Accel World: Conqueror of the Sundered Heavens

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By Reki Kawahara and Hima. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jocelyne Allen.

There’s more spoilers than usual for the last third of this book, so if you avoid them FYI.

It’s been a while since we last checked in with Accel World. The previous volume was supposedly the end of the long, long, LONG arc and the start of another one, but that turns out to not quite be true, as most of this is setup for a massive cliffhanger. There was also a bit of frustration, as Haruyuki’s sacrifice felt like it was going to lead to a lot of angst for everyone. Which is kind of does, but that angst is mostly kept off the page. One of the more frustrating aspects to Accel World is that so many of the exciting scenes, or battles, or much needed group meetings happen away from Haruyuki, so we don’t really learn as much as we’d like. And the first two thirds of this book is much the same, really. Get ready, though, as the last third is THE PAYOFF.

Things have been happening since the end of the last book. Tezcatlipoca has been running amuck, and everyone in the Accelerated World is blaming the traitor, Haruyuki. Thus they’re challenging him to duels constantly. Haruyuki being who he is, he’s accepting all of them, but he’s really good by now, so he usually wins. Then, after briefly dropping by to make sure the owl is taken care of during the summer, and possibly recruit fellow owl caretaker Reina to join the student council, he goes off to a meeting of his new allies, White Cosmos. For the most part, they’re exactly what everyone but Haruyuki would expect – a bunch of normal, if somewhat eccentric, people with their own agendas. Admittedly, some of those agendas include forcing Haruyuki to total point less, but hey. After all that, though, he’s forced to do something he’s been avoiding all this time: talk to Kuroyukihime.

Or rather, to Sayuki. Yes, Accel World finally gives in and admits one of its biggest mysteries since the start of the series. Haruyuki has known her name since the start, but he hasn’t actually said it till now, and we also get the name of her sister as well. And there’s a very good reason for all of this: we finally get a mutual confession and a kiss. The idea that Haruyuki is not only in an enemy group now but may be forced to fight against all his friends – and possibly get pushed to lose his points/memories, as well as the same anger for Kuroyukihime, leads them to finally take that big step. Unfortunately, any additional progress (as well as the long postponed trip to see Haruyuki’s family) will have to wait, because the mid-range guilds have been trying to take out Tezcatlipoca and have instead unleashed something much worse… more new characters to have to remember. Oh, and a new game. So long, Brain Burst, it’s been nice.

I admit that this book started a bit slow for me, as it had a lot of scenes I didn’t really care about and was putting off scenes I wanted to see. But when it got to the payoff, it was quite good. Also, hey, a portal! Who doesn’t like portals?

Safe & Sound in the Arms of an Elite Knight, Vol. 2

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By Fuyu Aoki and Minori Aritani. Released in Japan as “Doinaka no Hakugai Reijо̄ wa О̄to Elite Kishi ni Dekiai Sareru” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Dawson Chen.

This series continues to be excellent in terms of how it handles its heroine, who has spent most of her life being terribly abused. In the first book Chloe successfully ran away (after avoiding an attempted murder) and settled in as Lloyd’s “housekeeper”, but the trauma does not magically go away. She notes that she’s gotten better with knives now, but attempting to tell Lloyd about her past sends her into a huge panic attack. What’s more, when she runs out of house to clean and wonders what to do, it becomes apparent that being worked like a dog as a child has left her with no room for any hobbies. She doesn’t know how to do downtime. Fortunately for Chloe, she comes across the same answer that so many of us do: reading books. Indeed, she’s reading romance novels, ones with a lead man who is very, very reminiscent of Lloyd. Unfortunately for Chloe, family is hard to get away from completely.

The first part of this book is relatively light and fluffy. Chloe discovers the world of books. She’s also getting along very well with everyone in town, and even the bookseller is starting to fall in love with her. Unfortunately for him, she only has eyes for Lloyd… even if the two of them are both still a bit too broken to actually confess these feelings. Meanwhile, Lloyd is having to deal with new recruits, including a noble who has good skill but unfortunately is also an asshole who feels he’s above everyone else. This would normally not be that big a deal, but Lloyd forgot his lunch, so Chloe goes to the castle to bring it to him, and the new recruit menaces her. Cue boss music.

I’ve talked before about how a lot of these light novels have “cartoon villains”, which is to say bad guys with no redeeming features who are there to be as evil as possible. Don’t given them pets, they would kick a puppy. The interesting thing in this book is that we get two definite antagonists, but one of them is, when it comes right down to it, just a massive jerk. He’s abusing his privilege, looks down on everyone, and expects the world to be handed to him. But that’s fine, as he’s also a knight candidate with skill, so he can have the jerk beaten out of him by Lloyd. Lily, however, Chloe’s sister, is not going to get an out. This is why Luke merely menaces Chloe (and gets Lloyd destroying him in a duel for his troubles), while Lily beats the crap out of Chloe until help arrives to arrest her and throw her in prison. Now, Luke invited Lily to the town to begin with, something she tries to take advantage of near the end. But he’s not an evil villain. Just a jerk.

There’s a third volume of this, and I wonder if Mommie Dearest will show up. But definitely a wedding regardless, I think. Good romance novel fluff/angst.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Vol. 15

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By Kumanano and 029. Released in Japan by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda. Adapted by Lorin Christie.

Spoiler for my last review: she shrugged everything off. Yes, this author loves to play in the psychological trauma kiddie pool but knows which side his bread is buttered on, so instead of dealing with the possible dissociative idea of Yuna and “Miss Bear” being two distinct people, they have decided instead to just have Yuna feel vaguely uncomfortable about it for a bit and then get distracted by a giant floating island. This is one of the lighter and fluffier books in the series, which is unfortunate for me in that normally I’d have far less to write about, but there’s a bit more this time. The author has seen this series’ yuri fandom, and has decided they do not like it. In this volume, despite being propositioned by a girl her own age and having a mother offer her daughter up to Yuna for marriage, Yuna insists a) girl’s can’t get married, and b) she’s never getting married anyway. So if you had “ace Yuna” on your bingo card, congrats!

So yes, identity crisis is quickly forgotten, as the worst Yuna has to deal with in this book is the fact that she’s being forced to wear a different swimsuit every day to please the designer. She does various beach activities with the kids in this one, such as making a water slide, creating ice cream, or shooting off fireworks (without sound, alas). But the big news is the mysterious island, forbidden to go near, that appears and disappears randomly and has appeared once more. Yuna wants to explore that island, and unfortunately due to her lack of stealth Fina, Shuri, and Shia are along or the ride. The island ends up having historical interest, but also being a bit of a spoiler. Let’s just say there are monsters, and Yuna is tented as much as she ever is in this series (which is to say, not much). Then the vacation is over and it’s time to take everyone home.

I have to admit, taking Fina and Shuri to the island surprised me – Yuna is usually a bit more sensible than that. I get why they were taken along, as they totally would have tattled otherwise, and the goal here was to avoid having the “explore the island” secret come out. And yes, Yuna can just throw everyone into her basement via a bear door to play cards, so there’s no actual danger. But still… wait, why the hell am I complaining? This is a series where common sense is useless and you just have to accept we’re in the author’s strange mentality. This is also why Yuna is praised to the skies for giving all the 4-5-year-old orphan kids jobs with a paycheck, and vows to have more child labor in future. Yes, yes, fantasy world, orphans starve otherwise, but come on. At least she doesn’t buy any slaves. We have not quite reached that low point.

So yes, bear series is still “itself”, and aside from infuriating those who ship Yuna with… well, anyone… this is a typical volume in it. When do we get to go to “the land of Wa” anyway?