Category Archives: reviews

Combatants Will Be Dispatched!, Vol. 1

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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.

Sometimes you can have an isekai without all of that pesky dying and being reincarnated, or being transported to another world by a magic spell. It’s as easy as making the “fantasy world” on another planet, and having our heroes sent to it to see if it can be taken over… erm, colonized. That’s the basic premise of this series, which features the nameless Combat Agent Six and his android partner Alice Kisaragi sent via a teleport (that is totally tested and functional, honest) to a planet that is apparently dealing with a demon lord invasion. On the one side we have the kingdom of Grace, with knights, princesses, castles, etc. and the demon lords, who have golems and are your standard demonic types. On the other side we have Six, Alice, and their newly befriended band of misfits… erm, crack squad, and modern weaponry. Oh, yes, and one other thing that should be noted: Six and Alice work for an evil organization, and can only get weapons and equipment by doing evil acts.

Actually, one other thing should be noted: this is by the author of KonoSuba. Actually, it was written online before Konosuba, and picked up by Kadokawa after the latter’s success as a light novel/manga/anime franchise. This means, needless to say, that the best reason to get this is the comedy. It’s not a full-on parody like KonoSuba, but the humor tends to be along the same lines. (Actually, the humor can sometimes, like KonoSuba, cross a line or two – I was not all that pleased with the “take photos of the evil sorceress in a certain pose” moment, even if it’s a PG-rated version of same.) The cast may also ring a bell as well – Six is not that far from Kazuma, and Snow is basically what would happen if Aqua and Darkness had a kid. There’s a lot of great humor, provided you don’t mind the cast all being horrible people to one degree or another.

The best reason to get the book is the bantering relationship between Six and Alice. Like Kazuma and Aqua, there’s no real romantic tension between these two. Instead, they function as snark factories, ready and willing to tear down anything for the sake of evil and/or their own amusement. The other good reason to get this is the few moments when the protagonists are allowed to be cool. Because it’s not a parody like KonoSuba, the cool moments are allowed to exist without getting undercut, and actually impressed me a bit, even when they were also hilarious (Rose and Grimm’s “you shall not pass!” moment, the land mine trap, the chainsaw ending). There’s also some nice character development for Snow, who is arrogant and sword-obsessed but also has something of a righteousness to her, which contrasts well with Six, who is supposedly working for an evil organization but relies on petty, assholish acts to cover up the fact that he can’t be REALLY evil when it counts.

The color pages note that Snow is “this volume’s heroine”, so I expect the next book will focus on either Rose, a chimera girl who’s trying to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps, or Grimm, an archbishop of death who actually uses a wheelchair most of the book – something rarely seen in a light novel. (Yes, she can on occasion get out of it, but for the most part really does need it.) A must-read for KonoSuba fans, and those who enjoy comedy light novels and don’t mind characters whose default is “jerK” will also be happy.

Silver Spoon, Vol. 10

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By Hiromu Arakawa. Released in Japan as “Gin no Saji” by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Amanda Haley.

It has to be said, the love story in Silver Spoon can sometimes be frustrating. Not so much on the Hachiken/Mikage end, as I’m perfectly content with these two to slowly make their way into a relationship. It’s more the reaction of the rest of the students. There are not any noticeable “beta couples” in this series, which is not primarily a romantic comedy in any case, so what you end up having is a bunch of teenage farm kids watching their friends be adorable AND oblivious at the same time. They want to be happy deep down, I’m sure. But in reality… they’re pissed. And you get the sense the author is as well. So for every cute, heartwarming moment, such as Mikage’s New Year’s text, you get the inevitable crushing of it – literally, in this case, as Hachiken’s phone is destroyed via horse and via the obnoxious Ookawa. Fortunately, the rest of the book devotes itself to Ookawa’s downfall (honestly, the series as a whole also does this).

