The Petty Villain Plays by the Rules: Rewriting This Otome Game with Honest Work!, Vol. 2

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By MIZUNA and Ruki. Released in Japan as “Yarikonda Otome Game no Akuyaku desu ga, Danzai wa Iya nano de Mattou ni Ikimasu” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

This continues to be in my Top 5 “I’m enjoying this far more than I thought I would, and possibly more than I should be” titles. Its biggest flaw is its pace. It’s not slow life – there’s a lot going on here, most of it involving princes and other high nobles – but it is definitely slow writing. This thing is fourteen volumes and counting in Japan, and by the 14th book he still doesn’t really look much older than he is in this book, which is to say six. This despite the fact that he meets his wife in this volume and officially gets engaged. While also, erm, causing a major international incident. Which, to be fair, he was gonna have to do anyway. Kinda hard to solve the other kingdom’s problems without going full ham. especially in this series.

After training in martial arts with his tutor and his father, and in magic with his other tutor (and accidentally revolutionizing all magic… again), Reid and his dad are off to the neighboring kingdom of Lenarute, home of the Dark Elves, where he’ll be meeting his fiancee… who is also six years old. Unfortunately, the Dark Elves are in a massive power struggle between the King and the traditional Evil Noble Who Wants Power And Also Things To Be The Way They Used To Be. Sadly, evil noble has poisoned his fiancee’s brother against Reid, turning him into a proud arrogant brat. So when Reid is forced to have a sword battle with him, he’s asked to humble the prince a bit. Not a problem. Unfortunately, the prince and the Evil Noble decide to make Reid mad by insulting his slowly dying mother. THIS is a problem. For them.

Most of this book runs on a six-year-old accidentally being really smooth, far too smooth than someone his age should be. That’s a pretty good gag, and it helps that we already know his future wife (she was the lost girl in the town in Book 1, hiding her elf ears.) But there are other really good gags, mostly character based. Farah (his fiancee) is adorable, and also shows her positive emotions by wiggling her ears, something she’s very bad at turning off. Her bodyguard, Asuna, is a battle junkie, and oh my God I wish Diana was not already in a relationship with her childhood friend, because Asuna and Diane would make an AMAZING lesbian power couple. There’s also a bittersweet side story from the POV of Reid’s mother, who wants to be an active, teasing mom who loves her kids, but is simply too bedridden, and she hates it. She also gets the funniest gag in the book, at the end of her chapter.

Basically, this is better than I expected – again. Despite it being nearly 400 pages, and the author STILL couldn’t finish the arc. I’ll read another one.

Unsung Epics of the Hero’s Journey, Vol. 1

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By Hachigatsumori and Nat. Released in Japan as “Yuusha no Tabi no Uragawa de” by Dre Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT.

It’s been interesting coming at all these fantasy light novels based on Japanese RPGs (which are in turn based on Japanese folklore) without really having played them. The idea of the hero going off to defeat the demon lord, and of course they’re accompanied by the warrior (who is usually “the hero, only not quite”), the cleric (healer girl), and the mage (varies the most, this one seems to be a sad sack of a man) is not one I have played, but I have read enough of these so that it’s as old hat as the author wants it to be. As such, and as you can no doubt tell by the title, this isn’t about the hero. They weren’t even in the original webnovel, and only get a few tiny scenes here. Instead, we follow another cleric and adventurer as they try to stop a prophecy from coming true… though both of them also have their own hidden agenda and hidden tragedies.

Rhuys is a young cleric who is trying to find a strong swordsman as she knows of a prophecy: the newly anointed hero will be killed off early in her journey, leading to devastation for the world. In a rundown tavern, she finds Ariagnée, who is very strong and very cool and wears a strange black gauntlet on her left hand. Everyone is already a bit on edge as the hero, who is supposed to be chosen every 100 years, has been chosen after only ten. Something weird’s going on. Rhuys asks Ariagnée to travel to where the hero is going to be ambushed and take care of the bad guys before the fact, which Ariagnée agrees to partly for hidden motives of her own, but also partly as Rhuys is cute. As they journey on, each one learns about the other’s secret past and horrible backstories, which both tie in with the reason that this hero journey has come so early this time around.

