Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 6

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By Zappon and Yasumo. Released in Japan as “Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasaretanode, Henkyou de Slow Life Surukoto ni Shimashita” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

It’s become a commonly known thing by now that Slow Life books, for the most part, aren’t really. They’re “I started with a slow life and then” books. No one is going to read 200 pages of JUST farming beans. You need to get a wide variety of cute young women, old friends trying to drag you back into fighting, monsters threatening your peaceful farm, etc. That applies even to a seies like this, where all the hero work was at the start and now Red and Rit are just trying to run a small apothecary shop and find the time for occasional hot wolfgirl sex. But Ruti is different, and the book is continuing to let us know that her deciding not to have her entire life destroyed for the sake of her hero blessing is not something that is simply going to be accepted. The world needs a hero.

Yes, Rit can turn into a wolfgirl, though honestly that’s the least important part of this book. On the heels of the three assassins seen at the end of the previous book, a massive ship appears in the harbor, there to block all trade until they get what they want. What they want is to search the church records of everyone in the town till they find a specific blessing, something the Church finds abhorrent. Ruti and Tisse start to investigate, and find the story of a prince who is searching for his birthright, a kingdom in turmoil, and a pirate elf woman who just wants to protect what she already has. Now Ruti has to try to play detective without simply solcing everything the way the hero would, and Tisse has to go after some former assassin classmates who have gone rogue.

You may notice I did not mention Red and Rit there. They’re both very much still the stars of the book, but are content to leave the dangerous stuff to Ruti and Tisse – their own job is to try to find alternatives to the things that the town can’t import anymore, like oil. It’s refreshing and heartwarming seeing them deliberately not help out with the monstrous plot on the horizon. Now, yes, this is clearly the first of a multi-book arc, and I know they will both be dragged into it in the next volume, especially since Red seems acquainted with the current Queen of Veronia, who has all the signs of being, if not a Big Bad, at least the gateway to the Big Bad. But that’s next time. For this, it’s about finding out how to get oil from coconuts, trusting your sister and her wife and their spider to handle things, and investigating new fetishes you’ve just discovered.

The book feels a bit slight, but that’s not uncommon with the first book of an arc – or of this genre in general. The slow life may go away eventually, but it’s winning for now.

My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me!, Vol. 7

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By mikawaghost and tomari. Released in Japan as “Tomodachi no Imouto ga Ore ni dake Uzai” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

Sometimes you can concentrate so hard on your goal that you lose sight of basic things like resting, recuperating, and daily life chores. This is the dilemma we see Akiteru facing here, as he realizes that he needs to have the game team do even more if he wants to get popular… but they’re honestly working pretty hard already. Does genius still work when it’s too tired to function? What’s more… can he really rely on just his core team of brilliant specialists? Most game studios would use more people and sacrifice a but of quality, y’know? And it does not really help that he’s having to deal with his fake girlfriend’s mom hiding out at her daughter’s home, or his friend’s little sister’s mom also moving back home for a while. they both seem very aware of the relationships between the group. In fact, honestly, I think the mothers between them have both figured out everything. Which is probably not very good news for Iroha.

So yeah, Akiteru’s got problems. Leaving aside Mom #1 and Mom #2, both of whom seem to be very suspicious of him in general, he’s running up against the fact that their game has plateaued in terms of popularity. Now he’s got to think of other ways to get around that, and do it fast, as the class trip is coming up soon. He could try getting a popular Instagram star to be seen playing their game… except she’s a incoherent mess of a girl. He could try getting his illustrator to create even more really awesome art for the series… except doing that, combined with planning for the class trip, ends up hospitalizing her. He could try doing what Iroha’s mom suggests and actually hire other people for his niche game company composed only of geniuses… but that would involve compromising his vision. What’s the best solution?

This is a solid volume. The romance, oddly, feels a bit on the back burner here, partly as there’s not much that can go on with both moms present. That said, Book 8 promises a lot of Akiteru and Mashiro, as Iroha, being a first year, cannot go on the class trip with them. (And yes, I am fully expecting the author to get around that somehow.) Most of this volume focuses on the game and Akiteru’s future plans for it. It’s not surprising to see the direction he takes, but it is rather relieving, as I was worried he was close to napping. This is not a major game for a major company – that’s his goal. It’s a indie project. And the game DOES have enough fans so he can get away with it. I was also amused at Mashiro’s mom and the revelation about what’s going on with her and her husband, which is both hilarious and also twistedly heartwarming. I am really looking forward to seeing what happens with her and Iroha, especially as the moms clearly have a bitter rivalry of their own.

So yeah, good romcom stuff. Anime coming soon, I believe.

The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-Up, Vol. 1

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By Rino Mayumi and Machi. Released in Japan as “Jimihime to Kuroneko no, Enman na Konyaku Haki” by M Novels F. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Evie Lund.

First off, this isn’t a villainess novel, and no one has any memories from Japan. That said, there is a certain sub-genre of villainess novels we’ve started to see more of recently, which is the “noblewoman breaks up with her fiance” genre. These are often a part of the villainess genre, usually with a big public break-up and possible exile/ruination in the offing, but not always. And this particular book looks as if it’s going to head in that direction. Our heroine, who the title has already conditioned us to believe is the mousy, plain one, overhears a group of teenage boys, including her fiance the prince, praising her pretty younger sister to the skies while disparaging her. We know what’s happening here. What a bastard. He doesn’t deserve someone as good as the heroine. And while that may be true… is that really what she overheard? Or did she overhear a bunch of teens who have no idea how to say they like someone?

Seren is the older sibling and has spent most of her life preparing to be the Queen, engaged to Crown Prince Helios. Sadly, she’s now heard how he really feels about her (or so she thinks). Devastated, she runs off to cry, and is discovered by the court mage Viol, who has long black hair and is gorgeous but has a reputation for being aloof and unfriendly. That’s why it’s a problem when she sees him grinning at a cupcake he’s about to eat. She ends up blackmailing him into finding her a magic teacher something she has a talent for. If she’s a court mage, she can break up with Helios, he can marry Marietta, her younger sister, and everyone will be happy. As for Viol, he decides to teach her himself, by turning into his “familiar”, a black cat. Except… she’s not just good at magic, she’s a prodigy!

So many books in this genre have a narrative trick where you see the heroine narrating something, and the next chapter is the same thing narrated by the love interest. This does that as well, though Seren and Viol alternate POV. In between those, though, we see POV of some other characters which explains things and gives them depth. Helios turns out to be an earnest young man who had never really understood what his fiance was like until recently, and he’s head over heels for her. His friends, including the son of the prime minister, ALSO love her. The fact that all that “Oh, Marietta is so great” at the start was all of them trying to push her onto another one of the boys so they could have Seren to themselves is hilarious and also really sad. Even Marietta, who seems at first to be the stock selfish and jealous younger sister, fares well here – she *is* jealous, and does want Helios for herself, but it stems from a love for her sister and a desire not to see the two of them, who have similar personalities, work themselves to death.

The book is not perfect. Seren’s low opinion of herself may be textually justified, but that does not make it less irritating to read, as she gives herself no credit at all for nearly 300 pages. The other problem is that this is Volume 1, and we’re just setting everything up. We haven’t even had the break-up – she’s said she will, but hasn’t done it (and good thing too, as the King and Queen love her and have planned everything out 4expecting her to be royalty). So the narrative car crash I expected didn’t happen. Still, I enjoyed this well enough to get another volume.