Category Archives: reviews

Villains Are Destined to Die, Vol. 2

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By Gwon Gyeoeul and JINSA. Released in Japan by D&C Media. Released in North America by Ize Press. Translated by Kakao Entertainmnt.

This second volume does not really focus at all on our main character’s past life in Korea, choosing instead to focus exclusively on the “game” world and how Penelope can extricate herself from it without dying. Which makes this feel more like a traditional villainess book, and so therefore it’s much easier to read and more relaxing; on the other hand this does make it a bit more “the same old same old”, at least until the end. It’s been apparent from the start, but this book merely underlines it, that if she is going to clear a “love interest” and escape, the choice that will help her the most is in fact the crown prince, and that Eckles is not remotely the safest bet, but she still can’t quite see people as people rather than as stat counters, and so that revelation is probably going to take another book or so. In the meantime, at least she’s getting to do some archaeology. Though perhaps in a more Indiana Jones way than she’d like.

Penelope and her family are off to the massive hunting party being held by the royal family. Last year Penelope threw a huge fit, hopefully this year will go better. Though honestly, it’s not. She can’t take Eckles, who’s left back at the mansion to slowly turn more yandere by the day. Reynold is being a bit too tsundere, and Penelope doesn’t realize that’s what he is. Derrick simply cannot stop being an asshole no matter how he feels. Oh, and Callisto is there, and wants VERY much to continue their earlier conversation about love. And then there’s the ladies’ tea party, where she runs up against a group trying to get her to do a repeat performance from last year. Clearly it’s time to go hunting… assuming that she doesn’t get lost. Or run into giant bears. Or have to defend the prince from assassins…

The most telling part of the book comes after all of the hunting party and the chaos that follows, where Penelope has ended up restoring her reputation, and gotten her various love targets to fall for her enough… that the game decides she doesn’t need affection counters anymore, and she can only see them if she pays obscene amounts of money. Which, good news, she now has, but it also shows that she cannot stop seeing anyone as a real person here, and gets paranoid when she’s unable to work out how they feel about her. Which is a shame, because when she’s mostly winging it, such as in the first 2/3 of the book, where the game gives her a few basic opportunities but mostly she makes the right choices by simply making the right choices. This is especially true with Callisto, who is rapidly becoming the Final Love Interest whether she wants him to be or not, and I think they’d be good for each other if she can ever get away from gatcha life.

This is apparently 4 volumes + 1 After Story in total, so I suspect things will get really dark next time. Still, this remains a lot of fun, especially if you read the manwha (I haven’t) and enjoy text.

Even Exiled, She’s Still the Beloved Saint! St. Evelyn’s Weird and Wonderful Friends, Vol. 1

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By Harunadon and Kurodeko. Released in Japan as “Tsuihousareta Seijo desu ga, Jitsu wa Kunijuu kara Aisaresugitete Kowain desu kedo!?” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Camilla L.

We’ve reached the point where there are enough of the “exiled saint” books that they prove themselves ripe for parody. The noble saint, who is massively overpowered. The arrogant prince, who doesn’t get it. The little sister, selfish and greedy, who thinks she can do the exact same thing but is woefully incorrect. The saint being completely and utterly unaware of how popular she is with everyone who is not that prince and her immediate family. And I saw the cover art and the synopsis of this series, so I was ready for it to be goofy. I was still unprepared. This may be the most bananas light novel I’ve read since the days of The Invincible Shovel. It starts off with the saint being a bit over the top, and then gradually the reader realizes she’s actually one of only a few people with common sense in the whole book. You’d better be here for the funny, because it is shoved in your face.

Evelyn is horrified to be told by her fiancé, the first prince, that she’s being replaced as the Saint of their kingdom by her younger stepsister Mary, who he is also taking as his fiancée. In fact, Evelyn throws a fit, mostly as she’s extremely naive and sheltered, and has been kept away from anything that might taint her since she was five years old. Now she’s 28, “too old to get married”, and wandering around the local town. Going home proves to be a mistake, her parents are absolutely terrible people. She’s reduced to looking around for people on the street to heal, then asking for money. Fortunately, she runs into a streetwise young man who is NOT SUSPICIOUS AT ALL, and he gradually realizes she is a potential cash cow in the making. Meanwhile, back at the palace, it turns out sainting is harder than it looks.

