Our Party Nearly Wiped and Then Everything Went Downhill, Vol. 1

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By Ameria and kodamazon. Released in Japan as “Zenmetsu End wo Shi ni Monogurui de Kaihishita. Party ga Yanda” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Leah Sargent.

Our main character, Walker, remembers his past life from Japan, and also that he’s in a grimdark manga that begins with an adventuring party getting murdered (him) and raped and murdered (the rest of his party) by a monster almost no one has defeated called Grim Reaper. He remembers all this just in time to figure out a way to defeat it. He does not remember this in time to avoid losing an eye and a leg to it. Now he’s recuperating in the Church and trying to combine his stoic, overly serious in-world memories with his somewhat current personality, as well as try to work out if he can ever use a sword again. Because boy, does Walker love swords. He’s invented a new sword style this world doesn’t know. Which is probably why he was able to survive. As for the rest of his party… well, they’re a bit traumatized and guilt-ridden. He really should do something about that too.

Things that annoyed me about this book:

• Lisellarte, the girl with the giant witch hat on the cover, is a supposedly hundred year old magic user who acts like a 7-year-old child most of the time, even before the tragic event that starts things off. She feels like she was added to fulfill the “loli” quotient.

• Euritia, a 13-year-old swordswoman who has a problem with men constantly trying to pick her up, has decided that the best way to deal with her grief is to kill everyone who even comes close to being against Walker.

• Atri, the obligatory Amazon girl, has been told by her grandmother that when she finds the one she loves she needs to “Accept his seed”, but of course every time she tries to he assumes she’s trying to fight him because he is dense.

• Walker himself started off (in the fantasy world) as a stoic blank slate dedicated to his sword fighting and his party. Adding the memories of his past life mostly makes him more annoying than anything else, and the book could easily have happened without any of that.

• Anze, the holy woman who knows their party, gets the fanservice jokes. I’m mostly annoyed at this as otherwise the book is relatively free of a leering fanservice gaze. There are rape mentions throughout, as that’s what originally happened to the party in the “manga”, but Walker doesn’t see the girls as anything but family.

• This is far more serious than I expected it to be, and that works to its detriment. I had assumed, based on the premise, we’d be in for some yandere stuff, and that’s true, but it’s really mild and not funny. Honestly, I wish there was more yandere stuff, it might lighten up the book.

• Most importantly, though, is that the author’s barely disguised fetish in this book isn’t yanderes or lolis or large-breasted nuns. It’s the girls all crying brokenly and feeling guilt-ridden and sad. They say in the afterword this is true, I’m not reading into it. And that makes this a different kind of book. It’s not about this group having to overcome a severe setback and tragedy, about Walker overcoming his disability, and about the girls regaining their confidence. We won’t see the girls regaining their confidence because the sad crying guilt-ridden monologues are the point. This is about the reader going “awwww” while seeing them castigate themselves.

And you know what that is? It’s torture porn. Bye-bye. You weren’t enjoyed.

Imperial Reincarnation: I Came, I Saw, I Survived, Vol. 5

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By Masekinokatasa and Kaito Shinobu. Released in Japan as “Tenseishitara Koutei deshita: Umarenagara no Koutei wa Konosaki Ikinokoreru ka?” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gwendolyn Warner.

Of all the series to be reminded of while reading this isekai military fantasy, I was not expecting it to be The Executioner and Her Way of Life. But with this volume, it’s unavoidable. Executioner has at its core the premise that being isekaid’s to another world can be bad, especially if you’re not the only one. Catastrophic world ending things happen because Formerly Japanese folks get magical power and abilities and go slightly mad. And while that’s not happening here, it is very clear that this world has the potential for also wiping out civilizations because of their interdimensional travelers. Not only is Carmine not the only reincarnator, but there are absolute piles of them out there, some of whom are on his side but some of whom are working for the enemy… and easily manipulable. And they’re also having children, who sometimes have to suffer for the sins of their parents. Carmine will have a rough ride ahead.

