I’m in Love with the Villainess: She’s So Cheeky for a Commoner, Vol. 1

Leave a reply

By Inori and Hanagata. Released in Japan as “Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina!” by GL Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Kevin Ishizaka. Adapted by Nibedita Sen.

I’ll admit I was surprised when I heard that this spinoff was being written. After five volumes of the main series, with so much that’s possible to explore, do we really need to have a retelling of events of the first book from Claire’s perspective? Fortunately, the answer is yes, we do need to have this. When I reviewed Book Two of the main series I talked about how much I loved Claire’s character development even though so much of it had to be filtered through Rae’s POV. Now we’re able to see that first hand. That said, this is still an adaptation of the events in the first book, meaning that much of the character development is still to come. We do see Claire’s inherent goodness and kindness, but we also see a lot of arrogance and ignorance of the class system that has propped up families like hers. Over the course of the book, Claire starts to get better about noticing that other people – even her good friends – have differing opinions.

Claire Francois is enjoying her life as one of the elites in the Royal Academy… at least until one day a commoner starts pestering her, and harassing her, and confessing love to her. It’s maddening, of course. Especially when said commoner ends up getting hired as Claire’s second maid! That said, she’s just a commoner, so a spot of mild bullying should do the trick and drive her away. Unfortunately, Claire’s friends Pepi and Loretta have ideas for bullying that are far more sadistic than what the essentially good-hearted Claire has in mind, so she gets nowhere. Over the course of the book, Claire is forced to confront her preconceptions about her friends, her roommate Catherine, lesbians, and commoners. Then just when she thinks she has a handle on things, she’s faced with the worst kind of betrayal.

As you may have noticed, this is not just a straight “write the same scenes from the opposite POV” side story. For one thing, Claire’s friends, known to the reader (and to Rae) as “Those Two Girls” get actual things to do and times where they disagree with Claire… though they also rely on her a great deal. We also get a brand new character, Claire’s roommate Catherine. Catherine is deeply connected to Claire’s traumatic past, and is also the daughter of a family that rivals hers, though Catherine’s status as part of that family is less than ideal. Of all the new things introduced in this book, she’s the most interesting to me, and I have a sneaking fear she won’t survive the series. She may have an agenda of her own for all I know, but her main role in this book is to give Claire good advice and try to get her to open her horizons… though she ends up rather startled when Claire is able to return the favor later on by forcing Catherine to leave her gilded cage.

As for Rae herself, Claire consistently refers to her as “the commoner” in her narrative voice throughout this book. I expect that will change in future volumes. If you enjoyed the main series, there’s absolutely no reason not to get this as well.

Slayers: The Long Road Home

Leave a reply

By Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis.

After the previous volume, which was essentially an anniversary special, Kanzaka seems to have remembered how much fun it was to write Lina and Gourry, and so has returned to Slayers once more to kickstart a new arc. That said, he knows that he’s already used up most of the plots and fight scenes that he can in Lina’s world. There’s only so many times that you can battle a Dynast General and not have it seem dull, you know? Of course, he COULD just give in and write Lina taking Gourry to meet her family, which she’s been trying to do for the last couple of books, but that would involve writing her family, and we already know that characters like Lina’s older sister Luna work better as an unseen threat. As such, this volume DOES start with a battle with a Dynast general… who promptly gives in because Lina’s reputation is Just. That. Bad. Unfortunately, when they emerge from the fight they’re not in Kansas… erm, Zephilia anymore, but in a completely different place.

As it turns out, Lina and Gourry hail from the demon lord side of the continent. There’s also a dragon side of the continent, separated by a strong barrier to keep the two sides from meeting. And now Lina and Gourry, thanks to that annoying Dynast general, are in Ceifeed lands, with no idea how to return home. They spend most of the start of the book trying to decipher the different writing system, figure out the money conversion, and slowly making their way towards a real city. Along the way they run into a spunky young girl, Ran, who may act like a hyperactive tween but also can use wind magic and has an incredibly powerful staff. Unfortunately, as they move along, it becomeds apparent that Lina’s type of sorcery is far more powerful than these foiks are used to… and they want it for themselves.

The main issue I have with this book is that it’s a setup for more books down the line. Ran is a fun character, but we learn next to nothing about her, nor do we know anything about her motivation for traveling with Lina and Gourry. The villains in this book (leaving aside the city guard guys, who are more mooks than anything else) tend to blend together like most minor Slayers villains do, but they certainly show a callous disregard for human life or property… something that becomes more understandable when you realize who they are. Other than that, this is a perfectly decent Slayers book. Lina and Gourry are always fun, and we get to see Lina trying to get past her own reputation even in a place where it doesn’t precede her. The fights are action packed, and if they ever animate Slayers again might be fun to see. It will be interesting to see where this arc goes.

Unfortunately, this book came out in 2019, and there’s no Vol. 18 on the horizon, so we may never see how the arc goes. Which is the most frustrating part of this book, to be honest.

Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 9

Leave a reply

By Nozomu Mochitsuki and Gilse. Released in Japan as “Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by David Teng.

I’m not sure how long Tearmoon Empire is supposed to be, or even if the author has an ending in mind. Certainly Vol. 12 is due out in Japan soon, so we’re not anywhere close to the end at the moment. And yet it feels that we have at least started to hit the back half of the series, if only because we’re getting flash forwards that aren’t always depressing nightmares. The last couple of volumes of Tearmoon Empire have shown us glimpses of the main cast in the original world after Mia is executed, and this volume has one as well. It’s meant to show us all the good that Mia has done her second time around, even when she doesn’t always realize it. But here we also start to see flashforwards that seem to be the ACTUAL happy future, showing us an older Mia still happily running rings around everyone even if the narrator insists that she’s being a selfish coward. I really enjoyed reading them.

We pick up right where we left off at the end of the previous book, with Mia and company trying to stop Prince Sion from being poisoned by his younger brother. They succeed at this… accidentally, but the actual poisoning that happens is much worse, and requires everyone (but particularly Tiona and Citrina) being incredibly quick-witted. After the fallout from this, there’s still a massive party with nobles to attend to, so Sion and Abel decide to fight for Mia’s hand once and for all in a sword duel. Which comes as a big surprise to Mia, who as usual in matters of the heart seems to act like a girl her age. That said, when Sion actually confesses to her, she knows that this isn’t something she can actually brush off or deflect, and gives him an honest, sincere answer. Even the narrator is (mostly) silent here.

Tiona spent most of the start of this series either absent or barely appearing, which was a surprise given the role that she had in Mia’s original timeline. But gradually she’s grown in importance as a character, and here we see what Mia’s actions have wrought, which is that she and Sion have now had enough character development that they can genuinely confide in each other. While Tearmoon Empire isn’t quite a “villainess” book per se, and is not derived from an otome game, Tiona absolutely fulfills the “heroine of an otome game” archetype, including being able to see past noble bullshit and get to the heart of the matter. As for Mia, she’s getting smarter by the book. I especially loved when Citrina praised her for her foresight in finding the antidote mushroom, and Mia briefly debated taking credit for it, but decided to tell Citrina that it really was just pure coincidence. I’m hoping that in future books we can see her be even more honest with others about her real motives, though the basic premise of the book tells me I won’t see it too often.

This was an absolute banger of a book, wrapping up this arc in fine fashion, and with several real dramatic moments. Next time we’ll be going to The Valley of Horses, but hopefully not in a Jean M. Auel way, and presumably we will slowly set up the next arc but not pay it off. These books are long, as are the arcs.