By Isle Osaki and kodamazon. Released in Japan as “Kougekiryoku Zero kara Hajimeru Kenseitan: Osananajimi no Oujo ni Suterare Mahou Gakuen ni Nyuugakushitara, Maou to Keiyakusuru Koto ni Natta ” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Stephanie Liu.

I do appreciate that this series knows the lane that it’s chosen to drive in, and it’s not going to move out of it, even when circumstances indicate that it really, really should. Towards the end of this book there is a threatened apocalypse, hideously overpowered monsters, and a chapter with “despair” in the title, so you would assume that things are going to take a darker turn. And then you remember what series you’re reading, and realize that the closest we get to suspense in this book is wondering whether he gets to bang his childhood friend or not. This is not a series that is going to revel in the emotional distress of its cast, to the point where, even when they’re facing certain death, everyone in love with Eugene is more concerned with who gets to hang off his arm at any given time than they are with disasters. This is a harem.

It’s culture festival time, and that means that Eugene could, theoretically, walk around the festival with up to two of his three lovers. Unfortunately, Erinyes is still trapped in the deepest dungeons for being evil, Sara is having to Student Council it up, and Sumire is helping with the theme park attraction. This gives an opportunity for Airi, who has decided to show up at the festival now that she has made it clear back home that she is a) next in line for the throne, and b) has dumped her fiance. There are even love hotels at this festival (?!?!), but fortunately for Eugene his childhood friend still seems to be a child at heart. Unfortunately for everyone, Eugene has also met the standard “I look ten years old but I’m really in the hundreds”. She’s the Dungeon Master, and she’s not happy with how things have been going lately. What’s going to happen when she lifts the lids off ALL the cans of worms?

I remember reading that Airi was *very* unpopular with Japanese readers when they were polled, so it does not surprise me that when she and Eugene head into a love hotel she doesn’t realize what it actually is and then falls asleep. It’s OK, kid, the others are bonking Eugene a *lot* to make up for your flaws. I also appreciate the strongest swordsman in the school, who is introduced in this book and we get sixty pages of everyone waiting for him to fight Eugene. His fate is hilarious and obvious, frankly. Come back when you were introduced in Book One, guy. Other than that, the bulk of this book is dedicated to showing us how awesome Eugene is and that he is the next savior of the world. It does try to end the world sort of half-heartedly, but sadly the one big flaw is the dungeon master, who’s great when she gets to be evil but when she’s shown her evil has ruined everything she just pathetically whines. I expected better from a token loli.

Next we appear to go on the road again, so expect less Erinyes and more Sumire and Sara. This is fun trash.

By Isle Osaki and kodamazon. Released in Japan as “Kougekiryoku Zero kara Hajimeru Kenseitan: Osananajimi no Oujo ni Suterare Mahou Gakuen ni Nyuugakushitara, Maou to Keiyakusuru Koto ni Natta ” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Stephanie Liu.

The light novels are still ongoing in Japan, but the webnovel this is based on finished last month. The author gave their feelings about all the characters, and for Eugene they wrote, essentially, that they felt a little guilty, given that he was an incredibly cool swordsman who has a loving family and good friends who believe in him, as well as multiple beautiful lovers. The author has a point, this once again falls into the category of “if you like your protagonists to struggle, reading this must feel like acid in your veins”. But I dunno, it’s so unassuming I actually enjoy it more with every book I read. There’s a lack of surprise so far, but that fits – this isn’t slow life, but it’s almost the OP equivalent, and so we see Eugene go home to meet the folks with his new lover, make up with his childhood sweetheart (eventually), and save the world. As a treat.

Eugene is off to his home city, taking along Sumire, who is delighted she gets to ride an airship. Sara is trapped in the land of demon paperwork and will have to arrive later. Erinyes is, of course, still sealed in her “prison”. Sumire has an even easier time than expected, as it turns out Eugene’s dad is from not-Japan, and therefore his favorite foods are things like sukiyaki and bento boxes. Eugene’s father takes him to visit the palace, where he’s made a baron, and he also sees his ex Airi, who keeps trying to speak with him but gets prevented from doing so for some reason. He also goes to visit… no, not his mother’s grave, but a church, where he makes a very startling discovery about his origin and why he has his white healing magic. It’s also a good thing he’s there, as one of the legendary sealed beasts of the kingdom is becoming unsealed, and it’s up to everyone to do something. Even if that means sleeping with more girlfriends.

