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The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life As a Noblewoman: Ruination and Resolve, Part 1

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By Kamihara and Shiro46. Released in Japan as “Tensei Reijo to Sūki na Jinsei o” by Hayakawa Shobo. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Hengtee Lim.

This review has massive spoilers, and I’m pretty sure that each review I do of this series will have to have the same thing.

When I first heard that J-Novel Club would be splitting the books in half starting from this volume, I admit I was a bit disappointed, the same way that a kid might pout when being told he can’t go on the 20-mile hike. I was looking forward to another 500+-page monster! Having finished this Part 1 volume, I admit that I’m actually grateful to them, as frankly, I’m exhausted. And so is Karen, to be fair. This series can best be described as “Everything happens at once”, and that applies even more so to this volume. The first book at least had occasional parts where a relaxed and happy Karen toured the grounds, or learned about the political landscape with her elderly husband. This volume has no time for that. It needs to run flat out to get to the cliffhanger at the end of the book. Which means resolving the cliffhanger at the end of the LAST book. Which involves… well, read on.

We open with Karen watching in horror as Sven, Nico and Doctor Emma are brutally murdered outside the mansion. Yeah, sorry, it’s that kind of book. As the rest of the cast desperately try to get to safety, it’s become clear that “bandits” are attacking and massacring everyone, and that one of the people they’ve been told to kill is Karen herself. At the end of a very long massacre, the only survivors who are able to stagger to the capital are Karen, younger son Wendell, steward Whateley… and a few townsfolk who managed to avoid being mass murdered. Karen now has to deal with trying to explain to the King how this domain got completely destroyed, try to set things up so that Wendell can inherit as her late husband wanted, and also try to secure her own future, which means NOT going back to her family. Unfortunately, it rapidly becomes clear that even staying in this country is going to be extremely unsafe…

There are some lovely pieces of prose in this series. I don’t normally read things this dark, but the writing pulls me in, which is a plus. My favorite part was probably Karen and Whateley being very angry at the Margrave for not coming back as a ghost and haunting them, so they could feel his presence still. I also like Karen trying to figure out what’s going on (which she MOSTLY does, though not in time to do much but damage control) and also figure out how to talk about what she suspects without getting straight up murdered. It helps that she and Reinald continue to be, frankly, perfect for each other. I’m half convinced that the main reason he does not have someone like her quickly taken care of is that he absolutely cannot get a bead on how she thinks – and he’s not alone. Then again, no one can get a bead on how Reinald thinks either, especially after the climax of this book.

By the “end” of this book, the nation has fallen and Reinald is greeting the invader… his younger sister. And may I remind you this was only HALFWAY through the original book. Riveting and compelling, but I believe tomorrow I will take a “no light novels today” break to rest.

The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom, Vol. 2

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By Fuyutsuki Koki and Masami. Released in Japan as “Kanpeki Sugite Kawaige ga Nai to Konyaku Haki Sareta Seijo wa Ringoku ni Urareru” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tiffany Lim. Adapted by Shaenon K. Garrity.

Oh dear, and it was going so well. Too-Perfect Saint hits that difficult second album, and it’s the worst possible timing for English-speaking readers, as the anime has just begun, so we’re seeing the first book come to life while we read this second volume. The things I really liked about the first book were a) the fact that Philia really struggled with expressing herself and feeling emotions like “happiness” and “hope” after an entire lifetime of abuse, and b) the fact that we had a “my parents hated me but praised my younger sister instead” novel where the younger sister was NOT evil, but was in fact the second protagonist. Now we get Book 2, and Mia gets a much smaller role where she gets nothing to do. As for Philia, she’s dealing with the romantic subplot that I predicted would happen last time. Sure hope another cartoon villain doesn’t show up – oh dear.

Philia is preparing for a giant conference of saints from various countries, which can now happen given she’s purified the world with her giant barrier. Unfortunately, saints have been disappearing one by one, and in fact Philia and Osvalt, who are out on a not-date, almost see one happen in front of their eyes. Worse still, her ex-fiance Julius has vanished from his prison cell. Fortunately, she has some new allies coming to protect her in the form of exorcist Erza and her demon familiar Mammon, who feel like they’re crossing over from a different book (they are, but that one does not appear to have been published) Unfortunately, as the convention gets underway, it’s invaded by Asmodeus, an ancient demon who has possessed Julius. He’s here to resurrect his former love… who happens to have been reincarnated as Philia.

If that last sentence made you roll your eyes a bit, well, congratulations, you had the same reaction I did. Almost every beat of this book, unlike the first which had a few clever swerves, is straight on the beat and not a surprise at all. It’s not entirely without merit. I did like Asmodeus using Philia’s parents as “hostages”, knowing she’s spent her entire life being abused by them, and her reaction – I don’t care about them at all but I am a decent human being so I will not murder them to satisfy you – is quite good. But for the most part all the emotional bits in this book are hamstrung by Philia’s calmness, which feels less like a deliberate choice and more like flat writing in this book. Her conversation with her equally reticent real mother is a low point, and her romantic confession ends up eliciting a mild smile.

This has a third volume, where apparently villains try to make Philia into the Pope. But unfortunately, this probably should have stayed a one-shot.

I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Vol. 16

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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 GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Tristan Hill.

I was sort of dreading this volume, to be honest. This series never has anything happen to it other than adding new cast, and at the moment the 28th volume is coming out in Japan, meaning we get further and further behind every time we see it. I’m sure Yen Press is trying to renegotiate its light novel contracts to say “surely we can cancel SOME titles, right?”. But if ever there was time for a really good volume, this is the time, as the second season of the anime debuted last week, and is promising more of the same, only in animated form. Great news, though, this is actually quite a strong volume, when compared to other volumes in this series. It’s strong because a) it’s run out of CD dramas to add, so has to include another “Laika’s Schooldays” short, which are excellent. Second, there are fewer, longer short stories within, and that means they have room to breathe for once.

The stories: 1) Pecora is holding a comedy competition, and non-demons are also invited to join. Laika and Flatorte, Flafa and Shalsha, and Rosalie all compete from Azusa’s team, and her daughters ask her to write them a script, because she’s the best at comedy (note this is Japanese comedy, meaning they’re all boke/tsukkomi routines); 2) While visiting a museum, Azusa touches an artifact that turns her into an old lady for a week, and while dealing with this, she’s asked to go to a witch convention; 3) Halkara suggests taking their pet mimic for a walk; 4) Goodly Godly Goddess has written an RPG, and the *entire* cast of the series is brought in to populate it; and in Laika’s side story series, her third year begins with dealing with some delinquents who are doing the dragon equivalent of joyriding.

There’s only one weak story here, with the mimic. The old lady one is also not great, but I was highly amused with its idea of a witch convention being much like a real work convention, with cute games and prizes for the winners. The comedy one I was expecting to be bad, but it really worked well – the routine Azusa wrote and Flafa and Shalsha refined was not only surreal and creepy but also funny, though I agree with the judges that Laika and Flatorte deserved to win, as they’re both naturals. Best of all is the final main story, a giant parody of RPGs like Dragon Quest III. This is the second time that Azusa has essentially tested a game for god (something she points out), but this one is more involved and involves everyone pointing out all the cliches and poor writing that go into these RPGs where you frequently have to smile, nod, and go get the fruit so that the boy will give you a clue. I also had fun trying to figure out who would be cast as what (as does Azusa).

This is not a good book as a book, mind you. It’s a good volume of Killing Slimes for 300 Years. There’s a difference. But if you like the series, this is solid.