There is a BIT of plot here. Evelyn mostly goes along with this as she’s been the saint for 23 years, and thinks her power has started to wane. Fortunately, there are other people with large amounts of holy power, one of whom is not only engaged to the SECOND prince, but absolutely loves Evelyn. A bit too much. It never quite spills over into “comedy sexual assault lesbian”, but it comes kind of close. The first prince and Mary are both comically awful, so the plot is not so much “how do we fix this” as “everyone immediately realized what happened, find the missing Evelyn”. I’ll be honest, a lot of times I was rolling my eyes and ended up exhausted. If you don’t like everyone in the cast being a broad caricature except maybe three people (Evelyn, the streetwise young man, and one of the princes… and I’m only putting Evelyn on the list barely), or don’t like OMG SO FUNNY books, this is not for you.

But come on, Evelyn goes to a town where she tries to confess who she really is but can’t because everyone in the town names their children… and even pets… after Saint Evelyn. “There are 57 Evelyns in this town.” How can you not like a book like that? (There are two more volumes, which worries me, but that’s for future me.)

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement, Vol. 9

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By FUNA and Keisuke Motoe. Released in Japan as “Rōgo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-Man-Mai no Kinka o Tamemasu” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by Kodansha Books. Translated by Luke Hutton.

(A reminder that the English Vol. 9 is the equivalent of the Japanese Vol. 10.)

Last time I said that the next book would have Colette get attacked, but I was not expecting this to literally happen on the first page of the new book. It does end up being a good introduction to one of FUNA’s most common tropes, another Roaring Rampage of Revenge. Mile’s group doesn’t do this quite as often, and usually it involves people who try to con them getting humiliated. Kaoru’s moments of extreme violence are taken more seriously, and tend to be in more traumatic situations, though after the time skip she seems to have mellowed to being closer to the other two heroines. And Mitsuha, well, her shtick is that she’s a flake, even more than Mile and Kaoru, so it makes sense that her revenge is the most emotional, off the cuff, and complete. There’s no stopping it, you just have to give in and accept your bad decision has ruined your life.

As Mitsuha and Colette walk down the street, someone comes at them with a knife, and stabs Colette in the back/abdomen. Mitsuha, as noted above, goes nuts. Colette ends up being OK after some surgery, though she’ll have a scar (which horrifies Mitsuha but Colette is proud of). The assassin is questioned, but come on, you’ve read the last few books, you know who’s responsible for the assassination attempt, it’s that empire again. After this, we deal with Mitsuha’s restaurant getting a scheming golddigger, the recuperating Colette getting some suspicious visitors in her hospital room, an accident at the gunpowder factory that Mitsuha has to deal with (not intentionally caused this time); The noble teenage girl group suffering from being too popular; starting a new junior noble girl group for youngsters; and having this turn into an Idol Project.

As always, I try to look at the more serious parts of this series, which have been hard to come by sometimes. But given that the premise is Mitsuha trying to ensure that she has enough of a safety met to live on in both worlds in case she ends up being unable to go back and forth, and she continues to think about the future of everything she’s done even after she dies, it can get quite dark. She pointedly has a discussion with Former Count (now Marquess) Bozes about what to do with her land, stores, and people she looks over in the event she’s killed. To her this is sensible and planning ahead. To Bozes, who still regards Mitsuha as a teenage girl who should be out there having teenage fun, it’s depressing as hell. Mitsuha KIND of gets this (she knows not to have the discussion in front of Beatrice or Sabine), but also does not get it at all.

Not that this series is ending with Mitsuha’s death. It’s FUNA. Oh, and we get the obligatory grateful orphans desperate to work for food, so check that off your bingo card.