Category Archives: reviews

A Wild Last Boss Appeared!, Vol. 2

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By Firehead and YahaKo. Released in Japan by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Chen.

I am a big fan of the old classic cartoons of Tex Avery, be they the early Warner Bros. years or the classic MGM masterpieces. One gag he first used with Porky Pig, in The Blow Out (1936), and then again with Droopy at MGM with Dumb Hounded (1943) and Northwest Hounded Police (1947) was that of “the pursuer is always there”. Our bad guy tries to flee the seemingly slow and ineffectual hero, but everywhere he goes, no matter what he does, there’s the hero, right there, waiting for him. It works as comedy because the hero is Porky or Droopy, and the villains are bad guys who deserve what they get. That said, if you flip it so that instead of a hero you have what is essentially a monster straight out of a horror movie… well, you get something altogether more terrifying. Despite said monster being a robot maid. Easily the best scene in the book, I sense the author was familiar with those old Tex Avery cartoons.

As for the book itself, the first chunk involves Lufas going to retrieve said killer robot maid, who is currently at the top of a huge tomb that is supposed to be Lufas’s final resting place. Needless to say, her group has very little trouble with said tomb, despite everyone else in the world getting killed off due to the many killer traps and golems within. Once that’s done, she and her crew go off to meet another one of the Heroes, who is currently king of a land that is literally divided into black and white sides. Lufas wants to just quietly investigate and maybe talk with the King. Unfortunately, almost everyone else around her, including most of her party, have other ideas. Can she stop a war between the light-winged and colored-winged residents? Can she get the king to stop hating himself? And what’s up with Dina, anyway?

Other than Libra’s Droopy impression, the highlight of the book is Dina and her attempts to be a double reverse quadruple agent, backstabbing absolutely everyone. We saw hints of this at the end of the last book, but it’s in full flower now, and the explanation as to who she really is works quite well. (Actually, the series handles the idea of “is this trapped in a game or not?” in a very interesting way, with differences between types of canon becoming extremely important to the world in general.) As for Lufas, it manages to be more intriguing than annoying that her mind constantly slides away from Dina when she tries to think about her, and it’s not particularly surprising that, when it comes to a real battle, Lufas wipes the floor with her. I’m pleased Dina is not killed off – and I’m assuming she’ll continue to be a lovable traitor in future books.

So yes, overall a definite improvement on the first book, and I’m enjoying its somewhat laid-back pace, despite the need to defeat the enemy somewhere down the line. Recommended for those who like cool overpowered beauties, backstabbing, and Droopy cartoons.

Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village, Vol. 1

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By Mizuumi Amakawa and Mai Okuma. Released in Japan as “Fushi no Kami: Henkyou kara Hajimeru Bunmei Saiseiki” by Overlap. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Maurice Alesch.

I always enjoy it when I’m pleasantly surprised by a new license. The description of this did not seem promising – it read like “what about Ascendance of a Bookworm, only with a young boy?”. It also gets off to a bit of a slow start, though I will admit I was immediately taken in with the discussion of ancient writing types. As it goes along and picks up speed, though, this becomes excellent, with a young protagonist who has knowledge from a past life, manages to do wonderful things and save his village, and yet never feels overpowered at all. It helps that this lacks all the usual tropes of the genre – there are no dungeons, or guilds, and Ash has no magical powers or swords. Heck, even his knowledge from a former life isn’t all that helpful much of the time, as he’s not a botanist or chemist. But for this backwards village filled with exhausted farmers, he’s a breath of fresh air.

Ash has been reincarnated into this world, and retains his memories, but for the most part he’s spent the previous eight years pretending to be happy and content while being anything but. When we first meet him, he’s just had a major revelation, and bolts to the local church to beg to be able to read books – and also to be taught to read. It won’t be easy. The priest has been exiled and mostly given up. The village chief’s daughter dislikes those fake smiles of his. They’re all dirt poor. And there are mentions of demons out of the forest, though we never see one in this first volume. Fortunately, once he gets going, Ash proves absolutely impossible to stop, be it discovering aloe, learning about hunting and gathering, accidentally romancing the aforementioned chief’s daughter, and even fighting off a giant bear. But most of all: making life in the village better.

This book is not really slow enough to be a “slow life” title, but it has a bit of the same vibe. Ash may have memories of a previous life, but we never really hear all that much about it apart from a mention of nanotechnology in medical use… which is obviously not happening here. More to the point, with the exception of his romantic impulses, Ash feels like a kid more than a reincarnated adult (I’m looking at you, By the Grace of the Gods). The book is about 2/3 his POV, and the other third various people in his life, particularly Maika, who goes from the aloof chief’s daughter to being head over heels in love. (Ash sees her as a child, I think, which explains why he does not get the very obvious signs she is throwing at him.) All of the things Ash does improve life… somewhat. Things are a bit better. The highlight is the lack of deaths over the winter, a first for this remote village. It’s the sort of book that makes you smile.

It’s also not staying in the village – the ending indicates that Ash and Maika are going to the nearest city for the next volume, and I assume things will move onward and upward from there. In the meantime, this is recommended for fans of isekai who hate the usual RPG tropes that usually go with them.

Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight, Vol. 9

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By Hyougetsu and Nishi(E)da. Released in Japan by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen.

While we’ve had a lot of fun watching Veight do a lot of really cool things while claiming to be just a humble vice-commander (and we get that here as well, to the point where he uses it as a tag line, Bruce Willis style), there has been a certain “harem manga” element to the title since it began. There were already a couple of his werewolf subordinates in love with him, we know that Eleora also fell for him, etc. That said, there’s really been no doubt since the series began that if Veight was going to finally clue in to romance, it would be Airia that is the choice. The main problem is that, due to her job and Veight having to save the nation so much, she’s gotten very little to do in the books. As a result, this book not only had to sell the romance finally starting but also remove the power imbalance between the two. In succeeds quite well, provided you don’t mind ridiculously overpowered hero and heroines. Which, hi, light novels?

As you can see by the cover, the book is not exactly concealing what it’s about this time. One of the fleeing senators from the north hid in a mine and then died with a hideously powerful magical artifact in his hands. Now Veight and the Southern Continent have to deal with a massive attack of undead skeletons. Unfortunately, the artifact is sentient, looking for its next occupant, and decides that Airia fits the bill. Can Veight figure out that she’s no longer who she seems to be in time to stop its plan? Does he actually want to stop the artifact’s plan? And will all of this finally manage to get it through his thick skull that he loves Airia and she loves him? (The last, trust me, will be the most difficult. Everyone breathes a huge sign of relief when Veight finally confesses.)

As you can guess from my synopsis, the romance here is not really a big surprise to anyone. There’s a ‘mindscape’ scene, a mutual confession, and a wedding. (We don’t see the wedding night – this series is as pure as its leads – but there is discussion on whether a werewolf can get a human pregnant.) The bigger surprise is the way that the artifact’s plot to bring a hero into this world forcibly is taken care of. Veight’s solution makes sense, but is also something only he could come up with. (Veight’s past does come up here, and he actually admits to Airia he’s a reincarnation from another world, but we still know next to nothing about it – by design, the author admits). It also allows Airia to take a much stronger role in the series… though I admit I’m doubtful that actually happens. I suspect we’ll still mostly be seeing Veight traveling.

So overall an excellent volume, with lots of awesome, lots of heartwarming, and a bit of fanservice (Airia’s large breasts feature heavily in much of the art). Fans who enjoy this series should find much to love. Now, the question is where it goes from here.