My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer, Vol. 7

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By MOJIKAKIYA and toi8. Released in Japan as “Boukensha ni Naritai to Miyako ni Deteitta Musume ga S-Rank ni Natteta” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

It’s been a long time coming, getting to this part of the plot. This is the seventh book of 10, but they’re pretty chunky books. And we’ve had a few flashbacks before to Belgrieve’s time as an adventurer in the past, but now at last we actually get to see the scene where he’s lost his leg, and really see how it affected everyone else. Including him, of course. He’s finally away from the comparative safety of his hometown or the big city where his daughter is based, and it shows almost immediately, in that he’s out of his depth. This is not to say that he falls behind or ends up being a liability – the opposite, in fact. But this is a series that has, as its main plot point, a daughter talking about how awesome her daddy is, so it’s nice to end up in what is essentially a Hellmouth so that we can see what he left behind.

Having finally left the village, the first three-quarters of the book is the journey, as Belgrieve and company set off to find Percival, who is rumored to be at the Earth Navel. Fortunately, the rumor turns out to be true, as Percival is there, but he’s a far cry from the happy-go-lucky lunkhead we’ve heard Belgrieve talk about before. As the group get clover and closer to the Earth Navel, the area gets hotter and more dangerous. In addition, Belgrieve is not the only one who has to confront his past, as Kasim runs into the guild master of a city they pass through, who not only has a clear crush on him still but is very bitter about this “:Bel” Kasim was always obsessed with. As they get closer to the Earth Navel, will things really resolve so easily?

There are times when I can feel the hand of the author on the plot a bit too much, such as when, just before arriving at the Earth Navel, Belgrieve is struck by a bad illness, so that he can look at death’s door when he finally meets Percival and cause even more angsty trauma. That said, I did laugh at the way that their past is resolved – Bel hits Percival till he feels better. I also really liked seeing Yakumo and Lucille again, especially Lucille, who still tends to slip old song lyrics into her speech (Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Thing Twice, It’s Alright” is the most obvious here). I also enjoyed Percival and Angeline bonding over killing monsters, even as Angeline is starting to slowly realize something she has been ignoring – spending years traveling around adventuring with her dad is probably not in the cards.

We’ve only got one more “past” character to reunite with, which I suspect will happen in the next book. Till then, of all the “Daddy and Daughter who really loves her daddy” series from Japan, this is probably my favorite.

The Bride of Demise, Vol. 3

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By Keishi Ayasato and murakaruki. Released in Japan as “Shūen no Hanayome” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

When I reviewed the second volume of this series, I noted that the first was a fantastic stand-alone, but the second volume was not nearly as good as the first. It would appear that most of the reading public agreed with me, as apparently the series’ sales were so bad the author was allowed to comment in the afterword that this third volume is the final one because of low sales. Unfortunately, I am here to say that this third volume is not nearly as good as the second. It has big Shonen Jump “please look forward to the author’s next work” vibes. The first half, at least, looks like it’s setting things up for future volumes down the line. But about 60% of the way through, you can almost see the point where the author was informed by the editor that this is the last book, and the rest is just a race to a finish line. Not the best finish line, but one that will have to do.

Things are back to normal with Kou… relatively. After the last go round of getting murdered over and over again, and rewinding time over and over again to fix it, Kou’s powers are no longer an immediate ‘get out of jail free’ card, and he can’t always use them when he wants to. That said, he’s also got to deal with more teenage boy problems. Let’s remember the warning that Asagiri was the only one who murdered him last time WITHOUT being mind controlled. And now she has been told – by someone unknown – that he has White and Black Princess, and so decides to go all out in confessing to him. And is rejected. Adding to this teen drama, their fried Isumi is in love with Asagiri, knows she’s in love with Kou, and is busy trying to keep himself from having a complete breakdown. That’s right about when Asagiri completely disappears.

This book didn’t help itself by having a couple of things I really don’t enjoy in my fiction. I’ve never liked the “yandere” trope in general, especially since it tends to be overused by fans to describe any girl who gets angry at all, but it’s definitely in place here, and I still don’t like it. There is a new character introduced here whose role is very obvious almost immediately, and especially when the author starts trying to wrap everything up all at once. On the bright side, the overall message of “you can’t always protect everyone equally, you have to prioritize those you care about” is a good one well handled, even if this also involves abandoning an entire school of students to their inevitable deaths.

The author said that if the series had continued, more of the regulars would have had to tragically die, so this is a decent place to end it. If I’m honest, two volumes ago was a decent place to end it. But if you’ve read the first two, this is here, I suppose.

Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel!, Vol. 9

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By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

For today’s reading we have Exhibit A in “the suspension bridge effect is bullshit”. Slowe and Alicia are put into a situation where they’re supposed to band together to survive and slowly realize their feelings for each other. There are, however, a few minor problems with this scenario. 1) Slowe is in love with Charlotte. 2) Alicia is MUCH more stubborn than even those who knew her imagined. And, most importantly, 3) They’re just not that into each other. This book starts with the cliffhanger of the last volume, which has the rumor about Slowe and Alicia being engaged again, and both are determined to break it off – Slowe for obvious reasons, and Alicia because, even if she does think Slowe is not as bad as he used to be now, an arranged marriage is anathema to her. I really like Slowe and Alicia’s dynamic, but as “put upon heirs”, not as a couple.

So yes, the campus is abuzz with the rumor about Slowe and Alicia, to the point that neither of them can even have a moment’s peace without the gossip reaching their ears. And a lot of the gossip is nasty, on both sides. Plus Slowe is now having nightmares where he’s married to Alicia and Charlotte is crying. Theoretically, they should team up, but Alicia is not that sort of person. Instead, Slowe and Charlotte have to sneak off after her when she flees the campus. She’s going to one of the most dangerous dungeons in the world to get back a priceless royal heirloom that was taken by a slime monster. If she can return it to the royal family, she’ll have enough clout to get the engagement called off. To help she’ll have Slowe, Charlotte, Charlotte’s “pet cat”, and the world’s most suspicious guide.

The weak point in this book is Blau. She’s a good character, but a lot of her felt underdeveloped. Given what she’s got planned for Alicia in the dungeon, I expected her to be a lot more morally grey than she ended up being, but she was more of a dumbass than anything else. Also, her character really needed a cathartic last meeting with the one she’s been searching for, and just did not get it. Honestly, both of those problems seem like poor editing – I wonder if she was meant to be a villain but that was rejected? Charlotte is also much stronger here than in previous books, which is good, because given the cliffhanger to THIS book she’ll need that strength. And I also appreciated the repetition of Slowe never quite realizing what his reputation is with the kingdom now that he’s saved the day multiple times. He’s still trapped in that damn anime.

The next book promises a confrontation we’ve wanted to see since the start – Slowe vs. his family. Till then, this was a strong volume of Piggy Duke, and had a bunch of cool fights as well. Plus, skeleton warriors. Always terrific.