My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World, Vol. 2

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By Tamamaru and Kinta. Released in Japan as “Kajiya de Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Linda Liu.

One thing that I’m not sure I say often enough here is that you don’t need a reason to like something. There are, of course, numerous reasons to NOT like something, but sometimes, let’s face it, you just vibe despite yourself. My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World is, on paper, something that hits a lot of the wrong buttons. Our hero has mad cheat skills. He constantly puts himself down at every opportunity, while everyone around insists he’s the best. He’s not just a blacksmith but a brilliant swordsman (which he will not admit). Last book he accumulated three women who like him, two of whom go so far as to move in with him. In this new book he meets a noble daughter (who moves in with him) and a cute elf. The women, or at least the ones who move in, are clearly in love with him, something he refuses to acknowledge. Oh, and it’s super long. This should be dire. Instead, it’s a great example of slow life.

There are two main plots in this volume. In the first, we find out why Eizo’s friend the gate guard suddenly vanished one day – he’s actually the third son of a noble family, and there’s a dispute over who takes over after the count and his eldest son die in mysterious circumstances. The 2nd son is from a mistress, so Marius is in line to take over, but second son does not like that at all. As part of all this, Diana, the daughter in the family, is sent to live with Eizo and company in hiding. That said, you know Eizo’s gonna get drawn into the throne war as well. After this, an elf named Lidy arrives with a broken mithril sword, which she asks Eizo to repair. This will be tricky, as the sword is also magical, so it can’t be reforged using normal means. Fortunately, it turns out that our hero has the ability to make magical swords too. Phew. Bullet dodged.

As with the first book, get ready for a lot of detailed description of forging swords, which, if removed from the book’s page count, would make this a normal sized light novel. That said, the forging is also what makes the slow life part happen, as for once this is a slow life book that really is slow life, rather than “I am trying to have a slow life but keep getting caught in life-threatening schemes”. And, let’s face it, looked at from the perspective of the women in the home watching Eizo smith, it’s seeing a handsome, kind, and sexy man show off his strong muscles and exquisite attention to detail. They are getting a full meal of eye candy every day. I will admit to being amused at the extra addition to the household, an wonder if this can be the light novel equivalent of the 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You. Well, probably not, Eizo will never try anything. The others might, though.

So yeah, does most things wrong, still quite good. Give it a shot.

Sabikui Bisco, Vol. 2

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By Shinji Cobkubo and K Akagishi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jake Humphrey.

Last time I had asked myself how the first volume, which was excellent but felt very much complete in one volume, would become a long-running series. The answer, at least judging from this second volume, is to do more of the same. More mushrooms, more relationships that end up in betrayal and then reverse betrayal, more of Bisco and Milo being as gay as possible, and more love interests who could also function as family who are there to reassure the macho Dengeki Bunko reader that it doesn’t have to be TOO gay if they don’t want. Fortunately for all concerned, there’s one other thing which is the same as last volume: it’s just as good. This is a rollicking action piece, with lots of violence, some death, and a lot of fun dialogue. Plus it gets a move on faster than the first volume. Of course, there’s also the problem that Bisco and Milo accidentally release the man who will become the book’s main villain, but let’s face it, he was gonna get out of there soon anyway.

Now that Bisco is both a wanted criminal and very famous, he not only has to watch out as he and Mlo travel the land, but he also has to deal with a score of two-bit hoodlums pretending to be him in order to shake down others. While dealing with one of these idiots, they end up headed towards the Six Towers of Izumo, where they hope to find an answer to Bisco’s immortality. What they do end up finding is the old man who they rescued from the earlier two-bit hoods has literally cut out Bisco’s stomach, because liver and lights turns out to be a lot more religious and magical in this particular city. Teaming up with Raskeni, a grim but determined doctor, as well as her apprentice, teenage Amli, they try to figure out how to stop Kelshinka, get Bisco’s stomach back, and also perhaps stop the entire city from turning into a tower of death and destruction.

The best part of the book is probably Amli, who is a bundle of sunshine and joy, but who also has a bit of a tragic core that comes out more and more as we get further into the book. She also fills the role that Pawoo played in the first book, which is to say she gets a massive crush on Bisco, though she’s not sure if she wants him as a big brother or as a romantic partner. That said, she has a ways to go to get to the level of Milo, whose love for Bisco, and vice versa, is becoming a literal religious experience. If you told me that this author read Reborn, Gintama, Kuroko’s Basketball, and no other Jump manga, I would not be the least bit surprised. Oh yes, and there are an awful lot of fights, mostly involving mushrooms, and an awful lot of death and gore, also mostly involving mushrooms. It can get very dark. But fear not, it’s Shonen Jump. Sort of.

If you wanted exactly what the first book did, only more of it, great news. This series does not disappoint.

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 5

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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.

This is the fist volume to take place post-anime (while a 2nd season was immediately announced, there has been no word about it ever since), and as such I imagine it has a few folks reading the series for the first time to try to see what happens next. That said… does Bofuri have an ongoing plot? We’re still entirely inside the game, with the most important real-life event in this volume being Kaede getting the flu. The plot of the books is basically “watch everyone slowly move to new levels and see what they do”. This volume has a weather-based level, with lots of clouds, lightning, and the like. If there is an ongoing plot that might affect future volumes, it’s Sally’s. She’s always taken the lead in gaming with Maple,. and has now found a game that Maple is not only intuitively better at but a LOT better at. Sally doesn’t want to play like Maple does… but she wants to be cool for Maple.

While this is not a “short story” volume per se, the book feels more scattered than usual, mostly as we’re having various groups team up with each other. Having faced off against Mii and Pain’s groups in the last event, there’s no similar guild war this time around. So Maple can team up with Mii for one day, getting to see more of her “real” self when she’s not putting up a front. She can also team up with Pain, who discovers, as he knew, that Maple can be a terrifying monstrosity, but also (as he didn’t know) that she can also be amazingly dense in equal measure. However, she *is* learning slowly how to game the “normal” way as well, and how to use new skills to bet suit her playset. Which is good, as the GMs are not making things any easier for her.

For those who go to Bofuri for the humor, there are definitely fun examples. Kasumi, the straight man samurai of the group for the most part, turns out to have a weakness for antiques, and on this level that mostly consists of getting quests by buying things at shops, she ends up spending FAR too much money. As for Maple, her defense – or more accurately her lack of everything other than defense – means that she’;s advancing far slower than anyone else in Maple Tree, and when she recovers from her flu she finds they all fought a boss without her. They’re pretty sure she can solo it, so she goes to do so… only to accidentally fight the LAST boss. Which she does of course beat, but it’s easily the most difficult fight we’ve seen her have since the first book, and it’s fun watching her throw everything at the enemy and seeing it not work.

Bofuri is fun and relaxing, and while it may not appeal to fans of the anime’s quicker comedic style, it’s a good read in and of itself. And good luck trying to show off for your girlfriend, Sally. At least there’s still Frederica if you can’t keep up.