One of Silver Spoon’s general themes is that this may be shonen manga but things are not always magically going to work out. Mikage is studying now, but her grades aren’t suddenly terrific. The kids make sausage (which takes up a third of the book – again, Silver Spoon is a farming manga) but a lot of it is misshapen and weird. And then there’s Komaba, who lurks around the edges of this volume. He’s not back at school, but he is doing about eight jobs a day in order to earn money to pay back debt. As a result, he runs into Hachiken over the holidays, and then is lured into showing up at the Winter Festival. Sometimes we can’t achieve our dreams, and reality ensues. That’s certainly what happened to Komaba, and it sucks. But when you don’t achieve your dreams, that does not really mean you give up and resolve to never have fun or see your old friends again ever. This lesson he still needs to learn.

Speaking of lessons, Hachiken and Mikage might want to look over at his brother, who met a Russian girl and married her almost immediately. As always, the brothers end up being completely different. We meet said wife, Alexandra, towards the end of the book. That said, their relationship is glossed over and we get a whole bunch of Russia jokes instead. A lot of these are well-researched and amusing, but it does sort of remind me of the old 80s sitcoms where Yakov Smirnoff was the guest star. The “Silver Spoon” joke in particular is hilarious but also tremendously cliched. Still, it’s nice to see that she likes Hachiken, and I’m glad we get to see an actual functional couple, even if Hachiken’s brother still can’t cook to save his life. (Or Ookawa’s life. RIP, death by borscht.)

The next volume promises to lean a bit harder on the romance, as it’s Valentine’s day. Will we get a kiss? Don’t count on it. But do expect more of these lovable and frustrating farming goofballs.

The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?), Vol. 1

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By Toru Taba and Falmaro. Released in Japan as “Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu ~Sou da, Baikoku Shiyou~” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange.

While the word “treason” in the title is technically accurate, I feel that it might do a disservice to the genius prince, who is not nearly as bad as that title makes him out to be. Sure, he wants to pass the leadership of the country off to someone else, and is totally fine with that someone else being another country, but this does not mean he’d do it if it meant that the people in the country would suffer. Instead this book is along the lines of a few other LNs featuring “genius” characters, who are always brilliant but not quite brilliant enough to stop misunderstandings or prevent things happening elsewhere that destroy their clever plans. Which is good, as otherwise Prince Wein might be insufferable. As it is, he’s a pretty likeable guy, though it helps that he has a beautiful childhood friend/aide who is willing to stick potatoes up his nose when he screws up.

In the mountainous and remote Kingdom of Natra, the old King is dying, and the Prince Regent, Wein, is running the country. To his subjects, court, and little sister, he’s the perfect thoughtful and intelligent King. To Ninym, his childhood friend, and only Ninym, he’s a whiny selfish brat who desperately wants to slack off and be lazy but can’t because he’s a Prince with a country to look after. He tries making overtures towards the Empire that controls half the country to take it over… then the Emperor dies and that goes south. When a neighboring country invades, he tries to have a quick little war that will end in negotiations, but that goes south in a hurry. Even holing up in a newly conquered gold mine just means finding out that it’s nearly out of gold. Fortunately, Wein really is brilliant. He’ll need that brilliance.

This ended up being a lot of fun. For one thing, we’re in a “medieval kingdom” sort of world that does NOT appear to be filled with magic and monsters. There are the Flahm, a race who seem to be regarded as slaves by some other countries but not in Natra, as Ninym is a Flahm and treating her as a slave would… not be advisable. I was expecting elf ears or similar, but it looks like “albinism” might be the only difference. I was also pleased to see that, despite Wein occasionally taking note of the large-breasted Imperial Ambassador, this does not really appear to be a harem series at all. Ninym clearly loves Wein, and worries about whether he feels the same. Given that he literally has people killed who belittle or insult her, I think that might be a clue, but hey. They make an awesome power couple even if they’re not a couple, and their back and forth is the main highlight of the book. (Future book covers also feature only the two of them, meaning we’re unlikely to have a “stack up a new heroine every volume” syndrome many LNs have.)

If you enjoy warfare and politics but are sick of isekai and gaming-style fantasy worlds, this book may be the perfect antidote. It’s fun and entertaining.