The Asterisk War: The Grand Finale

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By Yuu Miyazaki and okiura. Released in Japan as “Gakusen Toshi Asterisk” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

The Asterisk War has always been a series that not only speaks in cliches, but revels in them. There is not a single original bone in its body, and I think the author knows that and is unapologetic. That applies very much to this final volume, which is half a volume of fighting and half a volume of epilogue, complete with a “where are they now?” flashforward. We get Ayato saying that he won’t kill Madiath Mesa as that would mean becoming like him. We also get Madiath Mesa committing suicide, because the author is not Ayato. We get to see Saya casually disarm six bombs set along the entire arena… offscreen. Of course. We get to see the final fight between Julis and Orphelia literally end with an Ashita no Joe reference, right down to the art. And we get to see the author trying to pick between two harem endings despised by fans, and somehow managing to pick BOTH of them. It’s near genius, I loved it.

Never let it be said the cover doesn’t give things away. In any case, good news, the artist is well again, so there’s actual art to go with this book. We’re down to two main fights: Ayato and Saya vs. Madiath Mesa, which quickly just becomes Ayato when it is revealed that there is are bombs due to destroy everyone watching the final arena battle unless Saya gets off the pages of the book immediately, which she does. Meanwhile, Julis shows off the results of her ludicrous training with a ludicrous fight against Orphelia, one which features being able to briefly see into other dimensions, gravity vs. fire, and in the end just beating the shit out of each other like sensible people. After that we get “everyone’s in the hospital”, and then the aforementioned flashforward, as Julis has finally had to give in and become royalty.

So yeah, let’s get to that ending, the only reason anyone would still be reading this series. I had heard spoilers that everyone confessed to Ayato but he rejected them all and ran away. That turns out to be true, though we only hear about it in passing during the three-year flashforward. Most of the flashforward involves every main cast member making their way to Lieseltania, where Julis is the new Queen, after her older brother decided to pull a Samson act and take out most of the corruption in the country. Also invited is Ayato, who has a moment with Julis where he’s clearly about to confess before being interrupted by the other girls. But even the author admits in the afterword “Yes, Julis wins”. Also, please look at that cover again. So, for those fans of angry tsunderes who are first girl winning, congrats. Though honestly Julis hasn’t been that angry for a while now.

The Asterisk War was a series that knew how to do one thing well: fight scenes. It made it to 17 volumes by focusing almost entirely on those scenes, and the rest of the plot and characterization were like pastry puffs. Still, I’m happy I read it, even if best girl didn’t win. Possibly as she was sent away to disarm more bombs offscreen. Not that I’m bitter.

Lucia and the Loom: Weaving Her Way to Happiness, Vol. 1

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By Hisaya Amagishi and Esora Amaichi. Released in Japan as “Fukushokushi Lucia wa Akiramenai: Kyō kara Hajimeru Kōfuku Keikaku” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Osman Wong.

When you have a hit series, there’s always the temptation to do the exact same thing. Most publishers do this by having a different writer do something with a very similar plotline, or the same vibe. But there’s also the spinoff route. If you have a character who’s flitted in and out of the series so far, supporting our hardworking heroine, why not write the same sort of book only focusing on her? It would mostly deal with her career but there would also be the potential for romance! That said, Dahlia in Bloom, the parent series, is very much a one-man book. Dahlia may be surrounded by handsome men, but there’s only one man she’s prepared to be in denial over. That may be an issue with Lucia as well, as she’s clearly set up to be the love interest of Forto, her employer and clear frontrunner in the handsome man sweepstakes… and also married. Fortunately, the books always put career first.

Lucia is a young couturier with dreams of owning her own boutique, but at the moment still helps out at her parents’ gloves and socks business. All that changes when Hurricane Dahlia hits the city and the family is approached by Fortunato to go to the Merchant’s Guild with him to see if they can help with Dahlia’s new “toe socks” invention. Since the men of the family are all massive cowards, Lucia is the one who goes, and this ends up leading to her becoming head manager of Forto’s magical garment factory. As the book goes on, we see her overcoming adversity and handling the fashion dilemmas of an old man who wants to look less scary to his granddaughter, twins who have always been treated the same wanting to look different, and a man feeling awkward about wanting his clothes to be a bit more flamboyant. Lucia handles this all with aplomb.

Most of this book takes place at the same time as the second Dahlia in Bloom novel, and we see one scene from that book from Lucia’s perspective. That said, this was clearly meant to be read between the 6th and 7th Dahlia books, which means that sadly licensing difficulties have struck once more, and the book has lost a lot of its impact, because we know what Lucia’s reaction to “will you become my second wife?” will be from that book. The other odd thing in this book is a running theme of the city Dahlia and Lucia live in being LGBT-friendly. Lucia discusses wedding dresses for two brides, says to one of the twins that her partner might be a man or a woman, etc. That said, in terms of the main characters and the romances, the series sticks to what its audience wants and remains very heterosexual. I was sort of expecting the guy who wanted flamboyant clothes to be secretly gay, but no.

That said, this is a very solid spinoff, obsessed with clothes as much as the main series is obsessed with alcohol. It’s a must read for Dahlia fans.

Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord, Vol. 2

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By Satori Tanabata and Tea. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō Level 99: Watashi wa Ura Boss Desu ga Maō dewa Arimasen” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

Sometimes I am surprised when a book is not QUITE as cliched as I expected. This is a Villainess book, and the first novel had the supposed heroine of the game as the antagonist, so I was naturally expecting her to break out of prison and be an antagonist again. But no, she’s still there, still not recovered from mental trauma, and isn’t in this book at all. (As it turns out, the webnovel version of this book simply killed her off, but I assume the Kadokawa editors asked the author not to do that.) Instead, the “heroine” role is filled by Yumiella’s “friend” Eleanora, a girl so naive that you can sometimes hear the wind whistling through her head, and that works fine. Plus it’s not like we don’t have other cliches waiting in the wings. Eleanora’s father is trying to topple the kingdom, and he’s gathered all the evil nobles together to do so. What a bad guy… OR IS HE?

Yumiella and Patrick have graduated, and she is now returning to her county in order to run it now that her evil parents have been exiled. Patrick, of course, comes along, and seems to be trying to tell her something about the nature of their relationship – what, she can’t possibly guess. Unfortunately, the county is a mess, with poor roads, high taxes, and unhappy people. Fortunately, Yumiella may have very little common sense but she is quite compassionate and also ludicrously powerful, so she sets about fixing things immediately. Minus a few eccentricities. Like selling wooden swords. Unfortunately, she also happens to come across the evil plan I mentioned above, and has to tell the King about it and deal with the fallout – the fallout mostly being that, as the one behind all of this, Eleanora’s father is probably going to be executed. Which would make Eleanora sad.

The core of this book is the classic “two characters think they are having one conversation, but they are really having two conversations that do not interact”. Yumiella can be surprisingly obtuse, and it takes the entire book – during which she walks around with an engagement ring on her finger and also during which invitations to her wedding are being mailed out – to realize that Patrick is in love with her. We get a bit more of her past in Japan this time around – namely, that she was a massive chuuni, and in middle school she used to wave around wooden swords and also wore an eyepatch. If you think of Yumiella as Megumin from KonoSuba, you won’t be too far off. Thankfully, Patrick is NOT Kazuma, and therefore can be there to stop her worst ideas, like regarding the barrier stopping the church from dark magic attacks as a rival she has to destroy. Though, um, later she does indeed destroy it.

This remains fun if you like this sort of character, with the only real issue being that it was far too long. Hopefully the next volume will be a bit snappier.