Meals Made to Order: How to Domesticate Your Dragon with Delicacies!

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By Yoneori and LINO. Released in Japan as “Misuterareta Ikenie Reijou wa Senyou Skill “Otoriyose” de Jaryuu wo Ezukesuru” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

This is one of those titles that feels like a much better read when you realize it’s complete in one volume. Admittedly, I’ve said that before and then been startled with a Vol. 2 popping up a year or so later, but there’s no ‘1’ on the cover or the copyright, so I feel I can treat it as a standalone. Which is good, as the main issue with this volume is that it had a tendency to get a bit boring. If I was supposed to want to read more of this story, I’m not sure that I’d want to get the next book in the series. But as a stand-alone, it does its job. Abused child who slowly realizes how abused she is and overcomes it. Found family out the wazoo. No real romance per se (notice it’s not a J-Novel Heart imprint book), instead concentrating purely on our heroine escaping a bad situation and finding herself in a much better one.

Francheska is in a very familiar position at the start of this book. Her father hates her, her mother is dead, her stepmother loathes her, and her sister has seduced her fiancee (the prince) and is now pregnant with his child. So, after years of training to be royalty, she is instead going to be sacrificed to a dragon, something that happens every fifty years or so. And she’s better be grateful, the little bitch. A VERY familiar position, especially if you read this genre on the regular, as I do. See, she (groan) doesn’t have a good skill. She has mana off the charts, can teleport, do fire and water magic, etc… but who cares, she doesn’t have a special whosis. Or rather, she does but no one knows what it is. Then the shock of all this awakens (groan) her memories from Japan… and it turns out her skill is ordering food online with free delivery.

Which, I have news for you, we’ve ALSO seen in another light novel before this. Except he at least had access to an Amazon expy, Francheska is limited to food. In any case, once she gets past the murderous monsters that have been killing every sacrifice (by using her magic), things look up. The dragon turns out not to eat anyone, and while he’s a bit grumpy, he’s mostly pretty nice, and handsome once he turns sort-of human for her. She meets various mythical spirits, who turn out to not be so mythical. The job of everyone else in the cast is to reassure Francheska that she has value and that it’s OK to value herself. The goal of the book is to tell us about what the cast are eating, in long, lingering detail. It’s pretty good at both of those.

If you didn’t order this already, I’m not sure I’d tell you to get it, unless you’re a disgraced noble completist. If you got it and read it, though, I don’t think anyone will regret it. It’s decent. And she lives happily ever after eating lots of food with her incredibly powerful friends on their remote island nowhere near her abusive family. (Except granddad. Sorry, granddad.)

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 46

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

This series has a lot of influences, of course, but I have to wonder if one of them might have been Mahou Sensei Negima. A series that famously started when Ken Akamatsu wanted to write a shonen battle manga but his publisher told him to do another fanservicey harem comedy, he ended up tricking them by starting off as a harem and then gradually over the course of the series moving it to a battle manga anyway. Takehaya may also be thinking along those lines, though I don’t know if they’re getting any pressure from Hobby Japan. This is a series that started off as a mishmash of genres, but above all it was a comedy harem series, and most of its action revolves around a bunch of girls trying to win over a clueless guy. Now, 48 volumes later, the girls are all banding together to potentially sacrifice their own life just to make sure that he doesn’t have to have a mental breakdown by fighting in a long, drawn-out war. It’s just a BIT different.

Maxfern has come up with a clever plan. (Well, not really, Maxfern has behaved like a cartoon villain, but there is, at least, a plan.) Everyone knows that the brains behind the giant polycule that is the Blue Knight’s allies are Kiriha, Clan and Ruth. As a result, killing them off would not only devastate him but also get rid of all of their schemers and planners at once! It just so happens that they’re all flying to a conference by themselves, so it’s the perfect opportunity! The Grey Knight seems a bit more doubtful, but he hasn’t done anything lately! Strike while the iron is hot! It’s just, um, they are going up against three women known for being clever. it’s just POSSIBLE that they’re the ones walking into a trap.

