Category Archives: reviews

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 5

Leave a reply

By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

This is the fist volume to take place post-anime (while a 2nd season was immediately announced, there has been no word about it ever since), and as such I imagine it has a few folks reading the series for the first time to try to see what happens next. That said… does Bofuri have an ongoing plot? We’re still entirely inside the game, with the most important real-life event in this volume being Kaede getting the flu. The plot of the books is basically “watch everyone slowly move to new levels and see what they do”. This volume has a weather-based level, with lots of clouds, lightning, and the like. If there is an ongoing plot that might affect future volumes, it’s Sally’s. She’s always taken the lead in gaming with Maple,. and has now found a game that Maple is not only intuitively better at but a LOT better at. Sally doesn’t want to play like Maple does… but she wants to be cool for Maple.

While this is not a “short story” volume per se, the book feels more scattered than usual, mostly as we’re having various groups team up with each other. Having faced off against Mii and Pain’s groups in the last event, there’s no similar guild war this time around. So Maple can team up with Mii for one day, getting to see more of her “real” self when she’s not putting up a front. She can also team up with Pain, who discovers, as he knew, that Maple can be a terrifying monstrosity, but also (as he didn’t know) that she can also be amazingly dense in equal measure. However, she *is* learning slowly how to game the “normal” way as well, and how to use new skills to bet suit her playset. Which is good, as the GMs are not making things any easier for her.

For those who go to Bofuri for the humor, there are definitely fun examples. Kasumi, the straight man samurai of the group for the most part, turns out to have a weakness for antiques, and on this level that mostly consists of getting quests by buying things at shops, she ends up spending FAR too much money. As for Maple, her defense – or more accurately her lack of everything other than defense – means that she’;s advancing far slower than anyone else in Maple Tree, and when she recovers from her flu she finds they all fought a boss without her. They’re pretty sure she can solo it, so she goes to do so… only to accidentally fight the LAST boss. Which she does of course beat, but it’s easily the most difficult fight we’ve seen her have since the first book, and it’s fun watching her throw everything at the enemy and seeing it not work.

Bofuri is fun and relaxing, and while it may not appeal to fans of the anime’s quicker comedic style, it’s a good read in and of itself. And good luck trying to show off for your girlfriend, Sally. At least there’s still Frederica if you can’t keep up.

Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash, Vol. 1

Leave a reply

By Tofuro Futsukaichi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Gendai Shakai de Otome Game no Akuyaku Reijou wo Suru no wa Chotto Taihen” by Overlap Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

One of the most common afterwords in light novels, particularly when a book was originally published on the web, is the author talking about how they were only writing this book to amuse themselves and they had no idea it would get fans, or get published, or get an anime, etc. Usually I take this with a grain of salt, particularly when the book ends up having all the most popular cliches that are currently selling. With Modern Villainess, though, I 100% believe the author was not writing this for anyone but themselves, because it really does not seem to care about the common cliches. Our reincarnated-as-a-child heroine does not bother to act childish except to occasionally say “yay, pudding!”. About the only cliche that remains in place is the heroine believing that, no matter what changes she makes, she is doomed. But the answer in this case is not to learn magic and swordplay (non-existent), or make friends (though she does do that). It’s to become a tycoon.

As you’d expect by now, our heroine has been reborn into the life of a villainess from an otome game. Only this otome game is set in an alternate-world modern Japan, and she ends up ruined by the bubble bursting in 2008. In order to avoid that, she’ll need to invest wisely. Shame that she’s just a little kid. Also, both her parents are dead. And she’s sort of exiled from the family due to various scandals. Oh, and she might be descended from Russian royalty. And, yes, her family’s finances are in danger. Fortunately, she has a savvy butler who simply accepts that this girl is a genius, and so she sets out to fix her life via mergers, investments, buying up debt, and making herself a Very Important Person to the government of Japan. Unfortunately, that also attracts the attention of other countries.

The goal here was to write a villainess book that was not like others, which this mostly manages to do. She still has a mini-harem of young, brilliant boys, all of whom are set to “betray her” at the end of the otome game. But for the most part, this book is about economics. So much economics. The glossary at the end of each chapter, when added up, runs to about 25-30 pages. It can be difficult to keep track of the bankers, lenders, oil barons, and politicians who come into Runa’s life, but it’s also a lot of fun seeing her managing to outflummox everyone with the power of her Swiss bank account. (Those who don’t like capitalism will want to skip this, trust me.) Despite essentially being the star of Monopoly, Runa is surprisingly likeable, and we do occasionally see her making mistakes, which is refreshing. It’s a lot of fun if you can get through the pages and pages of money, power, and the combination therein.

Our heroine is still in elementary school at the end of this volume, so we’ve got a ways to go before we get to the ominous prologue (where we also see the heroine, who otherwise doesn’t show up). If you want something different in your villainess books, give this a shot.

(Also, kudos to her friend Hotaru, who actually does seem to have magic powers in an otherwise magicless book. And also looks exactly like Hotaru from Sailor Moon.)

Torture Princess: Fremd Torturchen, Vol. 8

Leave a reply

By Keishi Ayasato and Saki Ukai. Released in Japan as “Isekai Goumon Hime” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Hiroshi Thrasher.

As you might expect, there’s a lot of serious stuff going on in this volume of Torture Princess. We’re going to war, and one side does not really have a goal that is not “kill everyone in the most appalling way imaginable”. We get to see this world’s equivalent of last resort weapons, only for the enemy to respond with their own. Characters that we have seen since Book 1, who have died before but always seem to come back, finally die. And, of course, the entire book is asking the question: why are we even bothering to save a world like THIS? As a result, you might guess that the humor we’ve seen in previous volumes is pretty much absent, and you’re right – mostly. There is one scene near the end, though, which also begins in death, which ends up being the funniest scene not only in this book but possibly in the entire series. I don’t want to spoil it, but it features Jeanne and Izabella. It’s magical.

The mixed-race people, with Lewis and Alice behind them, are continuing to wage revenge against the humans and beastmen, with the help of some demi-humans. There are a few suggestions to stop the war. One is offered by the enemy, which is to give them Elisabeth, Kaito and Hina. But that would pretty much make the previous seven books pointless, so that’s off the table – at least privately. No, let’s face it, there’s really only one solution left, and it’s to go to war. On one side we have the humans and beastmen, aided by two Torture Princesses and some near gods. On the other side we have Alice, Lewis, and a dead giant sandworm which proves to be far more useful than anyone else might have imagined. Can one side win? What is “winning” in a battle that’s just about revenge? And is this world simply doomed regardless?

Kaito and Hina get a bit more to do in this book, despite spending almost all of it trapped in the big ol’ crystal. Their dreamscape not only shows off what’s happening in the world as a game of brutal chess, but also has a few uninvited guests. That said, for the most part we’re still putting focus squarely on Elisabeth. She’s trying to do her best here, but as everyone is fond of pointing out to her, she’s changed a bit TOO much fro being around Kaito, and actually, y’know, likes and cares about people now. That, plus the fact that she’s trying to save Kaito and the world he himself saved, means she’s less effective in many ways. Thankfully, she has daddy dearest, Vlad, on her side. The battle between Vlad and Lewis is probably the second best scene in the book. Also not without humor, it has a far darker finish.

The afterword notes that the next volume will be the final one in the series. Which is good, as frankly we’re running out of population. Will we go full end-of-world? Can our heroes manage to pull a happy ending out of a hat? Does a happy ending even fit this series? We’ll find out soon. Till then, this was an excellent volume.