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.

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 7

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By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

Having taken the last book off due to her One Weakness, Sally is back in action here, and this entire volume, with the exception of a few scenes, is a Maple/Sally two-hander. It’s also the closest the novels have become to literally reading a Let’s Play website. The entire book is the two of them trying to clear level after level of the special event. Sometimes they do really cool things. Sometimes Maple whips out her bizarre logic. Sometimes they even have a terribly hard time achieving anything, which is refreshing – the mods are finally succeeding in finding things that are tough for Maple to Maple her way past. But yeah, while this is a fun book to read, it’s a hard one to review. There’s no plot development or character development in Bofuri. It’s just Cute Girls Do OP Things. It also really makes you long for the upcoming second season, which will hopefully take this and make it even better.

So yes, there’s a 10-level special event, and Maple and Sally have decided to try to do it just as a 2-person team, something that all the other groups think is nuts, though that does not stop Pain and Mii’s groups doing it as a 4-person team after hearing about Maple and Sally. The rest of Maple Tree is also participating, and we get brief scenes of those other three groups struggling with the fairly difficult levels and bosses. As for Maple and Sally, well, there’s ice levels, jungle levels, Rainbow Road levels, and even ghost levels, much to Sally’s horror. Fortunately, except for that last one, the two of them are more than up to the task. That said, their goal was not only to go through all ten levels as a 2-party group without once dying, but also without taking any damage. That proves far, far harder.

There is always one moment in every Bofuri book that is jaw-droppingly hilarious, and I won’t spoil this one, which involves how to get Sally past the ghost level. Other than that, however, this book is very matter-of-fact, as always. It doesn’t have the boffo laughs that the anime has, opting instead for a more laissez-faire style, as Maple and Sally simply trundle through everything they come across. That said, as I noted above, it’s considerably harder for them than any book to date, and a lot of the designs appear to be pure Maple-killers, such as the spikes at the bottom of the cliff that Maple would obviously thing to jump down from. There’s also the relationship between Maple and Sally, which is always wonderful. Fans may enjoy shipping them, but the books really don’t – however, it’s great at showing they’re best friends. Given Bofuri almost never returns to the real world, it’s even more impressive we see this.

The next volume promises that the entire maple Tree gang will be playing it together, and also promises… monster taming? Should be fun. In the meantime, this is The Maple and Sally Show.