When we last left Carmine, he was finding that his legendary victory was not without a cost, that being everyone suddenly deciding that now is the time to turn and wipe him out. Fortunately, (military things) and he is able to return to the palace, where plans are afoot for him to marry Rosaria… at least in two years, once he’s fifteen, the age of adulthood in this world. He also is urged by Rosaria to take Nadine and Vera-Sylvia as his concubines, which he pushes back against at first but is reminded that this world runs on politics rather than love and caves in… that said, he clearly also likes them, and they love him. After this he goes on a campaign to take Teyanave… which ends up going very badly indeed because (military things). He is barely able to make it back in time for his wedding.

As you may have guessed by reading the above, I am the wrong audience for this series, even though I enjoy it a great deal. I really do not have any interest in the battles, the strategies, and how we get from point A to point B while losing as few men as possible. This series, and this book, really do love that. Expect more of me eliding in future reviews. For now, let me focus on my favorite part, which is Carmine and his wives. He is a classic case of “does not realize what a smooth player he is”, and it’s very amusing seeing him say bluntly to Rosaria, who lives in a world where everything is couched in subtle metaphor, how gorgeous she is and how much he owes to her. Other than that, the most interesting thing in the book was the introduction of Mei Hatsume… erm, Lady Valenriehl, the daughter of a reincarnator with a grudge against the Church but a fantastic mind for taking apart magic things. I like her. Carmine is very wary of her.

If you like military history you will eat this up. If you don’t, you are me, and I still liked the smaller parts of the book that were not that.

Lady Bumpkin and Her Lord Villain, Vol. 7

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By Ageha Sakura and Kurodeko. Released in Japan as “Imokusa Reijou desu ga Akuyaku Reisoku wo Tasuketara Kiniiraremashita” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Vasileios Mousikidis.

I had forgotten last volume, when we were dealing with Robin, the horrible villain from the start of the series, that there were of course other terrible people at the start as well. There’s Princess Mia, who has been exiled to Conveniently Close Prisoner Island. She gets a brief cameo here, though unfortunately she and Agnes don’t get to see each other again. And then there’s a family I had completely forgotten about. I’m so used to Kelly being the unflappable supermaid that she is in this series that I forgot how we were introduced to her, and it comes back to haunt her here, as her family, long used to treating her as a combination slave and object, demand she return to get married to an old guy twice her age. Even unflappable Kelly is flapping a bit here. Fortunately, Agnes is not going to take this lying down. Also fortunately, her family are so comically evil that it takes no effort to absolutely destroy them.

Kelly’s impending arranged marriage is not the only thing going on in this book. It turns out that the second prince of Myzahn has more abilities than he’d let on, and he’s gone back to his country with something extra that will make invading other countries a lot easier. Agnes’ son has magic powers that are far more active at his age them most people, and she has to stop him from constantly running away. She and Nazelbart are finally going back to the capital (sans child) to talk to the King and Queen, helped out quite a bit by the Purge finally having taken place, meaning Agnes is surrounded by people who at least don’t hate her. Unfortunately, all this pales in comparison to the second half of the book – Polypstan is being invaded, and the war is going badly thanks to a certain prince. Can Desnim help without getting too involved?

Well, of course not. For one thing, this is a light novel series with a bit of action in every book. For another, the Queen is from Polypstan, and is not going to sit back while her homeland gets wiped out. That said, if you like tense battles where you’re not sure who will come out on top… this isn’t that. It’s laughably easy once Agnes forcibly invites herself along. Actually, the bigger issue may be the number of people who find out about other secret powers. The Myzahn Prince has multiple abilities, including a copying ability. The King’s teleportation ability is also a storage ability, something he’s tried to hide to avoid being used… well, like he’s used here. And of course more people find out that Agnes’ cool power is really a SUPER cool power, which is unavoidable when you accidentally cure a lethal poison. Agnes, honey, you need to try harder not to be the next saint, y’know?

Fortunately, Agnes will have other things to worry about next time: she’s pregnant again, and I suspect the next book will deal with that child. Till then, please don’t treat your daughter like a slave just because she’s a competent girl.