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Combatants Will Be Dispatched!, Vol. 4

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By Natsume Akimoto and Kakao Lanthanum. Released in Japan as “Sentouin, Hakenshimasu!” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Noboru Akimoto.

This is still very much your typical volume of Combatants Will Be Dispatched!, where everyone is terrible above and beyond the call of duty. But there are glimmers of the future here, a sign that perhaps the series is not simply destined to be “KonoSuba’s first, crappier draft”. A bit more attention is paid to the ongoing plot of the series itself, with a revelation that this is not simply Six and company scouting an alien planet for the lulz, it’s because Earth is genuinely going ecologically batshit and the evil organization is trying to find a new home for everyone. That said, it doesn’t have to be Six personally, and the other subplot that matters is that there are a bunch of evil overlords who want their boytoy back home with them and are fine with leaving the worldbuilding to someone else. For any other light novel protagonist this would be heaven on Earth, but Six is decidedly uninterested in a harem, content to stay on this world with Alice. Is he getting soft?

As you can see by the cover, this volume’s “Heroine” is Lilith, one of the three evil overlords Six works for. He specifically requested her because she’s the mad scientist, and that’s just what they need right now, if only to stop their bases getting blown up. Sadly, she’s just as useless as everyone else that is in this book, and she also has all the character flaws that go along with her archetype. She’s also grumpy as Six, while happy to banter with her and also happy to threaten to sexually assault her, is not all that into her. Even worse, Alice, her own creation, is going through a rebellious stage, being crankier than usual. While Lilith is there, they dig for water (triggering a slime monster), try to get the poop of a giant sparrow for fertilizer (triggering Snow’s greed at the shiny things in its next), summon an actual angel (which terrifies everyone but Alice, who insists she’s a cosplayer), and battle the Demon Lord’s armies again, just so Rose can ask him why they’re staying at her old holiday home.

As you can see, the goal of this series is still laughs first and foremost. Usually of the “dear lord” variety – there really is a lot of discussion of pee and poop here, and one scene showing how the kingdom uses orcs horrifies Six and Lilith so much that they’re almost ill (and we’re in hysterics). But as I said, the series is starting to get a hang of its characterization. Six’s problem is that, when you get right down to it, he’;s an asshole but he isn’t evil. And what’s more, everyone around him knows it. It’s only gotten worse since he’s arrived on this planet, but that doesn’t seem to bother him much. Being separated from Alice does, though – they aren’t a romantic couple (there really aren’t any in this series, mostly as Six is uninterested and everyone is terrible) but their bond and banter is still the best reason to read the series. They sound like best friends.

As always, this series is not for everyone. Stay away if puerile stuff makes you roll your eyes. But I think it’s finally hitting its groove, and I can actually read it without seeing what the author later ripped off for KonoSuba.

The Sorcerer’s Receptionist, Vol. 1

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By Mako and Maro. Released in Japan as “Mahousekai no Uketsukejou ni Naritaidesu” by ArianRose. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roko Mobius.

There have been an awful lot of Japanese fantasy novels released over here in the last few years, be they isekai or straightforward fantasy. One thing common to many of them is the Guild, the place where adventurers go to get their dungeon crawling or monster hunting assignments. Said guild is almost always staffed by a beautiful young woman, there to give out work, cheer our heroes on, and worry when they don’t return on time or come back beat up. Sometimes they’re also love interests, but more often they tend to simply be minor supporting characters. After all, it’s just receptionist work, right? Wrong. The Sorcerer’s Receptionist is here to show you how much work and power is needed to actually be in that position, which is not one for mere pretty faces. Our heroine may fall in love with the job at a young age for mostly aesthetic reasons, but by the time she arrives at magic school she is ready to give it her all and be number one! Well, OK, number two…

Our heroine is Nanalie, and this first volume sees her journey from the first years of magic school all the way to settling into her dream job at the Harré Sorcerer’s Guild. The first half of the book will be familiar to anyone who’s read a magical academy story, and Nanalie is very much the bookish, studious, tries-too-hard sort. She’s got rare ice magic (which gives her the blue hair we see on the cover) and a cool wolf familiar, and yet most of the book is dedicated to her constant frustration at always being second in class to the arrogant Alois Rockmann, who is her self-proclaimed nemesis. The two of them spend the entire time at school not getting along, setting each other on fire/freezing them, etc. Because yeah, this is not only the story of a young woman’s dream career, it also has a romance to it. Which everyone can see except Nanalie herself.

