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Breathless Time Traveler

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By Yuyuko Takemiya and Tsubasa Yamaguchi. Released in Japan as “Anata wa Koko de, Iki ga dekiru no?” by Shincho Bunko nex. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

I must admit, in general I tend not too look too closely at Seven Seas’ one-volume light novels that they turn out quite a bit of, mostly as they tend to all look like they’re going to be “bittersweet, possibly tragic love story”. But this one they hooked me in on, because it’s by the author of Toradora!, a series I quite enjoy. Having read it, I found it well-written and compelling, despite the fact that, as I expected, it is exactly the genre that I said above. But that’s not all it is. This falls into the category of one of those books where you’re trying to figure out the plot, and you’re also trying to figure out if the characters are telling us the truth. And oh yes, it’s a time loop story, so we also have to pay attention to which timeline we might be in right now. It’s a bit of a mess. Kind of like our heroine.

We meet our heroine, Rara, dying on the side of the road after a fatal motorcycle accident. She’s able to give us an awful lot of first-person narration, despite an awful lot of grotesque imagery. (Folks bothered by motor vehicle accidents and their aftermath may want to skip this book). Oddly, we also see her sitting at a television, watching as an alien come to Earth announces that the world is going to end soon… and the alien is then killed. The same alien shows up in front of the dying Rara and explains that this world is created by her, and that she is the only one who can save it. She then finds herself back in time, at the point where she meets her lover. The alien is trying to get her to avoid this guy, or break up with him, or otherwise do something different so that she avoids dying in the accident. She, however, keeps doing the exact same thing. After all, she loves him.

So yeah, a little weird. Rara can be a bit dislikable at the start of the book, when she’s a furious teen ranting at (and seeking the approval of) her overly logical and punctilious mother. And as the book went on, I guessed one of the mysteries fairly quickly. But figuring things out is not really the reason to read this. This is a book about the joys of being in love, and that sometimes, when you’re deeply in love, you care about your partner a lot more than yourself. The title comes from Rara’s constant question to Kengo, “can you breathe? Are you breathing?”, which is connected to the fatal accident but also makes a very good metaphor for the stress of everyday life, and how everything can just be far too much. You can’t move forward or accept things. You stop breathing. In the end, Rara is able to get the happy ending she wants, but to do that, she has to accept that this happy ending is not going to involve her. And that’s fine. The one she loves is happy.

This was a bit depressing, out of necessity, but also had some very evocative imagery. I’m glad I read it.

A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life, Vol. 13

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By Yuu Tanaka and Nardack. Released in Japan as “Deokure Tamer no Sono Higurashi” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by A.M. Cola.

Those readers who dislike the frequently seen characterization of a lead as “seems completely unaware of how good/loved/savvy he really is” will have, I assume, dropped this series after the first volume, since that’s entirely what it runs on. Even those of us who enjoy that sort of thing, though, may find this volume trying. We do get the usual share of Yuto trying various recipes and accidentally inventing something amazing, of course, but the back half of this book is taken up with a genuine raid boss fight, which everyone assumes (except Yuto) that he will take part in, and that everyone assumes (except Yuto) that he and his tamed monsters did the most to help win, and then all the NPCs assume (to Yuto’s shock) that he is their leader and the one who they should give all the cool new quests. He will never stop being astonished by this, and he will never stop immediately forgetting it within five minutes.

The first quarter of the book is mostly Yuto puttering around, figuring out you can get medicinal plants when they’ve been trapped in amber, etc. He then meets up with Akari, one of the front-liners he (and we) have not seen for some time. They’re trying to befriend yokai, which you can’t tame per se but you can summon after befriending them. They also (thanks to Yuto’s really high NPC favorability) find a beastgirl who leads them to a village of beastpeople… and a huge, raid-sized monster, which is blocking the way to the sea village they trade with. Realizing that this is likely the way to open the next level that everyone has been searching for, they quickly gather allies and prepare to fight. Though Yuto also makes sure to do those little wandering things he always does, and as such gets all the good info about defeating it.

There’s minimal Alyssa in this book, but that’s mostly a setup for a gag. When Yuto wants to discuss dyeing and miracle herbs, Alyssa is offline, so he goes to someone else in their group, Maple. (No, not that one.) At first she’s fairly blase about what he’s brought, but when she runs across a major find, she quickly explains that he can only speak to Alyssa about this. Sorry, sacrificial meat shield Quick Cat! Only you can overreact to Yuto’s ridiculousness. I was also amused, though a bit annoyed, at Yuto’s anger at the cute couple that’s making eyes at each other while he and Akari are investigating… especially since he’s walking next to a beautiful girl at the time! Yuto is presumable mid-20s, given he’s an a=office worker, and this series is not doing romance, but his occasional “not gay!” or “damn normies” personality quirks seem out of character compared to the rest of him.

So a fairly decent volume of this series, and it gives people what they want. Unless they want Yuto to gain animal traits, he’s said no to that.

Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother, Vol. 5

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By Chidori Hama and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō, Brocon ni Job Change Shimasu” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Rymane Tsouria.

There are quite a few villainess books where I would describe the plot as performative, but Goodbye Overtime really leans into that. Ekaterina admits that these are real people that she loves and not just characters in a game, and also admits that she’s likely derailed things so much that the whole “doom” part of the game is not going to happen. But the monster from Book 2 shook her, and she remains panicked that if she takes her eyes away from things for one moment, everything will get back on the rails. I was startled to hear that she even saved one of the minor villainesses from a previous book, getting her a job as a maid (and the villainess is actually doing it well!) because she sees it as an inevitable future for herself. Ekaterina is very bad at seeing herself as others see her, but she’s also bad at confessing why she’s worried. At some point I think she’ll have to admit the reincarnation.

It’s STILL summer vacation, and after all her adventures across the territory last time, Ekaterina is back next to her brother and hosting events at her domain’s castle. The special guest is Mikhail, the Crown Prince, so all the red carpets are being rolled out. Flora is also there, and rumors are flying. Rumors are also flying about Ekaterina herself, and those rumors might be a lot closer to reality than she knows. Let’s face it, Mikhail is in love with her, Flora is in love with her, Vladforen is in love with her… and she’s completely incapable of seeing any of this, something all her love interests already know. She only has eyes for her brother, and he for her. Though thankfully, it’s made a little more clear that this is not romantic or sexual.

In any case, there’s a party, where they reintroduce a traditional dance her grandmother had banned, and a hunting party, where women are allowed to hunt again as her grandmother had banned that. Really, we see more evidence that her grandmother is simply terrible, though we are also rewarded with the idea that her father may have loved her mother more than she thought. We also see her almost enter into a contract with fairies, which underlines what the other nobles are saying – she may be gorgeous, and brilliant, and a pioneer in business, but she is painfully naive, and one of these days someone will get her away from Alexei and bad things are going to happen. (This is the second book in a row where she’s been spirited away from her main, and I suspect Mina is stressing out about this.

If you think this review is short on substance, the book is also pretty light. On the bright side, we’re finally heading back to school next time, and hopefully we can advance the plot. Though, like Bakarina, this is a series that relies very heavily on romance not happening despite everyone mooning over the heroine.