Reincarnated Mage with Inferior Eyes: Breezing through the Future as an Oppressed Ex-Hero, Vol. 1

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By Yusura Kankitsu and Ruria Miyuki. Released in Japan as “Rettōgan no Tensei Majutsushi: Shiitagerareta Moto Yūsha wa Mirai no Sekai o Yoyū de Ikinuku” by Dash x Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

I have been reading Japanese media for a long time now, so I’m very used to the self-deprecation that many authors use when they’re talking to the reader. “Thank you so much for reading this wretched series of mine” is a dime a dozen in Afterwords, usually with a shower of thanks for the publisher, editor, and artist who worked on the book. Unfortunately, there’s a problem when you do that. The work has to actually be good, so that we can smile and say “Aw, it’s fine, take pride in your work, it was good!”. But when you do the “oh no, my mediocre prose” afterword and the reader thinks “actually, I think you’re praising it a bit too much”, that’s not good. That’s not self-deprecation, it’s trying to deflect honest criticism. So, let me honestly criticize this book: it’s generic and terrible, aside from one scene towards the beginning when it leapt past terrible and into appalling.

We begin with the most half-assed “banished from the hero’s party” I’ve ever seen, as the leader of the party tells our overpowered mage that since he’s so terrifying, he should go live by himself on an island somewhere. Abel, not wanting to do this and fairly disgusted with the world he’s in now that regards his amber eyes as scary, decides instead to reincarnate himself two hundred years in the future, when hopefully the world is less prejudiced towards his OP self. When he’s reborn, as a child, he finds that the opposite has happened: magic has declined, and amber eyes (which required years of training to get to be the terrifying things they are) is now a sign of no magic power and those who have them are abused and belittled. What to do?

Let me get the worst part out of the way. Abel is quickly joined by Lilith, the daughter of the Demon Lord that he slew long ago, who he also rescued. She’s been waiting for him to reincarnate, and is now buxom and hot. They bathe together, since she says he’s just a child. He… and I was wondering if I even read this right… gets out of the tub to prove to her he’s a man and sleeps with her. We’re never told HOW old he is when he wakes up, but “child” is used. What the hell? Fortunately, the rest of the book is content to merely be the “standard fantasy” the author says was his goal in writing this series. There’s a bratty noble who very quickly becomes our hero’s best pal/puppy (well, he acts like one). There’s an arrogant redhead who uses a sword and fire magic, which I think is legally required in all fantasy. And there’s our hero, who is ludicrously overpowered compared to everyone else in the land, and he proceeds to show this off while showing as little emotion as possible.

I’ve tried to avoid series in this vein lately, and this volume reminds me exactly why I’m doing that. Garbage.

Turning the Tables on the Seatmate Killer, Vol. 2

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By Aresanzui and Sabimizore. Released in Japan as “Tonari no Seki ni Natta Bishoujo ga Hore Saseyou to Karakatte Kuruga Itsunomanika Kaeriuchi ni Shite Ita” by Monster Bunko. Released in North America by Tentai Books. Translated by IpsMoink.

There have been so many of these sorts of series since the first volume of Seatmate Killer came out in English that I had to struggle to remember which one it was for a bit. That said, unlike a lot of the sorts of series I mentioned just now, this is not a sweet and syrupy “they’re already a couple” romcom, it’s more of a “rehabilitation project” sort of romcom. The easiest comparison is with Rascal Does Not Dream, and indeed you could describe the plot to Seatmate Killer as “what if Sakuta and Koga were classmates and worked together to help his sister”. That said, Seatmate Killer needed something to separate itself from the pack, and it has decided that something is the com part of romcom. This series is here to be wacky, and it will not let you forget that until about 4/5 of the way through the book.

Yui and Yuuki are still much the same as they were at the end of the last book. She tries to get him to fall for her/teases him, he ignores her/tries to rehabilitate her tendency to do this, and they both pretend to be a couple in order to help his shut-in sister. Things are complicated with the arrival of Rio, Yui’s friend who has been dubbed the “seatmate breaker” by Yuuki’s friends as she tends to make everyone who sits next to her hate her. As it turns out, in reality Rio is a lonely, socially inept teenager who is desperate for Yui to validate her, and now Yuuki finds himself trying to help two different girls… which unfortunately ends up reading quite a lot like him cheating. Can a party help to resolve this, or will it just make everything worse?

As with the first book, the payoff in this volume is quite good, as each of the characters reveals depth that they normally tend to conceal. Mina, in particular, was impressive here, quietly mentioning to Rio that she is well aware that her brother and Yui are faking a relationship for her benefit, but is leaving it alone mostly as she thinks they make a good couple. The trouble is that we have everything before the payoff to get through before we get to that. Everyone has that friend who tries to hard to be funny and “on” all the time but just ends up exhausting and annoying everyone, and Seatmate Killer is this friend, as it’s simply too manic. Yui especially, though at least she admits that this is the mask she wears at the end. If this does get an anime, and liberally cuts some of the repetition, it could be fast-paced fun. But I was definitely sighing about halfway through and asking Rio “can you please just snap and have a breakdown soon so I can get to the good stuff?”

So this remains about mid-tier romcom, worth it for those who love the genre, but not essential.

The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 11

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By Tsunehiko Watanabe and Jyuu Ayakura. Released in Japan as “Risou no Himo Seikatsu” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT.

This is the start of a new arc, and also a point at which this series says “OK, we’re in it for the long haul”, so there’s a ton of setup both for the next couple of volumes and for the foreseeable future. That said, the difficult part is that it’s almost ALL setup, with payoff presumably coming down the road. If you enjoy seeing balls thrown in the air, though, this is fine. It also gives Aura more of a role than she’s had in some time, as even through she starts the book off delegating a huge chunk of her power to others, she still has to keep a close eye on them to make sure they are not trying to undermine her own rule. She’s also quick to see that something very ominous is coming, and that their desert neighbors are making a ridiculous amount of concessions in order to make sure to stay in their good graces. Is there an upcoming war brewing?

Aura’s pregnancy and birth of her and Zenjirou’s daughter goes very well thanks to the healer that Zenjirou was able to get. Now, though, it’s time to move some other pieces on the board. Freya has to return home to tell her family that she’s going to be the kingdom’s first new concubine, and it would probably be best if Zenjirou went with her to try to show her family he’s not a creep or evil. More importantly, the events I mentioned above show Aura that they REALLY need a second concubine from the Twin Kingdoms. He gets along better with Bona, but Lucretia has the drive, the political clout, and the tragic backstory to put her in the running. There is, of course, one slight problem. She got off on the wrong foot with Zenjirou trying to lean into “seduce”, and now he’s wary of her. The solution? Join Freya’s sea voyage!

I’ve joked before about how, over the course of the series, the title has become the opposite of Zenjirou’s life. That said, I do wonder if he still sort of sees it as applying to him. His Japanese reserve comes across to everyone else, including his wife, as a complete lack of desire to have ANYTHING for himself. She knows that he objected to both Freya and Lucretia as his concubines, but he gave in really, really fast despite this, and she now is getting concerned that eventually he’s going to start to resent her. I don’t see that happening anytime soon, but it’s probably not a bad idea for the two of them to try harder to understand each other. The rest of the book, as I said, is mostly setup, with perhaps the most interesting thing being that the “problem maids” are split up, with Dolores being sent with Zenjirou on the sea voyage. This allows for a nice, touching scene where Faye and Letti worry about her.

Having talked in the first paragraph about the series settling in for the long haul, I’m sure someone will remind me that there hasn’t been a new volume in almost a year and a half. But that’s future me’s problem. For now, this remains a good political intrigue series.