Category Archives: reviews

The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy, Vol. 3

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By Yu Shimizu and Asagi Tosaka. Released in Japan as “Seiken Gakuin no Maken Tsukai” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Roman Lampert.

It’s always the same, isn’t it? You get a thousand-year-old powerful being with a desire to take over the world resurrected, and all of a sudden the bus arrives with ten more. Still, it keeps you busy. this series continues to feel like someone wrote a Shonen Jump manga and, instead of getting it published in Jump, decided to novelize it. Well, OK, this would fit Shonen Magazine better than Jump, especially given the large number of kickass women who like to take baths with our hero. (It’s OK, he’s 10! Right? It is somewhat odd to see the “she looks 8 years old but she’s really 600” cliche used to justify underage fanservice seen in the opposite direction… again, also to help with fanservice.) Fortunately, aside from said bath scenes, this third volume is much like the first two. It will never be anyone’s favorite, but I’m probably going to be reading the next book in the series. And it is starting to show off its plot, though that relies on Leonis being dim.

We’re briefly back in actual classes at the start of the book, as Riselia and Leonis are doing team battles against a top-standing rival. This mostly serves to show the school that Riselia is not “that girl with no holy Sword” anymore, and she can kick ass and take names. She’s also a vampire queen, but that’s still pretty much a secret. The main plot, however, starts when the Third Assault Garden, Riselia’s birthplace and last seen being totally destroyed by monsters, has now floated back into vision… and there’s a distress signal. As such, our team is sent out to see what’s happened. Will Riselia be OK with digging up her past? Who’s behind the distress signal? Can we really work an elf AND an evil priest into the same book and not smack our foreheads? And gosh, who is Roselia reincarnated as, anyway? It’s a mystery…

Again, this is a good book. The girls are likeable and also take on a majority of the combat. The combat scenes are well done, and the villains are also good at being villains. There are some things I was annoyed by. After a second book where a confrontation I was waiting for didn’t happen, the same thing happens here, as Riselia is definitely set up to have a big showdown… that does not actually occur. Instead, she grabs an ancient book. Secondly, it’s gone from amusing to vexing to really really annoying that Leonis is unable to understand, as everyone else who sees her manages to do, including anyone who might see their two names side by side, that Riselia is Roselia’s reincarnation. One of the villains literally dies of happiness on seeing this, but Leonis remains clinically thick about it. As a running gag, it drives me nuts, especially as I expect it’s only going to be drawn out more. (It has been pointed out to be the two don’t look alike, and OK, I can kind of accept that.)

Still, as with previous volumes, this was good enough to warrant my reading more. If you want a great light novel, look elsewhere. If you want a book for an afternoon’s read on the beach, this would be fine.

Durarara!!SH, Vol. 1

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By Ryohgo Narita and Suzuhito Yasuda. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

It’s been a year and a half since the final volume of Durarara!! dropped in English, and coincidentally that’s also how much time has passed between that book and this sequel. That said, it does not really feel that all THAT much has changed. Some folks have left the city for various reasons, some others have graduated, and we have three new “main characters” to take the place of Mikado, Masaomi and Anri. Of course, “main character” in a Narita work is always a fluid title, and one could argue that this book stars Ikebukuro, in which case nothing has changed. That said, it’s definitely more story than can fit into this book, and the author apologizes for making this a multi-parter right off the bat. There’s a lot of stuff going on. A young man treated as a monster comes to the city to learn how to be human. Another young man is trying his best to be the next Izaya. And a young woman is searching for her missing sisters, both supposedly done away with … by the Headless Rider.

The first three books in the DRRR!! series proper each focused on one of the three high school students, and there’s a sign this sequel may do the same, as Yahiro is definitely the protagonist of this particular book. A young man from Akiba who has spent his life getting attacked and desperately fighting back, to the point where most people consider him to be a complete monster. He hears about Ikebukuro, a place which not only has the Headless Rider but also Shizuo (whose backstory is very similar to Yahiro’s, deliberately so) and decides to go to high school in Tokyo. But finding the Headless Rider is not recommended given the string of disappearances involved with everyone who looks for her. As for Shizuo, well, Yahiro has spent his entire life accidentally beating the crap out of people, so there may be no avoiding it. But who’s gonna win?