Sorry for spoiling the early reveal, but I don’t count it as a spoiler if you can figure it out immediately: Kiriha, Clan and Ruth planned this, without telling Koutarou, in order to try to scope out Maxfern’s position and hopefully shorten the time needed to wage war. There is a brief moment when they’re in actual danger, but for the most part we’re not too worried. I suspect far more dangerous things will happen in the next book, which promises to be more Grey Knight-focused. Oh yes, and technically Koutarou proposes. Well, not really. He’s manipulated into saying he wants to spend the rest of his life with the girls. But they take it as a big victory. So there’s still a BIT of romcom to this. But for the most part this is another relatively serious volume, as it has been ever since Maxfern’s takeover. I think the humor is being saved for the short story books.

Surprisingly, we get a third book in a row with actual plot next time. Perhaps the author is trying to wrap things up with vol. 50? Till then, if you haven’t read any of this series to date, Vol. 46 is definitely not the one to start with.

The Reincarnator and the Goblin Maiden’s Happily Ever After: Using a Past Life to Keep a Joyful Wife, Vol. 2

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By Shinten-Shinchi and Tokima. Released in Japan as “Goblin Reijō to Tensei Kizoku ga Shiawase ni Naru Made: Konyakusha no Tame no Zense Chishiki no Jōzu na Tsukaikata” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Geirrlon Dunn.

So this book, like the first one, is overall a good, solid volume, and I really like some of the character work within, as well as some of the writing choices. Unfortunately, as with the first book, some of the writing choices made me want to claw my hair out. I’ve talked before about a lot of shoujo light novel titles starting with an “eat your vegetables” section, where we have to see the low ebb of our heroine before we get to the good stuff. In this book, the vegetables are the main course, and the middle third of the book is just a never-ending stream of me screaming at the male lead “GODDAMMIT, DO NOT DO THIS, YOU DUMBASS!” Spoiler: he does it. In fact, not really even much of a spoiler, as it’s one of the scenes chosen for color pages. Fortunately, the wraparound makes it worth the slog. Just.

Gino and Ana start off the book blissfully happy. She’s grown more confident thanks to having the love of her fiance. He’s dutifully researching the way to find a cure for her curse. The research leads him to lean more strongly towards this world being his own far in the future, rather than an alternate world. The two of them are even able to watch Gino’s tomboyish and somewhat ditzy sister manage to find the fiance who’s right for her, rather than picking whatever appeals to her at that moment. Unfortunately, a chance conversation with Ana’s father, and Ana trying to avoid offending the royal family in public by giving vague answers, leads Gino and Ana to play “I hate myself” and “no, I hate myself more” for the next 120 pages.

I’m going to ignore everything about Gino breaking up with Ana, torpedoing his reputation, and fleeing to a dive bar, as I never want to think about it again. Instead, let’s talk about the good things, most of which are more character than plot driven. For all that I absolutely hated Gino’s choices, the book is very careful to lay out in great detail why his upbringing in his previous life led him to have the kind of mindset that means this was the first thing that came to mind for him. I also loved the fact that, after six months and much anguish, the two are reunited… and Ana begins seeing a therapist, in order to get help from the mental anguish she’d been in. More light novel therapists, that was great! I also loved the scene of Ana at the singles dance, being very carefully railroaded into becoming the first prince’s concubine and even more carefully managing to get out of it. Yes, a lot of it was her mother’s plan, but it was brilliantly executed.

You may have heard me say this before, but here it is again: this book ends with the second volume, except there’s a third. I don’t know if it will be short stories or if it will continue to try to throw our now newlywed couple into annoying situations (please don’t end with them being the King and Queen, I beg of you). That said, I will grit my teeth and read more, because I do enjoy this series. Except when I don’t.