Category Archives: reviews

Torture Princess: Fremd Torturchen, Vol. 2

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By Keishi Ayasato and Saki Ukai. Released in Japan as “Isekai Goumon Hime” by Media Factory. Released in North America Yen Press. Translated by Nathaniel Hiroshi Thrasher.

The first thing that threw me off about this second volume of Torture Princess was seeing the main antagonists get whittled down so fast. We’re given a list of about twelve in the first book, which deals with taking out the most dangerous one (though for Vlad fans, an echo of his soul is left behind to provide considerable plot points in this book). I had assumed that the next few books would have us going through the list one by one. Imagine my surprise a seeing the main antagonist here, the Grand King, using four or five different villains with her mind control, all of whom get dispatched in some way or another by our heroes. Oh, and they also take out another one at the start. Isn’t that going too fast? What will you do if you run out of bad guys? Actually, the cliffhanger ending to this book suggests what might happen. For the moment, however, let’s concern ourselves with the Grand King, a woman who doesn’t like Elisabeth but sure loves torture.

Last time we focused on how weak Kaito was compared to his Torture Princess benefactor and his Ball-Jointed Doll Maid who loves him. He is aware of this, so spends much of this book trying to gain more power of his own that he can use to protect the few things in this new world that don’t disgust him. He’ll need that power, too: the Grand King has sealed off Elisabeth’s powers and she is incapacitated for much of the book, and the Grand King is also leading an army of mind-controlled slaves to go to Elisabeth’s castle and kill everyone. Sure, Hina can take out a lot of them, but there’s only so much she can do on her own. No, Kaito needs more power. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to look far to figure out how to get it, he just has to do what he’s proven to be best at: suffer, get tortured, and bleed. A lot.

Again, the big drawback in this book is also its biggest draw: the torture. It’s cartoonish in nature, particularly when you get the descriptions of innocent humans with innards everywhere and insanely eating their own stomachs, etc. Fortunately, we actually manage to save one or two people here, though I won’t be surprised if in a book or two Kaito finds out the boy and girl he saved turn out to be used in the new leather coat he just bought or something grotesque. The strength of the book likes both in its grand guignol tone and characters. No one is shy and repressed in this book – Kaito comes closest, but after what he does towards the end of the book you end up both impressed and also appalled. His relationship with Hina reminded me of a darker turn on Subaru and Rem: appropriate, as like Rem in the current Re: Zero arc, Hina ends up in a magical plot coma, which is likely for the best, as her and Kaito’s story comes to a very satisfying conclusion here in Book 2 of about 11, so no doubt we need to figure out where we go from here.

Again, this is a book only for those who can tolerate a LOT of graphic violence – it’s the entire plot. For those who can, though, Torture Princess still proves surprisingly resilient. To my continued surprise, I’ll be reading the next one.

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol. 1

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By Maki Enjoji. Released in Japan as “Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Doko Made mo” by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Petit Comic. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by JN Productions.

Sometimes an author’s style is so prominent that you can guess they are the creator after only a few pages despite knowing nothing else. With Maki Enjoji it takes three pages. The first page of this new josei title has the male lead asking the female lead if there’s “something wrong with your head”, and we the\n cut to a two-page spread of her gnashing her teeth in anger at him while he smirks for the reader. That really sums up exactly what to expect for this entire series, and I’m not being sarcastic or silly, it’s a fantastic talent. Know your audience. We’re going to get an outwardly mean and belittling guy who turns out to have a softer side that he doesn’t show the heroine. We’re also going to get a heroine who can go toe to toe arguing with him, while still also feeling vulnerable and sympathetic. It’s also seven volumes long, having just ended in Japan, and that seems almost exactly the right pace for a series like this.

Five years ago, Nanase was on the street when an old lady collapsed, and a young doctor happened to come by and help save her. Nanase immediately fell for this “prince”, and decides to dedicate her life to becoming a nurse so she can meet him again. Now, she’s at the same hospital he’s in… but he’s a jerk! Turns out Dr. Tendo has a terrible reputation among the nurses, and he doesn’t even seem to recognize Nanase? What’s a girl to do? Well, fortunately, the answer is “keep doing her job”, as well as push back against him verbally whenever she gets the chance. As the volume goes on she does get the chance to see his softer side, though not necessarily directed towards her, and also learns what it’s like to deal with the minor triumphs and major tragedies that come from being in pulmonology. Can she learn on the job while also dealing with this handsome guy?

