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.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Vol. 12

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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.

As you can probably tell by the cover art, the entire first half of the book sees Yuna outside of the bear suit, dressed in a school uniform so as not to attract the attention she did as a bear last time. (She still has the bear paws and feet, just in case.) And what ends up happening is one of the more fascinating psychological examinations of a character I’ve seen in some time. Yuna, throughout the series, has complained about having to wear the bear outfit all the time, as well as the fact that people can’t recognize her if she’s not dressed like that. In fact, that’s a running gag here. But as she walks around the festival looking like a cute and pretty 15-year-old girl, and more and more people stare at her, the reader starts to realize how much the bear suit is a shield she uses to avoid attention. Yes, she’s the most conspicuous thing ever, but she’s conspicuous as a bear. Yuna as a real girl is still “one step away from a NEET”.

Yuna and her group are ready for the second day of the festival, this time walking around it with Princess Teilia, who has been shooed away from her class’s booth for attracting TOO much attention. She realizes that Yuna has the same problem, so forces her to remove her bear suit and attend the festival that day as a regular girl. They watch plays, concerts, and sword dances. And they also watch a sexist knight captain trying to destroy the women attempting to be knights, which requires Yuna, bear suit or no, to fight back and teach him a lesson. After the festival ends and they all go back home, Yuna is asked by the King to take the mana crystal she got from slaying the Kraken to a desert oasis that desperately needs it, and so she moves south, fighting hornets and running into old friends along the way.

I joked on Twitter that you should take a shot every time Yuna deflects or denies when anyone calls her cute, or pretty, or is obviously staring at her in astonishment. The series rarely looks back at Yuna’s past in Japan, and I don’ really expect this to ever be anything but a character tic of sorts for her, but it really shows off how little socialization she has before meeting Fina. We’ve seen her being blase about her astonishing OP skills and deeds before, and calling acts of kindness and heroism “common sense”, but here we see how viscerally uncomfortable she is with being the center of attention, or having the idea that anyone could be attracted to her. Even when we get the “comedy” scene where she has to have her measurements taken for a swimsuit, which is filled with “lol I have small breasts and hate it” patter, there’s a sense that Yuna’s bear suit is a mask that she can use to hide from everything when she wears it. (I don’t think it’s quite at the level of “Yuna hates herself” per se. But Yuna doesn’t like herself all that much either.

Again, for the most part this series is “cute girls doing cute things”, and fans of that will be quite happy. But I do admire the jagged undercurrents in these waters, and though I don’t expect any emotional payoff, it serves to make me more interested than I might otherwise be.