Category Archives: reviews

By the Grace of the Gods, Vol. 1

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By Roy and Ririnra. Released in Japan as “Kami-tachi ni Hirowareta Otoko” by HJ Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mana Z.

We’re starting to get the second generation of isekai writers here, those who did not start their webnovel after watching El Hazard and playing a lot of RPG games, but rather those who started their webnovel after reading a giant pile of isekai webnovels. By the Grace of the Gods and its author, Roy is definitely a book written by an isekai reader, and the lead character is also a fan of the novels, so dying and meeting gods does not surprise him. In fact, little surprises him. He is reincarnated in another world, a fantasy world, as a young eight-year-old boy. Of course, he also brings along a large amount of magic power. And a large number of ridiculous skills. And this is in addition to his old life in Japan, where, despite being a salaryman, he was a martial arts expert who worked out daily and also has swordsmanship drilled into him by his father. If anything in those last few sentences irritates you, I advise you to stay away. If, on the other hand, it’s fine, you should enjoy this book, as Ryoma ends up in his fantasy world and immediately… hides away from civilization for three years.

Ryoma is the anti-Tanya. The gods love him… in fact, he has blessings from FOUR gods, and makes sure to pray to them. His three years spent living in a cave away from people have allowed him to research slimes, which takes up most of his time, though he still finds time to kill bandits and learn more powerful magic. Fortunately, there’s a timeskip towards the start of the book, and an eleven-year-old Ryoma meets a duke and his party who are in need of some medical aid, which Ryoma is able to provide (he can make medicine too). The duke is nice, and has a family who are also nice, including a girl Ryoma’s own age who is bright and shiny and innocent and the opposite of the soft-spoken, stoic Ryoma. Invited to leave his cave and go with them, Ryoma finally interacts with a fantasy city… which is good, as his trained slimes are desperately needed to stave off an epidemic.

As you may have gathered, this book is ridiculous, but one thing I haven’t mentioned yet is that it is also a “slow life” book. Things happen at a leisurely pace, there are no action sequences, and there’s no romance as Ryoma and Eliaria are eleven years old (despite Ryoma’s old memories). It just wants to hang around Ryoma and watch him be cool, but he’s cool in a very nerdy scientist sort of way. He has his specialized slimes, and they get to show their stuff. They can clean the hardest grime. They can kill off bandits when ingested. And, in the thrilling climax to the book, they can eat sewage from a filthy cesspit… which also shows there is a potential deadly bacteria there as well. The best part of the book is the relationship Ryoma develops with his found family, who treat him like an orphan with a tragic backstory and love him to death.

Again, this is second generation isekai. It assumes that you’re okay with OP heroes, and that excitement and adventure are about 4th on your list after friendly chats about slimes (which are the first three slots). For those readers, this is a solid choice. I enjoyed it.

Otherside Picnic, Vol. 2

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By Iori Miyazawa and shirakaba. Released in Japan as “Urasekai Picnic” by Hayakawa Bunko JA. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

The second volume starts up with a dangling plot form the first volume, as Sorawo and Toriko go back into the other world to rescue to US Marines who remained trapped there. It makes for a tense chapter, as moving an entire company (which has been growing smaller the longer they stayed there, admittedly) is not that easy in a space like that, especially when they come across the Japanese Urban Legend Monster of the week. After this they end up in Okinawa, and decide to stay and hit the beach… but instead end up back at the other world, beach version, which features more disturbing things and the appearance of the woman who is Toriko’s obsession and is rapidly turning into Sorawo’s nemesis, Satsuki. Both of these chapters are well told, and the characters are fun to read, but I felt they weren’t quite as terrifying as the first book could be.