This first volume does a petty good job of balancing out Nanase’s priorities. She straight up admits that she became a nurse so that she could meet him again, and was ready for it to be a fairytale romance. This goes a long way towards explaining Dr. Tendo’s horrible attitude, as I imagine he has no time for nurses who are not there to do the job. Fortunately, she is also that, and is not going to quit (as he tells her to, a lot) just because of this disappointment. The initial “screw-ups” are kept to a minimum as well… Nanase is a pretty good nurse for someone just starting off. Sometimes the book gets a bit overdramatic (we get a saving someone from jumping off a building right away), but is also dedicated to improving herself, be that dealing with the fact that patients die, or learning how to cope with sexually harassing patients. Meanwhile, he sees her compassion.

It’s a good setup for exactly what fans of this author want: romance between two people not afraid to speak their mind at each other.

Middle-Aged Businessman, Arise in Another World!, Vol. 2

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By Sai Sumimori and Ichijirushi. Released in Japan as “Around 40 Eigyou-man, Isekai ni Tatsu!” by Kodansha. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Taishi.

The trouble with a series starring an overpowered family is there’s very few ways that it can be taken forward. We already have a guy who’s brilliant at sales and marketing, hella strong, charismatic, etc. His goddess wife is busty, gorgeous, can stop her rambunctious kids with magic spells, and, it is mentioned a few times, loves sex with her husband. Their kids are 1) so smart they’re past university level, and now joining Dad at his job; 2) ridiculously strong and powerful, and 3) good at magic and can talk to magical beasts despite being five. It’s a great family to read about… for about a book. But this is book two, and I think right about the time that Shouzou ran across the ocean to talk to a water dragon without, y’know, falling into the water that the author realized there needed to be a new cast to focus on. As a result, we pull back to examine the local kingdoms, and meet a slothful young prince and a calculating young princess.

Sharlo is shown to be a very familiar type to Japanese readers: thought to be mediocre compared to his genius younger sister, he took things hard, holed up in his room, gained about 120 pounds, and sits there eating potato chips. He is not, needless to say, prince material, but needs to be leveled up due to political dealings. As such, Shouzou has him become an adventurer and start off with the job that absolutely no one wants: sewage cleaning. As a result, we gradually see there’s a decent person under this who acn also be fairly savvy when he wants to be. He was just abandoned by his minders for not being perfect. In another kingdom, Yuliana is 11th in line for the throne, but is good enough for her father, King Evil IV, to arrange a marrage for. The princess, despite her maid’s protests and fat-shaming of the prince she’s supposed to marry, decides to investigate… by disguising herself as her maid’s bodyguard and going to Sharlo’s kingdom. Romantic comedy bits ensue.

The protagonists are nice enough, and I liked their story, but it has to be said it’s not the story I signed up for. Shouzou flits in and out of the book, stopping a bad guy here and there, nudging our couple in the right direction, doing various political dealings, etc., but the book doesn’t know how to make him the main character again, so doesn’t bother. The book also has one of the most hiarious “cut short” endings I’ve ever seen, seemingly setting up events for the next book in the series… then saying “but Shouzou had to leave that for the denizens of this world, as he would be leaving soon. The end!”. It reads like the editor put it in after the book was submitted to show the series was over. I did enjoy the side story, showing Sharlo’s genius sister, who has a bit of a brother complex but not, thankfully, in a “I want to marry my brother” sort of way, trying to find her own fiancee and being gently reminded she’s 8 and should grow up first.

If you enjoyed the first book, definitely read this one. Sharlo and Yuliana are likeable enough, and reminded me a bit of some Realist Hero characters. But the series seems to end here, possibly as if it continued our OP family would go back to Japan and leave it as a normal fantasy book. And who wants that? We isekai or die here.