Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs, Vol. 1

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By Mishima Yomu and Monda. Released in Japan as “Otomege Sekai wa Mobu ni Kibishii Sekai Desu” by GC Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Alyssa Orton-Niioka. Adapted by Chris Wolfgang.

I had a short period where I was caught up on light novels, so had a poll to see which series I’d never started I should give a chance. I picked three series that I never started because I thought they sounded dull… and this one, which I never started as I’d heard things about it. Naturally, you can guess what won the poll. The series has quite a few fans, and it has an anime just starting this spring. That said, having read the first volume, while I understand why it’s popular, I don’t regret my decision not to read it. Despite its title, this “game” our hero is trapped in is nothing like the otome games available to play in Japan and elsewhere – as the author freely admits in the Afterword. And that’s important, because this is not simply “gender-flipped villainess story” – this story HAS a villainess filling the otome game function. What this is is a more common light novel trope… a revenge fantasy.

I used the word “hero” earlier, but that was a mistake, frankly. Our protagonist is a young man, already kicked out of his family home for supposedly being gay (he was caught with his sister’s BL doujinshi that she planted), forced by his abusive sister to play to 100% an otome game that relies on battle mechanics so she can’t get all the pretty CG she wants just by using a walkthrough. He’s so tired after finishing this that he falls down his staircase and dies. Take a wild guess where he ends up. Now he’s in the otome game he hated playing, and what’s worse, it’s a game where the women have all the power and the men are second-class citizens. He’s determined to escape the fate of a 3rd son in a minor noble family – married off to an old widow and sent off to die in military battle – and he’s also determined to avoid the actual plot of the game, which takes place at the local Academy For Rich Jerks. He succeeds in one of these things.

The author says his goal was to write an otome-game style webnovel only for guys, and I suppose he’s succeeded in that regard… except for the fact that this otome game bears no resemblance to the real thing. And I don’t think it’s enough that its own cast thinks the same thing, wondering “why do we have this world where women have all the power?”. That said, the main reason I want to stop reading the books is Leon. To quote the New Yorker cartoon meme, Christ, what an asshole. He hates the game, he hates the girl who’s taken over the game away from the original protagonist and won over all the love interests (and there are hints that she and Leon are closer than they appear), and he really hates the love interests, causing the last half of the book to basically be a tournament game where he beats the shit out of them one by one. In a giant robot. Because it’s for guys, right?

The writing is actually decent enough if you like what the author is offering you. The two love interests are likeable, and I suspect will be very amenable to sharing Leon, because this also sounds like that kind of series. The translation is actually quite good. I can see why people enjoy it. That said: I do not want to spent another minute in this asshole’s head.

Slayers: Presages of Incarnation

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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.

One thing that I don’t think I’ve talked about in these reviews of very short, action filled Slayers light novels is the way that, if you aren’t a major character in the book, your life expec–

“We’ve done that.”

Really?

“Yes.”

Erm… OK, well, I can mention the way that, despite being very short books, these still manage to have over half their content filled with battle seq–

“We’ve covered that as well.”

Ah. Erm… passionfruit?

“We’ve done the passionfruit.”

Sigh. Once again, I want to note that these are good books. I enjoy them, I want to read more of them, but… what the hell is there to review? Maybe if I was reading the omnibuses, OK, but I–

“You’ve actually whined about this before as well.”

SHUT UP! Look, let’s just go to the recap summary, OK?

After the events of the last book, our heroes join up with Milgazia, the ancient dragon, and Memphys, the arrogant elf, to discuss the events of the last few books, and how they’re all pointing to one thing: another Incarnation War is coming. Then, as with many, many other books in this series, some demons show up, try to kill Lina, and blow up the inn she’s staying at, leaving her to take the blame. Because let’s face it, while the books are more serious than the anime, that’s only by a bit. What’s worse is that they immediately have to return to the city they just left. Remember when I said that things ended a bit too well? Well, I was right. Turns out there’s a new Demon along the lines of Xellos in town, and Xellos is Mr. Not-Appearing-In-This-Book so can’t help out. Can Lina and Gourry join forces with the rest of their allies and find a way to survive this?

I think I may have talked about THIS as well in past reviews, but the Slayers books ran concurrently in Japan with a series called Slayers Special, which featured the adventures of Lina before she met Gourry, which is to say with Naga the Serpent. These also got made into several anime. They are highly unlikely to be licensed over here, and seem far more episodic than the main series. I mention this because it was nice to see Lina actually remember Naga, even though her name is very deliberately not said. The reason she comes up is that Memphys’ attitude is very familiar, as is Lina’s contempt for it. Turns out that our arrogant elf is actually covering up some shyness, adn the one who told her to act like a cut-rate Naga the Serpent was… well, was Naga the Serpent. Honestly, the best joke here is that anyone would take Naga’s advice at all.

So we’ve got two books left in this second arc, and I assume they will tie very closely together. As for this one, it feels like a prologue more than anything else. And oh, look, I’ve hit 500 words. Bye.

The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes, Vol. 3

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By Bisu and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo wa Kyou mo Hata o Tatakioru” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tom Harris.

We’ve seen a lot of reincarnated as a villainess stories in the last few years, and one thing has become pretty clear: it’s much easier to be reincarnated as a duke’s daughter than as a princess. First of all, it’s easier in that there aren’t major political consequences in the game when said villainess is eventually shamed and exiled/killed. But secondly, there’s far more freedom to actually do things, such as not marry the future evil dude, or not go to the academy of bullying, etc. You can’t do this if you’re a reincarnated princess. Going anywhere means permission and a retinue. And sometimes you really do have to marry the dude to unite the kingdoms. This is why Rosemary is finding it a lot harder than she expected to prove her worth to the King. George goes off to look for the plague cure without her. She can disguise herself and sneak away, but even then she can’t take her crush because he is the Knight Captain of the Guard. Things are hard.

Thwarted in her attempts to go with George and Michael (who’s been avoiding her) to search for the medicine that can help them, she decides to disguise herself and board a ship to get where she needs to go. That said, first she has to figure out why there’s a sudden illness among the sailors that’s attributed to ghosts – if you guessed “here’s where she cures scurvy”, you’ve read your light novels before. Then she has to deal with the fact that she can’t take Leonhart with her, it has to be Klaus… who remains a pain in the ass and just a bit creepy. Speaking of which, she also meets Michael’s sister Bianca, who was a main character in Michael’s route and is the one where readers are upset there isn’t a yuri option. Sadly, she too really likes Rosemary more than is appropriate. And then they board the ship and things really get bad…

Fist of all, the book’s main flaw remains in place, which is not just all the characters seemingly obsessed with a 13-year-old girl, but the fact that Rosemary knows it’s creepy and so points it out to us as often as possible. I suppose it’s meta commentary, but you know, why not just have them not be creepers? The easy scurvy cure also made me roll my eyes a bit. That said, the second half of the book, once we actually board the ship, was excellent, showing Rosemary really suffering and panicking quite a few times, but always digging deep down into reserves of courage and managing to help save the day. Klaus also gets some much needed character development, as multiple people have told him that “just kill the enemy” is not a good way to protect his charge, but it’s only here when battling pirates that it manages to sink in, and he’s rewarded for that by almost losing his life.

And of course the book ends with a cliffhanger, where we find that letting the royal family 3wander around in disguise looking for the plot sometimes results in them finding it, and sometimes results in them being forcibly brought to it. Despite its flaws, this is good “villainess” stuff.