The third story delves more into the characters, as we meet another student at Sorawo’s university, who has heard rumors that she can help with supernatural issues and is being stalked by ninja cats. Yes, ninja cats, and a good deal of the chapter is spent trying to deal with the seeming silliness of the proposition. The ninja cats do end up posing quite a threat, and there’s another tense sequence, but mostly what this third wheel does is show off how tight-knit Sorawo and Toriko have become, as well as the difference between them – Sorawo is distancing herself from everyone but Toriko – at least in her head – while Toriko sees it as Sorawo having opened up to other a lot more – so much that she doesn’t need Toriko anymore. This miscommunication leads to the fourth and best chapter, where the horror pops back into the pages like it was waiting for you to relax.

The final chapter shows us who Kozakura is getting the money from to pay for Toriko and Sorawo’s other world finds, and also shows us that the other world is a big business… and one that is breaking many other people. From the moment we enter the seemingly empty building that serves as the “lab” where Satsuki worked, everything becomes terrifying, with some of the most evocative descriptions of body horror I’ve read in some time. It’s clear that Toriko’s hand and Sorawo’s eye are relatively minor compared to the issues of other researchers. This reach a fever pitch when Sorawo triggers what might be a trap set by Satsuki… a literal puzzle box that starts to kill the other of them in a nasty and lingering way. Can Sorawo work together with Toriko to stop it? And stop Toriko sounding as if she’s about to run away forever and/or kill herself?

My first review mentioned this was the first license from Hayakawa’s “yuri line” that was multiple volumes, adn I’m even more relieved that there’s at least two more after this, as I’m becoming very invested in the story. The yuri, while still not explicit, is much stronger here, and the horror is a slow burn till the end when it hits a fever pitch. Recommended for fans of both genres.

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 31

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

And so I finally finish my Rokujouma catchup. This is also where the upcoming print boxset that was Kickstartered will end, as it had to cut off somewhere, and this is as good a place as any given the series is still coming out in Japan. It’s another one of those “three short stories from the online site and one half-book original” novels, only in this case the half-book overwhelms the short stories even more than usual. The short stories aren’t bad – first there’s a Triathlon our heroes are competing in, and we focus on Clan, who is out of shape, and Yurika, who is in shape but has little motivation. It’s cute, even though they’re also both very pathetic. We then get Harumi and Maki playing board games, which if nothing else shows off how desperately these two nice introverts need someone else to bounce off of. And Shizuka and Ruth have another sentai battle, bringing back Ruth’s beetle phobia, which, let’s face it, no one wanted to bring back.

The half-novel is the first of the “what ifs” the author said he was doing, but it’s framed as also being canon – in the brief interval between when Koutarou and company bring Nalfa back to Room 106 and when she wipes everyone’s memories, the idea of alternate universes comes up. Koutarou was relieved to hear that there are universes where his mother is alive, and Nalfa offers to show him one of those in a dream. (Pointedly, we don’t see that world, possibly as I suspect it would be rather sweet but dull.) The girls all then realize they can look at a world where they won and Koutarou is their boyfriend, and after a jan-ken-pon competition, Harumi is the first to see what that life would be like. She ends up sort of providing color commentary on the dream world, which works because it’s her but I was relieved when the afterword said it would not continue after this.

The “Harumi wins” world is very similar to this one, oddly – it takes place over about the first 8-9 books, and the rest of the cast still arrive and are trying to get control of Room 106. They’re barely in the story, though, as here Koutarou is all about Harumi. Amusingly, it’s because their initial meeting went worse than in canon – when trying to pull away from the dude harassing her, she sprains her wrist and Koutarou has to give first aid. This allows two very hands-off people to touch earlier than usual, and everything springboards from there – Koutarou opens up to her faster, she realizes she’s in love faster, and they confess rapidly. That said, which that world’s Koutarou and Harumi are blissfully happy, OUR Harumi is dissatisfied. A life without the rest of the cast just isn’t the same, even if their real-life romance isn’t resolved. Another reminder that found family story beats sappy romance story.

In Vol. 33 we’ll apparently get Clan’s “what if” story next, but before that it’s back to the ongoing plot. Till then, enjoy this what if that also reminds you that the main plot is best.