Like a lot of light novels these days, this has a lot of sex in it without actually being all that sexually explicit. We cut away before the deed is done. That said, the sex is a combination of “we both are really hot for you and have decided that this isn’t happening unless we both do this at the same time” and “sex will help our magic power up and save the world!”. In other words, patently ridiculous, but likely why a lot of folks are reading this. As for Airi, unsurprisingly she’s still in love with Eugene, never dumped him at all (the girl who made the catty remarks ends up getting mojo’d by Eugene to be his spy, in one of the more uncomfortable scenes in the book. Don’t do that), by the end of the book she wants to be one of the lovers as well, but circumstances will likely prevent that for a bit. Other than that… good sword battle, he’s a real sweetie, lookit all the babes.

We’re back to school/dungeon crawling next book, and I do wonder if the polycule (I’ll call it that as Sara and Sumire at least now seem to get along pretty well) adds anyone else or if this is it. If you like male fantasy … fantasy novels, this gives you what you want.

By Isle Osaki and kodamazon. Released in Japan as “Kougekiryoku Zero kara Hajimeru Kenseitan: Osananajimi no Oujo ni Suterare Mahou Gakuen ni Nyuugakushitara, Maou to Keiyakusuru Koto ni Natta ” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Stephanie Liu.

I’ve talked before about McDonald’s books, and this series absolutely fits the bill. Some people read to stimulate their brain, to be drawn in by compelling plot and rich characterization. And some people just want to see the bland hero who could almost be themselves if they were in this world defeat every monster, get every girl, and have everyone think “gosh, I made fun of him before, but now he’s so awesome, I feel frustrated and humiliated”. This lacks the latter part, which may be why I’m enjoying it more than a lot of those “revenge on my high school classmates” books. Eugene continues to be the least interesting thing about this, but his supporting cast at least keeps me reading, and I’ll take a flyer on another book. The very definition of “It’s OK, I guess”.

We start with a POV from Sara, the student council president and Eugene’s former partner, showing how difficult it is to be a saint candidate, but more importantly how head over heels she is for Eugene. This helps to explain why all of a sudden she’s decided to accompany Eugene on his dungeon quests… because she’s seen how close he’s getting with Sumire, the isekai’d ifrit girl, and doesn’t want her getting too close. Sumire and Sara both regard each other as gorgeous women who could easily seduce anyone they wanted, but sadly this isn’t that kind of book, so rather than having belligerent sexual tension they just get jealous and “grr” a lot. That said, while both Sumire and Sara are very good at helping to get past monsters, in the end the main reason they’re doing so well is that Eugene can use Eri’s dark mana… and a nasty surprise awaits him at Level 100.

There is a good deal of plot involved here. Now that Eugene is accomplishing things and has dropped the “woe is me” attitude from the first book, we are reminded of his lineage, and also the power of working very hard, attack mana or no, so he is clearly a Man Of Destiny ™. There’s also some amusing angel/demon backstory here, as of course Erinyes is fallen, and she has a cute comedic conversation with the angel responsible for monitoring the dungeon battles. That said, the biggest plot advance was in the romantic potential. Last review I said Sumire better hope there’s polyamory in this world or else she’s doomed. Lo and behold… that said, calling it polyamory feels a bit much, given the poly ships we see here run on the women all hating each other but begrudgingly agreeing to share. “Harem” is more apposite right now. Most importantly, though, Eri can’t leave her prison (with an exception or two covered in the book), so when the book ends with Eugene being called home to visit his family, only the two public girlfriends get to accompany him.

Will we get the full backstory of his ex next time? Probably, and I bet she eventually joins the harem. Which I’m hoping gets closer to a polycule, I’d like some of these girls to actually like each other. For fans of light novels who want light, easy, and with a bit of fanservice.