Unnamed Memory, Vol. 6

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By Kuji Furumiya and chibi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Tangney.

I do get into the ending of the series in this review, be warned, spoiler lovers.

Readers of the third volume of this series, where we had a happy ending for our hero and heroine yeeted away fro us at the last minute, may be a bit wary of this 6th volume of Unnamed memory. And they are absolutely right to be wary. This series has had the feeling, throughout all six books, of “what will get in the way of them getting married next?”, to the point where it’s almost felt like a short story collection as Oscar and Tinasha go around dealing with crisis after crisis. At first she was the wary one and he was the one wanting to get married. Now, in books 4-6, it’s the reverse. But it’s essentially the same vibe. And for those who enjoyed Tinasha the Witch, good news, you definitely get to see her again. That said, those who enjoyed Tinasha the Queen may be saying “uh oh” right now. This is the trouble with time travel and repeating lives.

The first half of the book, as noted above, is basically “what can get in the way of the upcoming wedding?”. This even includes plots from previous books/timelines, as the “curse song” from earlier gets dealt with a lot more swiftly and neatly. The main snag is when the king of a neighboring country ends up in a coma, and the culprit seems to be The Witch of the Forbidden Forest… who has been noticeably absent from the second arc of this series. Is she really the one trying to destroy Tinasha’s country? That said, the main antagonist here is Valt, who has been trying to find a way to save the girl he loves and not have her take on his own burden, and is coming up empty. Towards that end, he is now 100% behind “destroy everything, start over”, even if he has to get Oscar and Tinasha to do it for him.

The second half is the best part, as usual with these books. The first half isn’t really filler, but can feel like it. (A queen of one nation stabs the queen of another nation, while in her right mind, and we never hear from her again except that her son is now king. Was she executed?) Valt’s backstory hits a lot harder than I was expecting, and I enjoyed the scenes with him and Tinasha. That said, I imagine the ending can be frustrating – again. We don’t quite get the first timeline back at the expense of the second timeline – this is an all-new timeline – but there is a sense that the Tinasha who we’ve been following for the last three books, the human Queen of Tuldarr, “died”. That said, the framing of the finale is “the two of them still live on in legend”, which fits the theme of the books as well, and ties into the author’s (unlicensed) other series. I also liked the short story at the end, which was basically another Tinasha-as-witch what-if.

There is an “after story” volume out in Japan, but I’m not sure if Yen will pick it up – they’re sort of 50-50 on those kinds of books. In the meantime, while I may have found some of the plotting frustrating, Unnamed Memory is a very rewarding read, filled with luxurious prose and great characters.

The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend, Vol. 3

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By Kennoji and Fly. Released in Japan as “Chikan Saresou ni Natteiru S-kyuu Bishoujo wo Tasuketara Tonari no Seki no Osananajimi datta” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sergio Avila.

There is a very famous meme in regards to the visual novel/anime franchise Fate/Stay Night regarding Shirou’s obliviousness towards any and all romantic affection from other girls, which has Rin showing him diagrams of sex ending with “Jam it in”, to which Shirou’s response is “..you lost me.” Of course, the real reason beyond Shirou’s lack of emotional sensitivity stems from his traumatic past. Ryou’s past is not quite as traumatic as Shirou’s… despite the cliffhanger to this book… but he is another character whose obliviousness has more depth to it than the standard anime harem lead. That said… it’s been three books, and the solution to all of this seems to have been “add more girl” each time. I’m hoping that Ai Himejima may be the final straw, mostly as she brings something to the table that the other non-Hina girls don’t have: she is also a childhood friend. And, apparently, was also in love with Ryou.

The book starts almost the same way the first one did, with Ryou rescuing a girl from a groper on the train, and almost getting in trouble for it himself. Said girl turns out to be Ai (aka Himeji), who is transferring to their school… in June, an odd time to transfer schools. It is, however, just in time to be part of the annual school trip, which involves lots of shrine visits and cultural education. Himeji is eager to reconnect with Ryou, and also reconnects with Hina, though she’s less thrilled about this. (Ryou finds himself thinking “they must be very good friends” in response to their constant arguing over him… again, this book requires a lot of patience.) Is Himeji going to steal Ryou away from Hina? Why did she transfer in the first place? And can Ryou please stop hating himself?

The main reason that Himeji is interesting is what she brings to the table: she was in elementary school with Ryou and Hina as well, and (as the cliffhanger points out) may have been far more involved with Ryou than he remembers. This series relies heavily on the transient quality of childhood memories, especially when you have a lot of upheaval in your life in between, and I wonder (but doubt, frankly) if this will cause Ryou to actually push back a bit. We also get a sense that Ryou and Hina need each other, if only as without him around she might end up in a lot of trouble. The scene where she tries to give directions to a “lost tourist” and is almost taken off to a dark alley somewhere is chilling, and fits oddly in the midst of this relatively fluffy book. Oh yes, and we get Ryou’s sister giving him condoms – again. She knows someone needs a constant ass-kicking if he’s going to get anywhere.

This is not really an essential high school romcom, but I’m curious as to how things will shake out. It’s not in the genre of “sugary sweet and conflictless” – the love quadrangle won’t let it be – but it’s the next level down.

I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!, Vol. 2

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By Reina Soratani and Haru Harukawa. Released in Japan as “Kondo wa Zettai ni Jama Shimasen!” by Gentosha Comics. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Kimberly Chan. Adapted by T. Anne.

It’s been about a year and a half since the first volume of this came out (there were apparently behind-the-scenes difficulties), and I was worried, given that I’ve read 578 Villainess books in the interim, that I would have lost whatever made me really, really love the first volume. Having now read the second volume, I can state my worries were entirely unfounded. This is not a fun book to read. It may take you a while to crawl through it. But it’s an intensely powerful book. Most of the Villainess books either have the main character entirely unaware of how much everyone loves her, or they resolve the “bad end” part straight away and move on to happier, fluffier things. Not here. At the end of this second volume, I can’t think of a single thing that Violette can do to make this a happier, more joyous series. And that’s even including the epiphany she has at the end of the volume!

Most of this volume deals with exams. In her previous go around, Violette did all right, but maryjune got first place for her year, meaning her father yelled at her endlessly. She knows she can’t avoid that, but she wants to at least do well, but lacks any core friends that will help her study beyond Yulan. Fortunately, Yulan would do anything for her, and takes care of this. Then the exams come out, and she does quite well… but she accidentally triggers something new, and now has even more new, terrifying ways to worry about what Maryjune is going to do. On the bright side, she does gain a new friend in Rosette, a princess from a neighboring country who also tends to hide her real self. On the not-so-bright side… the entire rest of the book.

I worry I may be talking this book down by saying how goddamn depressing it is, and I want to reassure readers: this is really good. The author knows how to convey abuse and depression, the day to day grinding down that can happen to anyone forced to live with a family that belittles and hates them. At one point Violette has a panic attack, and it too is perfectly portrayed. The end of the book has her realize just how she feels about Yulan, and we also get several POV chapters showing how he feels about her. That said… I’m not a fan of them getting together. I think it would be bad for both of them. Yulan is not in love so much as obsessed, and that can easily turn out badly, especially with someone like Violette, who already has to deal with Daddy Dearest (you’ll really wish him dead by the end of this book). At least she has her maid Marin, who does not slaughter the entire family in a rage at the way they treat Violette, but certainly imagines doing it.

I’d wait till you’re in the right mood to experience this book. It’s heavy, and downbeat, and somewhat hopeless. But man, it is NOT the same old Villainess story we normally get. Can’t wait to suffer more.