There is definitely yuri here, for those who seek it out, but this is not a romance per se; the focus is on the adventure. Both our heroines are pretty messed up, with Rhuys hiding her true powers and wracked with guilt over her childhood, essentially having become a very passive death seeker. Ariagnée has a past that is not as secret as perhaps it should be – I guessed a lot of it before the reveal – but that doesn’t make it less compelling in terms of the overall narrative. The two of them do make a very good team, and hopefully couple. I will admit that the big fight in this book, which takes up a large chunk of the back half, felt far longer than I would have written it. But this is a fantasy thriller, not a psychological drama or a yuri romance, so it makes sense there’s lots of sword battles and hidden moves and the like.

As with most Dre books, this reads like a one-shot but there’s more. Will we actually meet the hero? Who knows, but the hero certainly isn’t why we’re reading this. We’re reading for the lead couple.

The Fearsome Witch Teaches in Another World: Behold the Growth of My Students

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By Mitsuru Inoue and Suzuno. Released in Japan as “Isekai Teni Shite Kyoushi ni Natta ga, Majo to Osorerarete Iru Ken” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

It’s not a secret that this series definitely has an Agenda with a capital A. The most obvious part is trying to convey how to teach people, how to talk with kids and understand their own varied issues, etc. That certainly applies here as well, but the author also seems determined to kick back against all the cliches that you seem to see in light novels in this sort of world. Getting an arranged marriage without your consent to someone decades older than you? No you’re not. Country determined to prove that Magic A Is Magic A? No it’s not. Are those nobles who insist only those of the upper class can use magic and that filthy commoners should know their place? We’ll put a stop to that. Oh look, those dwarfs only care about magical weapons rather than using magic itself? Not gonna happen. Aoi is here to drag everyone into modern times with the best magic, and she will beat up the world to do so.

As with Tearmoon Empire, this series has trouble figuring out where to end a book. The first third of the book wraps up the trip to the Holy Maple Leaf Empire, as Aoi has to travel to Shenley’s home because her father has decided to pull her out of school. Naturally this pisses Aoi off, especially when she discovers a) he’s ignoring all her other accomplishments, b) he’s ignoring Aoi, and c) he’s marrying Shenley off to the one guy who didn’t grow to love her magic in the 2nd book. Needless to say, “Aoi Being Very Aoi” solves all these problems. The larger part of the book is essentially this world’s version of the culture festival, only it’s an international event, with the world leaders coming to see what cool magic tricks Fiddich Academy has come up with now. As such, it’s mostly the teachers who are stressed about presentations. No worries, though, Aoi is here to help.

There’s a lot of family stuff in this book. Once Shenley’s dad is given a talking to, he travels to the academy to see exactly what Shenley has been going through, and ends up sympathizing far more with her. (It helps that under Aoi’s tutelage she’s becoming a genius.) Dean’s mother is the classic “education mama” for whom no amount of good things is enough, you can always do better. (Admittedly, that plot will have to be resolved in Book 4, because we’re ending in the middle of an arc again.) Felter’s dad is, unsurprisingly, a guy who lives only for battle, and essentially comes every year to beat his son up and is now intrigued at this tiny powerful woman. And there’s even the commoner kid who Aoi teaches magic to show that it has nothing to do with breeding, whose dad may help pave the way for her to spread magic even further. Aoi may beat up a lot of her problems, but she’s also good at negotiation, bartering, and everything except common sense and facial expressions.

As ever, if you hate OP folks who win easily all the time, avoid avoid avoid. Otherwise, this series remains a lot of fun, and Aoi is ridiculous.