The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend, Vol. 2

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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.

This got off to a slow start but was definitely improving as it went along. Last time I said that this was what books like Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki deconstructed, and that was certainly true of the first book, but here we see the author starting to really look at the situation. Ryou is the standard oblivious, self-hating potato protagonist, but here we see how that’s actually hurting everyone around him – and hurting himself as well. Ryou has, by the end of the book, four love interests, three of whom seem to be along the lines of “did a decent thing in front of her”, which is also standard high school romance LN but reminds you how goddamn low the bar really is. And he’s actually a little more serious than most high school boys – he doesn’t feel comfortable returning anyone’s feelings until he understands how love feels himself. Unfortunately for the rest of the cast, this may take a while.

Our cast is in that most popular of years, the 2nd year of high school, and as such they have to deal with present-day concerns like the school festival while also trying to think about the future. Ryou can’t really imagine what he’ll be doing in the future beyond vague “college, I guess”. Hina, on the other hand, has a secret… and a dream. She really is far more mature and put together than Ryou, something that he dwells on constantly. That said, he might not be dwelling on it enough, given that Hina said she’d happily give everything up to spend her days married to him… and he didn’t react at all. (She was expecting him to at least push back on that.) Even a surprise first kiss cannot get past Ryou’s wall of self-loathing that he’s put between the two of them. Will a film project help, or just make things even more complicated?

I remain pleased with the relationship between Ryou and his sister Mana. She clearly loves her brother, supports him, and is STILL buying him condoms he won’t use, but there is not one speck of subtext between them, which is an increasing rarity in books these days. This is meant to be a realistic sibling relationship. The other strong part of this book was Hina. She’s been hiding her dreams of being an actress from the others, but it turns out that she has some serious chops. This leads to good and bad things with Ryou. Good in that filming something she can use as a quick promo video shows off his film editing skills, leading to a possible future direction. Bad in that he clearly puts her on a massive pedestal, and clearly the main reason he is not going out with her is for that reason. She tears into him for it, and her frustration is palpable.

That said, we get yet another saved childhood friend at the end of the book, and this risks becoming Osamake if it’s not careful. It can be difficult at times to deal with Ryou’s moping, but the book eventually rewards you.

VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral After Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream, Vol. 1

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By Nana Nanato and Siokazunoko. Released in Japan as “VTuber Nanda ga Haishin Kiri Wasuretara Densetsu ni Natteta” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alice Prowse.

I’m not even sure how to review this at all. I’ve talked before about how I’m not a gamer, but that doesn’t stop me from reviewing endless amount of isekai titles that rely on level ups and power balances. Even if the lingo sometimes confuses me, there’s at least a plot structure to be had. That is not the case with VTuber Legend, which mostly exists to be read as an amusing chat stream turned into a light novel. Even the author was surprised when Fujimi Shobo approached them and asked if they could make it a real book. So I should approach it from a plot or characterization perspective… but there really isn’t one. As for the VTuber stuff… I’ve never watched a single one. I know there are comments that scroll either on the side of the video or literally in the video by watchers. And there are cute personas. That’s about it. Did I like this? Mmmmrrrmmm… not really.

Yuki Tanaka is a 20-year-old NEET, whose sole job turned out to be exploitative and evil. As a result, she’s holed up in her apartment for the most part. That said, she recently got a job with Live-On, a management company that has VTubers. She creates a persona, Awayuki Kokorone, who is refined and placid, with lots of ‘snow’ imagery. Unfortunately… she’s not really that popular. Then one day her computer freezes at one point after she ends the stream, and she does not realize that the stream is still going. So she cracks open a can of Strong Zero and starts blabbing to herself, getting drunker and drunker… and still never realizes her stream is still running. Now people are sure interested in her! In fact, management hints that they hired her expecting her to sort of be a disaster. Should she take this and run with it?

I should note the above paragraph is the first 15 pages of a total of 212. Most of what follows is the crafting of a character based around getting wasted, hitting on any other VTuber that moves, and generally being a chaotic force. With the audience and her fellow VTubers, for the most part, approving. There’s little to no conflict here, and the only time people seriously think about what’s going on is when they tell Yuki not to get drunk EVERY day. The rest of the cast are her fellow VTubers, all of whom seem to be eccentric, and all of whom also seem to be gay. (Yuki identifies herself as a “real-life lesbian”, and honestly that may be another reason why she was hired, but this is mostly used as an excuse for over the top sexual comments rather than anything serious.) I assume as a VTuber novel it works quite well. But the formatting and the lack of any real story make it fall flat for me.

If you enjoy VTubers and are looking for a funny and crass comedy, this may be for you. I ended up drowning in a sea of chat and Strong Zero.

Prison Life Is Easy for a Villainess, Vol. 2

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By Hibiki Yamazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Konyaku Haki kara Hajimaru Akuyaku Reijou no Kangoku Slow Life” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

While I did very much enjoy this second volume and the series, I want to emphasize once again that this is a bit of a mess. The entire cast is filled with terrible, terrible people. The resolution basically amounts to “the king and queen finally come home and stop everything”. And every time that we get a scene that wasn’t in the original webnovel (which is to say one that is not focusing on Rachel in prison) it’s well written but jars terribly with everything else. Margaret’s past as a child, selling flowers on the side of a road, avoiding pedophiles, and living with sex workers trying to marry into royalty, honestly makes me want a bit more for her. The author says in the afterword that Margaret has “gumption but nothing else”, but gumption can get you far. In the end, though I think accidentally, the books read more as “you can be the worst person imaginable and it’s fine as long as you’re rich”. Which, well, current mood of world.

The plot is the same as the first book, though honestly some of the events seem to strain… not disbelief, but I think they show the author was grasping at straws. Elliott and company try to torment Rachel with terrible music, but she merely grabs a trumpet and forces them to play to her own rhythm, in a metaphor so obvious it smacks you in the head. She also has her pet monkey arrive from home, which leads to as many shenanigans as you can imagine a monkey running around the royal palace can have. Meanwhile, Elliott’s allies are being cut down one by one… possibly literally in the case of Sykes, whose fiancee turns out to be one of the few times I will actually use the word yandere in a review. That said, this cannot last forever, and finally Rachel’s parents and the King and Queen arrive to stop Elliott. But can they get Rachel to leave her cell?

The best parts of the book are the ones that show us what Rachel is really like behind all her confidence and casual cruelty. We’ve seen the shallow selfishness of Elliott and Margaret… but honestly, Rachel’s not all that much better. She can plan things out very well in the moment, but does not bother to think of consequences. What’s more, we see more people that her schtick doesn’t actually work on here… though, in keeping with the theme of the book, they’re also terrible sadists. (Word of warning, there are spanking scenes here. More than one.) In the end, she whines like a child and refuses to come out of her cozy cell where she’s been able to avoid responsibility, and ends up having to be bribed with a toy. (The toy is Margaret. Honestly, terrible as they both are, in five years or so I can see them being quite a power couple with Raymond as the beard.) Prison life is easy for a villainess, but actual life does not go as she’d like.

In the end, this book has a very, very specific readership. If you love the idea of a bitch doing horrible things to pathetic men who deserve it, you’ll love this. Two volumes honestly is a bit too many, but nevertheless I had fun.