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An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride, Vol. 19

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By Fuminori Teshima and COMTA. Released in Japan as “Maou no Ore ga Dorei Elf wo Yome ni Shitanda ga, Dou Medereba Ii?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

Despite the cover art, which is meant to match with the previous volume, there is very little romance in this book, and there’s nothing resembling a wedding. Instead, for the most part, we get a half a book of talking and posturing, and then a half a book of a big shonen fight scene. We all know how much I love reviewing big shonen fight scenes. Did you know that these two really powerful characters fight, and for a while it looks like one is going to easily win, but then the other one pulls out some great moves and so it looks like he is going to win, but then the first guy says “I have told you before that all sorcery is useless against me!” and turns the tables again… etcetcetc. On the bright side, I definitely think we’re getting near the end of the series, as this volume ends very badly for our protagonists.

After letting the bad guys stew for a week or so while Zagan and Nephy admire their engagement rings, they finally go to meet with Marchiosas for the first meeting of all the Archdemons in a long, long time. While there, Marchiosas explains why he’s called the meeting: the entire world is going to be destroyed in about a year’s time, because Alshiera’s barrier is finally breaking down. They throw around ideas to try to fix things, but there really aren’t any good ones. After this goes on for a while, Marchiosas boots out Zagan and half the cast and talks to the most important one there, Furcas, who is the only one who actually CAN save the world. Unfortunately, Marchiosas and Furcas are talking at cross-purposes, because Marchiosas wants to save the world by rescuing Alshiera… and replacing her with Lilith, who will become the new living battery. Furcas does not find this an attractive offer.

So yeah, there’s a LITTLE bit of romance here, and it revolves around the only love triangle in this series. Selphy has been fighting a losing battle from the start, as the only gay character in a series that pairs everyone very heterosexually. She knows that Furcas is madly in love with Lilith. She also knows that Lilith, once she actually figures this out and examines her own feelings, will likely return those feelings. So she hates Furcas… but also knows he’s a good person, so is forced, here at the big penultimate battle, to use an “I want my beloved to be happy” move that leaves her half-dead. Good news, though, she’s far from alone. By the end of this book, Furcas, Zagan, Nephy, Foll, and several other people are heavily wounded, and Zagan is actually in a coma. Oh, and one of our heroines is also kidnapped. Basically, it’s a darkest before the dawn moment.

When is the dawn? Well, Book 20 is due out in Japan next month, so it will probably be a while. Fans of the series, especially if they like cool battles with magic powers and punching things, will enjoy this.

An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me!, Vol. 10

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By Yuishi and Kagachisaku. Released in Japan as “Inkya no Boku ni Batsu Game de Kokuhaku Shitekita Hazu no Gal ga, Dō Mitemo Boku ni Beta Bore Des” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Satoko Kakihara.

With apologies to Dorothy Parker. At one point in this volume, Yoshin and Nanami are scuba diving in Hawaii, and as they are about to surface, a school of dolphins goes by next to them. And they see two dolphins who seem to be together, and who Nanami watches closely, and as she waves at the dolphins… they seem to be crying. And it is that point, my darlings, that makes the first place in the tenth volume of An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups at which Tonstant Weader fwowed up. I realize that the entire PURPOSE of this series is to deliver overly cute, couple-y scenes that make the reader go “awwwwwww” and make everyone around this googly-eyed couple sick. But I fear that we have perhaps reached a bit too far when the scene near the end where they exchange promise rings and pretend to get married is, somehow less sugary sweet than this scene.

At last, we are on the long-rumored class trip volume, and it is in Hawaii, on the main island. Yoshin and Nanami have been told by their parents to use this trip to get even closer to each other, and have been told by their teachers that they’d better watch themselves because, as everyone seems to know (including them), the moment that these two give in and kiss with tongue they won’t be able to stop and she will get pregnant. Fortunately, there are other really adorable couple things to do, like a nighttime sneak to the hotel pool, the aforementioned scuba diving, a trip to the beach to show off new swimsuits, and a shopping trip to purchase rings that leads to the oldest church in Hawaii (yes, the author very clearly wrote this based on their own trip), where they exchange vows, to the amusement of the elderly priest who catches them in the act. But do they get any closer? Do they finally do it?

Of course not. This is not the final volume, after all. But they do have a bath together, and she does accidentally see him naked in the shower. And they sleep in the same bed two days in a row. That will have to do for these dorks. There’s also a lot more of the other token male classmate in this series, Hatsumi, who is a mild, friendlier version of the “horndog friend of the protagonist” we get in romcoms like this. We also get the beta couple of this series, Teshikaga and Shirishizu, wop become a couple on this trip, and (it is implied) have already gone further than our main couple. Let’s be honest, Yoshin and Nanami are both essentially perfect in every way, so we have to accept the fact that she can’t even let Yoshin touch her boobs without having an aneurysm and calling the whole thing off. C’est la vie.

Next up seems to be Christmas, with the obligatory sexy Santa cover outfit. Till then, recommended for everyone who likes sweeter than pie romcoms.

Welcome to Olivia’s Magic Jewelers, Vol. 1

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By Rinrin Yuki and Suzaku. Released in Japan as “Olivia Maseki Houshokuten e Youkoso: Ka to Mise wo Oida Sareta no de, Outou ni Mise wo Kamaetara, Naze ka Moto Konyakusha to Gimai no Kekkonshiki ni Dero to Iwaremashita” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

The trouble with having so many light novels is that you cannot possibly read everything. This goes double for light novels written for women, because it used to be we never had those. The villainess craze may be annoying people as much as the isekai craze these days, but it has brought to English translation a solid number of series for young women. But you can’t read everything. And thus you have series like this one, which is a good book. Likable protagonist, the traditional evil stepparents and stepsisters are, for the moment, given short shrift, and the romantic lead is attractive and clearly likes Olivia, though I wish he’d tell her who he really is. The main trouble is – why should you read this when you can just read Dahlia in Bloom instead?

When we first meet Olivia’s she’s having a very bad year. Her parents died, and her father’s brother, who took her in, seems to be evil. her fiance started to be less interested in her and more interested in her stepsister. And now she’s being accused of stealing her stepsister’s designs, and thrown out of the house. She then remembers a letter her late father gave her, which turns out to say that if she’s ever in trouble, go to the capital and look up his old friend Gordon. So, after a brief cranky run-in with a nice young man who called her the wrong thing, she ends up at the capital… where the same nice young man directs her lost self to Gordon, who turns out to run a magic artifact shop. Which is good, as it turns out that’s what Olivia is brilliant at.

This is what I call a 4/4 book. Not meaning four points out of four, but rather that it’s in 4/4 time and every plot beat hits on the beat, with no variation. It’s a pure Cinderella story, with Olivia meeting a handsome young man who becomes her friend (and is clearly far more powerful than she knows), exchanging her evil stepmother and stepsister for a parental boss, impressed co-workers, and an older sister type who makes sure that she doesn’t overdo it… well, no, nothing can stop Olivia from overdoing it. Even in books where they’re NOT reincarnated after working to death in Japan (which this one is – no Japan whatsoever), our heroine is trying to impress dead parents, her mentor, and the entire world, which still apparently thinks she’s a thief. (It turns out no one who knows Olivia at all believes this, but that doesn’t really matter when it’s a rumor.) Basically, even if she’s perfect she can never quite match the perfection in her head, so she tends to run on insecurity, despite literally winning a legendary award that will revolutionize the industry by page 140 or so.

This has at least one more volume,l which promises (ugh) more of her evil stepparents and stepsister. It’s good. I liked it. But you don’t have to read it unless you read literally everything.