As noted, a lot of the “main cast” of the earlier series isn’t here or only shows up later. Shinra and Celty are on a long vacation, Izaya is still AWOL (though he does get a cameo, setting things in motion towards chaos as always), Kadota, Erika and Walker are only mentioned, etc. That said, the new characters blend seamlessly into the cast herd, and there’s so many minor characters in this series that it doesn’t feel like there’s a gaping hole missing. Yahiro is highly likeable in just the sort of way that Mikado never quite managed to be, and Kuon and Himeka also look to have promising, if twisted, stories in the future. It’s clear the city has been in stasis since Izaya left. We see Akane has grown older and is in middle school now, but Shizuo and Tom are still doing the same old thing, as is Simon, as are the Orihara twins and Aoba (he’s still not dating them, mostly as he’s just not into Mairu). Peace is good, but makes for dull storylines. In that sense, I’m grateful to Izaya for siccing Yahiro on the place.

This is a typical DRRR!! multi-parter, in that the cliffhanger ending is fairly mild, but also definitely makes you want to read more. Good news! There are three more books in the series to date. And the next one should be out soon. DRRR!! fans will definitely want to pick this up: it’s like welcoming an old friend back into your life (and then having them destroy your house again).

The Magician Who Rose from Failure: Tales of War and Magic, Vol. 2

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By Hitsuji Gamei and Fushimi Saika. Released in Japan as “Shikkaku Kara Hajimeru Nariagari Madō Shidō! ~ Jumon Kaihatsu Tokidoki Senki ~” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

As with the first volume in the series, I would describe this book as “solid”. It keeps things interesting, has some fun new characters, balances political intrigue and character development (the first half) with an adventure against villains with lots of fighting (the second half). The protagonist is, of course, a prodigy who is praised by everyone else in the story – need I remind you what genre you are reading? – but he’s still probably the best reason to read this, being mostly sensible but with a core of ludicrousness that pops up whenever he tries to bring in ideas from his Japanese life. Oh yes, and this is still an isekai, but it’s used pretty sparingly, mostly to show why Arcus is a better thinker than the magicians in this world. All that said… as with the first book, solid is all I can give it, and it didn’t really knock my socks off. Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind fans are justified in being annoyed.

The book starts off with Arcus’ big invention being shown off to the leading magicians of the Kingdom. We’re briefly shown the group before the presentation, and they’re all stereotypical eccentrics who each have their own agendas and do not get along with others. But the thaumometer blows them all away, to the point where they’d all be fighting to see who gets it first if they didn’t all get one because this was a predictable outcome. After this we jump forward two years and see Arcus as a 12-year-old. The device is still a state secret, but the other kingdoms know something is up, and there are now spies trying to get it at any cost. Arcus joins forces with Orco from He-Man… erm, a mysterious elf, his (ex)-fiancee, his sister, and his “magical partner” to take out the enemy… though he may need help from a passing pirate.

The Arcus generation are all still in their tweens, so romance is not happening yet, but it’s clear that Charlotte likes him and would like to reignite their engagement, and that Sue (who we find out here is the daughter of a duke, though that’s hardly her only secret) is really possessive of him. It’s a love triangle I’d be more invested in if the King had not blithely said he could have two wives as a reward for the magical measuring stick. (Multiple wives getting a bit overdone? Yes.) As for Arcus, he has the fantastic spells, and can sometimes make them devastating (his magic machine gun boggles the mind), but he still lacks the mana to be a powerhouse like his sister (who still adores him). That my change in the future, as he gets a temporary power-up via his elf guide, which implies the same sort of thing could happen again.

In general, the series is better then it’s doing politics and character than battle scenes, which means both volumes so far fall down in the second half. Still, it’s one I’ll be reading more of. As I said, it’s solid.