Walking My Second Path in Life, Vol. 3

Leave a reply

By Otaku de Neet and Kurodeko. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Futatsume no Jinsei wo Aruku!” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andrew Schubauer.

Frequently we find that we, as readers, do not want what the author, as a writer, is writing. This is especially true as the series goes on. Any glance at AO3 fanfiction will see a graveyard of incredibly popular fanfics that got abandoned because the author got very angry at the source material. As such, I should not be annoyed that a romance novel turned out to end with a romance novel ending. But I am, a bit. It doesn’t help that even the author kind of realizes that this is the wrong move, with everyone second guessing the big reveal and wondering if it might have been better just to let Heath stay a squire after all. Oh yes, and there’s the fact that this book came out four years after the others and with a different publisher. We should probably be grateful we got anything at all, but what we got is… well, somewhat less than satisfying.

For those who may have forgotten what’s been happening, Heath is the disguised Princess Fie, training as a squire and hanging out with her buddies. There’s fighting! There’s circuses! But then, right as she is jumping through a hoop of REAL FIRE in an effort to create a circus of their own, the kingdom’s chancellor happens to be walking by… and recognizes her. That’s it, she’s toast. That said, at least she’s not exiled to the cottage of starvation any more, and everyone lines up to apologize to her, from the King to her sister (yes, we finally meet her sister). Unfortunately, there’s a slight problem, which is that Fie has been dating Queen, and now she can’t. This will require strategy, as well as a long think to try to figure out if she actually is in love.

This reminded me a bit of Bloom Into You as well, as we get a “will they make a character who doesn’t really get love or romance asexual?…no, they won’t” sort of vibe to it. That said, this mostly feels like a book trying to do too much. We get separate subplots explaining Fie’s sister (who is in love with a Prince from a different kingdom) and King Roy (who is trying to be a good king but his desire to completely avoid women has led to tremendous problems. But, again, the main issue is that this is the story of a woman who empowers herself and goes out to create her own life and career… and in the end finds that she can’t actually do that, so resolves to become a wife and mother. Queen gets to be a knight, though. It’s not that badly written, and Fie is still a great character to read about, but it feels like we made the wrong choice and got the bittersweet ending in a visual novel.

Perhaps this will inspire someone to write a fanfic where Heath isn’t caught and becomes a knight? Mmmmmm… probably not. But, again, authors should not call attention to the bad choices they’ve made by having other characters saying “maybe this was a bad choice”.

Slayers: The Demon Slayers!

Leave a reply

By Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis.

And so, we come at last to the end of the Slayers novels. Well, not really. This volume came out in May 2000, and after 18 years, a new volume appeared in 2018, and another the year after that. But this book has a feel of “final” to it nevertheless, wrapping up the plot points from the second arc, bringing back a few familiar faces, and even throwing in a hint of romance that doesn’t really go anywhere (which is a step up from the series’ usual no romance at all). It has the usual strengths of the series – the fights are snappy and well-paced, Lina’s narration is fun – and the usual weaknesses – emotional depth from this author feels like he’s reading aloud from a piece of paper. Actually, the most interesting part may be one of the familiar faces. Slayers rarely goes back to look at its survivors, so seeing Rubia again was something of a surprise. Even if it feels like she’s just there to contrast with someone else. Which is true.

Lina and Gourry are finding that demons are popping up more and more often, and their attack patterns are very weird. Indeed, one of the demons seems to be … stopping the other demons from killing the two of them? Then Lina discovers that there’s a doppelganger of herself walking around, and all signs point to (for the third time) the doomed city of Sairaag as being the place to go. They’re helped here by… no, not Amelia and Zelgadis, they’re still absent, but Xellos does show up, and he is his usual self. Milgazia and Mephy are there as well. But the final battle between Lina, Gourry, and whatever it is that’s causing all this will have to be a lone one… if only as they’ve been transported to another dimension!

If you’ve been reading these books, the identity of the villain should not surprise you, and some decent effort is made to remind you of the hints from previous volumes. That said… this is a book which ends with an assisted suicide, with Lina seemingly devastated by having to be the one to do it, but again, it feels very emotionally weak. Rubia, as I noted above, was a surprise, but she’s meant to be there to show what happens when you’re able to let go and move on… even if the answer is “I’m still sad and there’s no one in my life, but I have a greenhouse now”. Possibly the biggest surprise in the book is at the end, where Gourry says he wants to go and meet Lina’s family, which is very much the equivalent of a proposal in this world. That said, it has to be undercut with him talking about wanting to taste the grapes her town is famous for, and sad trombone noises ensue.

Slayers is a series that is very much of the 1990s, and judging it by 2020 standards can seem harsh at times. It’s a classic 90s series in that it was exciting and funny and also made for a much better anime, when the emotional heft could be fleshed out and left to other writers. I wonder what the newer books feel like, with 18 years’ more experience between them? Perhaps we’ll see one day.

The Princess’ Smile: The Body-Double Bride Searches for Happiness with the Reclusive Prince

Leave a reply

By Yuuri Seo and m/g. Released in Japan as “Hidenka no Bishou – Migawari Hanayome wa, Hikikomori Denka to Shiawase ni Kurashitai” by M Novels f. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jenny Murphy.

I’ve said before that I don’t mind cliches, or books which start with the same things happening, but I will admit that I have my limits, and The Princess’ Smile was pushing them as we got about 3/5 of the way through the book. The main issue is that every major plot point plays out in the most predictable way possible. The actual princess turns out to be a terrible person, check. Schlub of an ex-boyfriend who doesn’t speak up, check. New husband is reclusive, truculent, and clearly hiding a secret, check. The secret is immediately obvious to the reader because we looked at the cover art, check. It can be a bit frustrating. Fortunately, once our heroine is nearly poisoned, things really start to pick up, and the last part of the book – with one exception – is a lot of fun to read. But getting there is a bit of a hike.

Sara is a servant for Princess Hermine, having been taken in after the death of her parents in a carriage accident. The two of them look very similar – you could almost get them confused! Then one day the King explains that Sara is going to swap places with the Princess and go get married to a prince from another country… one that recently won a war between the two nations. Sara is a bit upset about this. Then she discovers that Princess Hermine has already met her boyfriend and slept with her boyfriend. Several times. That, plus the fact that you can’t really refuse the king, means Sara is off to nearby Ferrier, there to meet her new husband. Sadly, her new husband wants nothing to do with her. And also has a dark secret.

…which is that he’s a werewolf. Sorry, but.. LOOK AT THE COVER! So it’s in that genre of books. That said, he softens up into a shy but nice young man pretty quickly, and Sara is a good protagonist. Seeing the two of them slowly grow closer if nice, even if it does not tick any boxes that have not been ticked before. Then once the rest of the plot kicks in things get better. I was pleased to see a Queen Mother who turned out not to be secretly evil, and the scenes showing the final battle with Salielles, Sara’s home country, do not hold back in showing the bloody violence of war. That said… while “selfish princess” is a well-worm trope, at the very end of the book Princess Hermine leaps off a cliff and straight into “unrealistically deranged princess”. Sara’s jaw drops and so did mine. It was so bad my suspension of disbelief was utterly broken.

That said, overall this wasn’t too bad. If you enjoy werewolf romance or women who resolve to take their life into their own hands after spending most of it being manipulated, you may appreciate this. It’s also complete in one volume.