i.e. the way that she’s mooning over him). there’s her brother, her two adopted mages, her bodyguard… the list goes on and on. Even when she goes to an outpost that consists of nothing but soldiers, the fact that she’s able to cook makes them all get starry-eyed. At its best it’s kind of exhausting, at its worst it’s pretty creepy. Fortunately, her father does not fall under this list, and he sets Rosemary out on a new quest directly related to the otome game she’s in: find the stone that seals the demon king. Alas, easier said than done…

Of course, first we have to wrap up the previous plotline. Rosemary has succeeded in stopping (well, at least for now) the plague that’s hit their neighboring country. After returning home and meeting all of her bright young boys (who all get scenes showing how over the moon they are by merely being near her), she is assigned, as I said above, to investigate temples where the stone from her “dreams” may be. The trouble is, those “dreams” are her memories of the otome game… and she’s already thrown it off the rails! Can she really rely on what she remembers? And does it really matter as long as she gets to spend some time with her beloved Leonhart?

Again, this is a “savior” sort of book, and if you are the sort who likes your fiction a bit more gritty and realistic it must be like drinking poison. Not only is Rosemary awesome (though, of course, when we’re in her head all she can do is think of the ways that she’s screwed up), but she also inspires everyone around her to be the best people they can be. Even the “grumpy prince” is forced to admit that he really does want to rule after all (which is good, as I’m pretty sure his people would not have anyone else). Of course, not EVERYONE immediately falls in love with our princess. Some people are married. Some people are assassins. And some people are restauranteurs… OR ARE THEY? That said, a good deal of this book is “Rosemary investigates and things happen around her”. Unfortunately, the ending of this volume reads very much like “the book is going to press, just finish the last page you’re on and we’ll call it the final chapter.” An epilogue would be nice.

I enjoy this series. I like Rosemary, and want to see her succeed. I frankly am 100% not invested in who she ends up with, mostly as she’s still in her early teens. If you can get past the fact that the book is very invested in that, it’s a good read.

I’d Rather Have a Cat Than a Harem! Reincarnated into the World of an Otome Game as a Cat Loving Villainess, Vol. 2

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By Kosuzu Kobato and Hinano Chano. Released in Japan as “Sonna Koto yori, Neko ga Kaitai ~ Otome Game no Sekai ni Tensei Shimashita ~” on the Shousetsuka ni Narou website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jenny Murphy.

This second and final volume in the series is mostly sweet, romantic, and nice to read, but it has a slight problem. There’s almost no conflict at all. Indeed, the main conflict is similar to the early volumes of Bibliophile Princess, in that we have to convince our heroine that she really is famous and awesome, whereas she sees herself as sort of a random schlub. But yeah, no one is kidnapped or threatened with exile. In fact, the fact that this is NOT going to run along otome game rails is part of the plot, as Amy has to accept that, in fact, bad stuff ISN’T going to happen and she can actually settle down and be happy. Well, once she gets past the fighting tournament, where her wannabe fiancee is fighting. Oh yes, and finally meeting the heroine. Who’s Maria Campbell, so much so that they had to think of a reason to change her name.

After a brief diversion where we set up Couple #3 in this series which, despite Amy’s misgivings, has virtually no “harem” aspects to it, we get to the main plot of the series, which is… erm… well, following Amy around. She manages to help with a sick foal, she helps at the fighting tournament when people are injured, and she occasionally deals with a few of the remaining nobles who believe that they can sneer at her. (This goes very badly for them later on.) She also hears from her brother, who is finally heading home from his fighting monsters job, and is bringing a new friend!… and a new reincarnation, as Yasmine (real name: Maria… no, really) turns out to have also come from Japan. In fact… Yasmine is the heroine of Amy’s otome game! Does this mean she’s on the route to doom?

As indicated above, no. The heroine is sweet as pie, in denial about her feelings for Amy’s brother, and also gives out an interesting tidbit – to her, this world is based on an RPG game she and Amy’s brother played back in Japan. She’s never even heard of Amy’s otome game. This is what allows Amy to finally settle down and admit that she’s not going to end up in a Villainess book. As for her relationship with Edward, most of the conflict there is to get Amy, a girl who has never been in love either here OR in Japan, to understand what these feelings are. Once she does, things move pretty fast, even though her father has to at least pretend to be a difficult dad. (It’s been a lifelong dream of his, you see.) Tsundere girl gets far less to do here, but ends up with her foreign prince. Amy’s best friend ends up marrying Edward’s best friend, once he is able to get through to her. Everything’s fine.

This is a good book, and I’m glad I read the series, but “turns out I was fine” is the summary. If you enjoy actual conflict, you may want to look elsewhere.

My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me!, Vol. 8

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By mikawaghost and tomari. Released in Japan as “Tomodachi no Imouto ga Ore ni dake Uzai” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

This is not a bad volume in the series by any means, and I had fun reading it. But. There’s a definite sense of the volume treading water a bit, and it becomes apparent fairly early on that this is going to be a multi-volume arc, which means that the hints of bad things going down are all deferred to the next book. What we’re left with is mostly an examination of the character of Midori. We’ve seen her as a supporting character before, and she’s tied to the plot in several ways: she’s Sumire’s sister, she’s head of the drama club, and, most importantly for this volume, she’s developed a massive crush on Akiteru. Which is driving her nuts, because she’s a stickler for rules, and one of the biggest rules is “don’t fall in love with a guy when he’s dating another girl.” And Akiteru and Mashiro are totally dating. Right?

As with Strike the Blood, this is a series that has only one character on the cover art, and it’s always been Iroha. So it is here as well, but as you’d expect, she gets left behind early on as the rest of Akiteru’s class goes on their school trip. (If you thought “she’ll show up later anyway, well, you know how to write cliched romcoms, congrats.) As for the trip itself, Akiteru is in a group with Ozuma and Mashiro, but also three others that he knows less well; the hyperactive Takamiya, the shy Maihama, and the muscle guy Suzuki. They’ll visit temples, they’ll have baths at the hotel, they’ll do party games, and they’ll try in vain to help Maihama with her love life. All the while, though, Midori is having a massive crisis.

The plot with Midori is actually handled quite well, with only a minimum amount of standard romcom shenanigans. She’s a nice girl, and it takes most of the book for her to realize her feelings and act on them. Akiteru is also nice, but also a dense light novel protagonist, so he’s still working out what love is, but Midori gives him a major hint that might help things along. (If you’re wondering which girl will actually win, I advise you to look at the cover art of the 8 books you have.) That said, this ends up being an important book for Mashiro as well. She’s grown more quietly confident, and while she still hates social situations, she can actually handle them without help now. As such, she decides to level the whole playing field by asking her father to let her break up her “fake” relationship with Akiteru so she can pursue him for real. That said, she does this without clearing it with Akiteru first, so… as I said, there are still SOME shenanigans in a series like this.

We leave off with a set of double cliffhangers, all of which promise more high-stakes drama in the next book. Which leaves this book feeling rather uneventful and flat, even though it isn’t really.