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Silver Spoon, Vol. 4

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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.

Through the beginning of Silver Spoon, we’ve seen Hachiken interact with the other agricultural college students, and gradually learn wheat they do and how tough a job it is. He has a reputation, as is stated in this book, for being “stupidly honest”, but doesn’t quite have the life skills that are needed yet to wear that well – he just comes across as stressed most of the time. Still, he is slowly making an impact, and we see that the graduating third years know that he can use those skills if given the chance when they choose him to be vice-president. What’s more, his own ideas are starting to influence the others – we get the resolution of the “pig meat” arc here, and it shows off the way that he forces others to think of new ways to try things and new options to explore, as well as proving Hachiken is never going to become stoic about the slaughter of animals.

Of course, while Hachiken is the main character, there are others to think of. And not everyone wears their heart on their sleeve the way he does. We already know that Mikage is coping with needed to take over her family’s farm even when she’d rather be working with horses, and now it looks as if Komaba is having issues as well. Since they’re both farm kids who grew up together, it’s natural they’d confide in each other. Since they’re both very good at pretending everything is fine in front of other people, it’s natural they’re both unwilling to confide in Hachiken. Still, they both need social skills development, as the blunt “it’s nothing to do with you” they give him over and over pretty much eats into his heart. Unlike Hachiken, who is still a bit lovestruck, I don’t think that this means Mikage and Komaba are dating, I think it just means they’re not good at showing weakness. Which is why, in the end, Mikage ISN’T picked to vice-president of the club.

There are a lot of things going on in this series, and it seems planned out in advance quite well. The chapters do a good job alternating between character drama that advances the plot, learning about farming and agriculture, and goofy fun comedy. The goofy comedy this time around involves all the guys escaping so they can go to “Area 51” to see the amazing spectacle that only comes there at night. Yes, that’s right, it’s… not UFOs. It is, of course, something that would excite everyone except Hachiken (and Tamako, for an extra added punchline). At this point, Silver Spoon seems like a series brimming with its author’s self-confidence. Next time around it looks as if we’re getting the Ag School equivalent of a Culture Festival. Let’s hope Hachiken remembers to have fun. (Who am I kidding, he’ll be a wreck.) Every volume of this is a joy.

Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!: Princess of the Six Flowers

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By Natsume Akatsuki and Kurone Mishima. Released in Japan as “Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o!: Chūnibyō demo Majo ga Shitai!” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

The subtitle of this volume should be very familiar to Yen On fans, as it’s a take on the light novel series Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers. Whereas in the Rokka series you spend each novel wondering who’s going to be accused of being a traitor, in KonoSuba you spend each novel wondering who’s going to be the designated straight man. Here it’s Darkness, who is forced to act the noble lady far more than she’d like, given that most of the book takes place in a royal castle or in the homes of noble lords. That said, Megumin is mostly under control here as well, with a few notable exceptions. Heck, even AQUA, of all people, shows off her skills during a big battle and is revered by the city for keeping casualties to a minimum. Yes, the entire cast are fantastic… with the exception of Kazuma, who as usual needs to descend to his lowest point before he can rise again.

The cover girl is Iris, the young princess of the realm, who Kazuma desperately wants to see as a little sister so he can add to his list of fetishes (no, really, that’s basically what he says, though at least he has no romantic interest in the 12-year-old princess). She is, for the most part, content to go along with this, as her real big brother is away fighting the demon lord and Kazuma treats her like a normal little girl rather than a royal princess. Unfortunately for Kazuma, he rapidly runs out of cool stories to tell her, and the stories he does tell, as we’ve seen, involve him being clever but the others doing the heavy lifting. And then there really IS a demon lord attack, and Kazuma proves why whenever he’s headstrong and impetuous, he is the absolute worst. Given the rest of the squad saved the day, he’s basically ripped a new one by the princess’ bodyguard in a vicious yet 100% accurate takedown.

She has a point. Aqua, Megumin and Darkness, in a group of four, are all eccentric, impossible to handle weirdos. The same group, however, in a pack of 200 adventurers, are able to function far better. But of course, for better or worse, Kazuma *is* part of their group, and they wouldn’t have it any other way. And he does get to show off his actual talent, finally, in the last quarter of the book, where he helps Chris the thief (remember her?) try to steal a dangerous artifact that has made its way to the princess. When he’s in trouble and actually thinks, Kazuma is very impressive. He’s the opposite of a hero like Luffy. There’s also the standard KonoSuba humor here, which most of the audience is expecting, but it’s a sign of good writing that I’m ignoring it in favor of discussing Kazuma’s character and how he can be incredibly frustrating at times.

A cliffhanger makes me think that the next volume will be Darkness-oriented, and I hope she gets to be silly again. Till then, KonoSuba fans will like this even as they yell at Kazuma for being… well, Kazuma.

I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Vol. 2

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By Kisetsu Morita and Benio. Released in Japan as “Slime Taoshite 300 Nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level MAX ni Nattemashita” by Softbank Creative. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel

The afterword for this second volume has the author telling us that GA Bunko’s editors told them that the first volume was the biggest seller in the history of the publishing label. Which, given this is the same publisher as Is It Wrong to try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, is quite impressive. But I can see it. Unlike DanMachi, the average reader does not have to deal with any of those pesky male heroes, and the girls are all cute/sexy/maternal (delete where applicable). [EDIT: It turns out that DanMachi is on a different imprint at the same company, so the two may not be comparable after all.] The series is still trying, for the most part, to keep a “my pace” sort of drama, with plotlines taking the form of things like “we’re opening a maid cafe” and “we have to design a dress for a ghost”. And, of course, the heroine is still an amazingly powerful person but absolutely does not seek to show it off or take advantage of it unless absolutely necessary. Which it is one or two times here. This is such a peaceful series.

The cast remains the same as the first book, with one or two additions. Halkara, the busty elf who was the weakest part of the first book, is better here – there’s still a lot of focus on her bust, but doubling down on the clumsiness and bad luck makes her a more entertaining comedic figure. It can also lead to drama, as with the longest story of the volume, where Azusa and company go to the Demon Lord territory to accept an award (for achieving peace in Vol. 1 by stopping the dragon war) and Halkara accidentally headbutts the demon lord to the brink of death, something punishable by execution. Fortunately, Azusa is clever, and even more fortunately, Azusa is a Level 99 powerhouse, showing off her amazing fighting skills and taking out all the demons trying to arrest them. It all ends up good anyway, as the demon lord (who is also female, to go with the rest of the main cast) proves to be more of a troll – in the internet sense – than actually evil.

New cast members include the ghost I mentioned before, who (like everyone that falls into Azusa’s orbit) proves to be friendly and eager to please, and can even help with the cooking. And there’s also Flatorte, the blue dragon who was the antagonist of the first book. She’s now back and tricked by the demon lord into being Azusa’s slave, though Azusa nips that in the bud immediately, to her credit. If nothing else, she will offer a different kind of personality – the main flaw of the book is arguably that everyone is far too nice and sweet. Now, that is the POINT of the book, which is why I said ‘arguably’, but it can all feel very pat. There’s one story where Halkura gets herself in trouble (again) and our heroes have to take out a corrupt governor. They do this in the space of about 5 pages, in what must be the fastest takedown of this sort of character ever. It’s almost embarrassing.

If you like exciting adventures, run, don’t walk away from this series. If, on the other hand, you want the light novel equivalent of a nice hot cup of tea, this is a great buy.