It is honestly rare to see a title where everyone else in the cast knows that they’re in love except the protagonist and not have it be irritating. Likely as this is mostly the standard harem guy “I am oblivious because the plot requires it” sort. But Nanalie’s obliviousness to love works in the context of the story – she is extremely career driven to the point where social interaction is sometimes difficult for her, and the guy who supposedly loves her spends the entire time they’re together badmouthing and abusing her. Enemies to Lovers is a very popular trope, after all. It’s still one-sided at the end of this book, though, as Nanalie is far more concerned about things like tracking down a woman’s missing husband and notifying the right people about the demon that’s lurking in the woods.

This is a long book for a light novel, but it doesn’t feel like it’s meandering. I really enjoyed the emphasis it gave to “it’s not just a secretarial job” in regards to guild receptionists, and also shows young women becoming knights, or sorcerers, rather than just getting married right out of school. And Nanalie is fun in a way that might remind you of a certain bushy-haired girl in a series we don’t talk about anymore. Definitely looking forward to more.

Re: ZERO -Starting Life in Another World – Ex, Vol. 4

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By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Ah, side stories, beloved by fans and feared by publishers. It may be dismaying to light novel fans, but most series coming out over here are running a year to several years behind Japan. This includes Re: Zero, whose 14th volume is due out here in October 2020, but it came out in September 2017 in Japan. When Re: Zero EX started coming out here, I noted that the timing was off, that we got the Ex books before the main titles that they were supposed to be supplementing. We have the opposite problem with this book, which came out in Japan last Christmas. It’s meant to be a supplement to the 6th arc, which begins with the 21st volume, which had just come out a couple months before in Japan. Here, we’ll likely see Vol. 21 in 2022. Fortunately, the book still does read as a stand alone, so the English speaker need not worry about spoilers here. They may, however, wonder why so much attention is being paid to a goofy samurai with a flair for drama.

The cover may be packed with people, but the most important one is right at the front. This is a book meant to give a strong role to Julius and show off how great he is when he isn’t around Subaru. The story takes place a few months before the start of the main series, and Julius, Reinhard and Ferris are bodyguards for two elder politicians who are going to negotiate with the nearby Empire. Having recently lost the entire royal family (see: Re: Zero Ex 1), they are in a very precarious position, so are trying to negotiate a non-aggression pact. Unfortunately, the Volakia Empire has “strength is the most important thing” as their watchword, so things are already unlikely to go their way. Then Reinhard is framed for murder, and he, Julius and Ferris must flee with the Emperor in tow and avoid everyone else in the Empire trying to kill them.

The Ex books are not meant to be as much of a meta commentary on isekai titles as the main series is, mostly as the isekai hasn’t happened yet – Subaru isn’t around. As such, the author is allowed to write what is essentially a straightforward swashbuckling tale, with an added air of mystery – our heroes must figure out why they’re being framed, who framed them, and how much backstabbing and double dealing is actually going on. Ferris gets a few moments to shine, but is mostly there to allow someone to be emotional, which Julius (stoic) and Reinhard (blase) have trouble pulling off. Reinhard is there to show off how monstrously strong he is, but as ever he only works because he’s something of a cipher. As such, it’s Julius who gets the heavy lifting, along with the Empire’s Cecils, the goofy samurai I mentioned earlier, who is the Empire equivalent to Reinhard and whose overdramatic flair masks his dangerous abilities.

So not as astonishing as the main series, but it’s a fun, solid romp, and fans of fighting and sleuthing will have a great time here.