High School DxD: A Demon’s Work

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By Ichiei Ishibumi and Miyama-Zero. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

Generally speaking I’ve been able to skate by on these High School DxD reviews because I can usually somehow get past all of the boob talk and the “funny” comedy antics and even more boob talk to find something I can actually discuss like a reasonable reviewer, be it the fights, the character development (it does actually exist), or the overall plot of that particular book. So, you’ll have to pardon me if this review in particular seems to be a little lacking in content, as this is a short story volume. Meaning there is no overall plot, and no character development. Oh, and almost no fighting either. In its place, we have even MORE boob talk and “funny” comedy. As such, we are forced to fall back on the usual rule of light novel short story volumes: the longer the story, he better it actually is. That holds true here, as the last story in the book is the longest and one of the few that deserves attention.

In this book: 1) Issei and Rias try to help a woman who summoned a demon to help her love life… but she’s American, and her idea of Japan is more samurai-oriented. 2) Issei and Asia are told they need to get familiars, but Issei’s choices are all super powerful rather than super sexy. 3) Issei explains to the club the story of how he became obsessed with breasts, which involves a creepy old man corrupting a child. 4) The club has to play a tennis match against a rival in order to complete a club activity report. 5) Asia and Rias are turned into little kids by a spell gone wrong. 6) Azazel accidentally clones Issei three hundred times, and the clones are even more breast-obsessed than he is. 7) Sirzechs and Grayfia show up at Issei’s, and remind Rias that she has to perform a ciming of age ritual with a loved one… i.e. Issei.

There are precisely three stories in this book that cannot be summed up by the words “Oh my God, fuck off.” The first story is actually pretty funny, especially Susan’s misplaced sense of what Japan is actually like. The story of Asia and Rias as kids is at least mildly cute, and features Azazel abusing Issei in a much more acceptable manner than the other story he’s involved in. And the final story is the most involved. We meet the other Demon Kings for the first time, and we get another example of the “they are wearing an obvious disguise but no one notices this except the protagonist” joke, which always seems to work for me for some reason. Other than that, please see above. High School DxD may be unabashedly horny, but I have my limits, and they were pushed hard here.

Despite the presence of one or two non-sucking stories, this is a volume that can easily be skipped, IMO. Next time we should get a school trip… and hopefully a plotline.

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out

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By Hajime Kamoshida and Keji Mizoguchi. Released in Japan as “Seishun Buta Yarou wa Odekake Sister no Yume wo Minai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

The last two books in the series were pretty much crushingly emotional, with some genuine grief and horror in them, and I imagine that readers are hoping for a slightly more light-hearted volume at this point. Unfortunately, thay may have to wait a bit longer. The eighth Rascal book is not a tragic heartbreaker like the last arc. It’s merely a quiet, unflinching study of how Kaede is trying to get better and move on with her life, and how she’s being hindered not only by her own trauma over what happened in the past, but also the way that the Japanese school system works. And, of course, there’s “the other” Kaede, who hovers over this volume like a ghost, present and influential despite already being gone. Last time Sakuta was able to go back and save Mai from being killed, but there’s no way to really save “both” Kaedes, at least not at this point in the series. He just has to support her as best he can.

Sakuta is getting ready for Mai’s graduation, and being forced to think hard about his own future. Mai wants them to go to college together, so much so that she’s taking a year break to wait for him. This means that he needs to buckle down and actually study rather than being a lazy SOB, his natural state. Things are not helped by the fact that he’s having a dream of her as a small elementary school girl. That said, studying is going to have to take second place to Kaede, whose future is far more fragile. She’s now going to school again… but can’t actually leave the nurse’s office. There are a wide variety of high schools she could attend… but with a complete lack of grades for the last two years, it’s a high bar to clear. And to make matters worse, she’s determined to go to the same school Sakuta and Mai attend. Is that really something she can achieve?

I had forgotten that Japanese education is only compulsory through junior high, so high school is optional. This makes things very difficult for Kaede, though, as with a complete lack of junior high grades, it’s hard to get into a good high school, and that makes it hard to get a good job, etc. She’s made great strides, especially now that she has recovered her old memories, but there are still certain obstacles that still traumatize her, especially relating to her old school. And there’s an even bigger obstacle beyond that, one that has her feeling guilty and unloved. Despite that, Sakuta is an awesome older brother here. He’s trying to support what she says she wants to do, coming up with contingency plans on what to do if that fails, and not pressuring her. There’s also an extended section on remote learning schools that is very good at showing how they can be a help if you find the right one, while also showing that everyone automatically thinks they’re sketchy.

Aside from a plot twist near the end, which I found a bit unbelievable, this was an excellent volume in the series. I do wonder how it would be animated, though… perhaps that’s why there hasn’t been any ore of the anime since the movie. In any case, next time we resolve Sakuta’s new dream. Till then, fight on, Kaede!

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Vol. 11.5

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By Kumanano and 029. Released in Japan by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda. Adapted by M.B. Hare.

As Kuma Bear has gone on, and gotten more attention, and particularly when it got the anime, the author has been slowly but subtly erasing its past a bit. I had remarked in my reviews of the first few books that one of the more interesting things about the series was the way that it would balance “cute girls doing bear things” plotlines with some very dark storylines. This short story volume features stories that were bonuses with in-store purchases and also some new stories, and also summarizes the events of Books 1-9. The dark storylines are not even mentioned in the summaries, and have zero stories featuring them. The author realizes that this world being terrible and needing Yuna to save it is not really why people want to read this series, and honestly that decision may be for the best. The undercurrent of “and that evil guy has also been raping those women” was always uncomfortable, and as for Yuna’s parents, well, I don’t think we’ll ever return to Japan, so we don’t need to care. In the meantime, there is bear.

As noted, these are stories that were originally either exclusives you got when you bought the books at a specific store, online short stories, or short stories from the original webnovel. There’s also ten or so new stories exclusive to this volume. One or two of them have Yuna’s POV, but for the most part they’re exactly what the short stories at the end of the main volumes are: a chance to see the same events from the perspective of different characters. There’s Fina’s stress about meeting nobles and royalty, Cliff’s stress about the fact that everything Yuna does changes the world, everyone’s stress at not being able to get the ever-so-popular bear books or bear plushies. There are no real revelations in this book except the most obvious one, which is that Yuna is less of a teen in a bear suit and more of an Act of God.

It really gets hammered home in this book how strange and inexplicable Yuna is to everyone who encounters her. Her desire to not attract attention to herself, discussed in previous books, is laughable here – any time she appears, she immediately does something that makes sure no one will ever forget about her. She’s not even an adventurer here: she’s a savior, changing everyone’s lives for the better (except perhaps the aggrieved Cliff, who ends up having to clean up after her when she nonchalantly does things like digging a tunnel through the mountain). We also get a bit more depth to minor characters like the guild masters, etc, though again, it’s only a tiny bit more. The problem with short stories that are exclusives and not part of the main work is that they can’t actually impact the main work – they have to be entirely optional.

So yes, you can probably skip this, but at the same time, if you’re already enjoying Kuma Bear, you’re probably the sort of person who’d enjoy this anyway. Also, it’s pretty long – there’s 50 short stories here, and the book itself is almost 400 pages. Inoffensive fun.