When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace, Vol. 1

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By Kota Nozomi and 029. Released in Japan as “Inou Battle wa Nichijoukei no Nakade” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tristan K. Hill.

So, Andou is awful. I feel the need to get that out of the way straight off, because I’ve already been told that folks thought I would drop this book because of him. I get it, they’re not wrong. He’s cringeworthy. Yes, by the end of the book you realize he has an empathetic core and is thinking more than he lets on, but that does not stop you from having to read about him making speeches or creating nicknames or drawing dragon tattoos on his right arm. This is a series about how embarrassing you were as a teenager, and it is going to rub your face in it. (If you were not like this as a teen… let’s face it, you probably never finished the book, did you?) Throw in the fact that this is one of those “you’re licensing it NOW?!?!” series (the anime came out seven and a half years ago) and you have a really high bar to clear. That said, I did finish it.

The literature club consists of chuunibyou Andou (pardon me for avoiding his first name), wannabe writer Tomoyo, childhood friend and “normal girl” Hatoko, literal 10-year-old Chifuyu, and club president and BL fan Sayumi. Six months ago they all suddenly acquired incredibly cool superpowers… well, incredibly cool except for Andou, who can create black fire in his hand that doesn’t do anything. Andou is sure this means that they’ve been chosen to fight in an amazing series of light novel-style battles. But… six months later, all they do is go to club and use their powers for mild, meaningless things. Why on earth did they get them in the first place? Does it have anything to do with Tomoyo’s brother, a man who can actually out-chuuni Andou? And can they save the literature club from being shut down?

Not gonna lie, this series is mostly known for one scene from the anime, and I read it wanting to read that in prose form. Unfortunately, it’s not in this first volume. The weak parts of the book, apart from Andou, are the parts where it reminds you that it has a real plot it’s going to try to do. The real plot is boring and you don’t want it to happen. Not a good sign. That said, when the kids are sitting in the club shooting the shit, discussing tropes and cliches and baffling poor Hatoko, that’s when the books become fun. This is one of those “have your cake and eat it too” parodies that also tries to be the thing it’s parodying, but I like it more when it’s making fun of shonen manga, or Index, or any one of a dozen other series namechecked in this volume. I do also really like all the club members apart from Andou, though it never is explained why a 10-year-old is hanging around a high school club room.

If you watched the anime, like “chuuni” novels, or enjoy mocking cliches, you will enjoy this book. For others, can you put up with a man who has a good heart but who also makes you wish you were reading anything else?

My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex: “Why Can’t We Move On?”

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By Kyosuke Kamishiro and TakayaKi. Released in Japan as “Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

This may come as a shocking surprise to regular readers of this blog, but I am no longer a teenager. This can sometimes be difficult when you are reviewing books whose primary audience is either teens or those who were just teens a year or two ago. Things that make total sense to you when you are the same age as the main character tend to make you scratch your head or yell at the main character later in life. Fortunately, I think this series is designed so that even those the same age as the characters will be yelling at them. Two awkward teens who break up due to poor communication skills are forced to realize that they’re perfect for each other, but are too stubborn to admit it. What that means in practice is that, under a veneer of caustic sniping and bitter inner monologues, this is one of those “cute kids flirt” romance titles.

Mizuto, a bookish young man, and Yume, a nerdy and shy girl, become a couple and start to date in middle school. Sadly, due to the aforementioned lack of good communication, they also break up about a year later. They managed to keep the relationship a secret from their parents… which might be a bad thing, as now his dad has married her mom, and they’re family! For the sake of the parents (who are barely in this book, to be honest), the two try to put on a public face of getting along, but when alone they’re sarcastic, bitter and constantly sniping at each other. He has a tendency to default to “jerk”. She’s a bit of a mess. Despite this, both of them still do have the characteristics that made them attractive to each other. He’s really caring and kind of hot when he bothers to try. She’s grown up to be gorgeous and is making a big effort to be more outgoing. Dammit… this is terrible!

I will note that I was super relieved when I saw the POV switch to Yume after the first chapter, because this is the sort of story that absolutely would not work if it was told from only one side. The chapters alternate between Mizuto’s grumpy loner guy and Yume’s freaking out internally girl, and it helps to make it more understandable why things went south, and also how easy it would be to fix if they weren’t both really stubborn. Which they are, this is like seven volumes in Japan and has just had an anime announced, so resolution is not forthcoming. There was a rather annoying plot point about 3/4 of the way into the book, where Yume’s new friend in high school is implied to be a dangerous stalker sort, and wants to marry Mizuto so she can be around Yume. I was fine with the plot when reading it as I assumed this was total bullshit that said friend cooked up as a plan to get our leads closer together… then it turned out to be true. Bleah.

That said, overall this was pretty cute. If you like cute teenage romance with a side order of bitching at each other, this is probably one you should pick up.

High School DxD: Holy Behind the Gymnasium

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By Ichiei Ishibumi and Miyama-Zero. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

I think the author just enjoys suckering people in. For most of the sixth volume of High School DxD, the series is at its default level of horny, which is to say: high, but not beyond all human reason. Sure, there are cosplay battles to see who can turn Issei on the most. Sure, there’s the endless amounts of breast comparison shopping he seems to do as easily as breathing. And yes, I probably should have guessed what was going to happen when we got to the television interview and it didn’t show Issei at all. Still, no amount of preparation could have prepared me for: the theme song. As with the previous volume’s “I can talk to enemy breasts and get them to divulge secrets”, it goes above and beyond in making you wonder what the hell the author is thinking. I have to assume that the author thinks that all this is necessary as otherwise it’s a generic shonen battle manga. Which is a shame as the battles are absolutely fine.

The start of this novel is sparked by two things: Irina returns and transfers into the school, now a full-blown angel but seemingly exactly the same as she’s always been. The other is the upcoming sports festival, where Issei and Asia have to run the three-legged race together. This is difficult, as they’re overly conscious of each other’s bodies, and also because the demon who Asia healed at the start of the series is back, and he wants Asia for himself. The answer is a Rating Game, which is a bit of a surprise so soon after the last one. Unfortunately, that’s far from the only surprise, and our heroes end up fighting against a horde of demon mooks in order to save Asia from a hideous fate at the hands of a demon who turns out to be even worse than we thought – and we already hated him.

I will admit, much as this is Asia’s book, she is mostly a straight up damsel in distress here, though I did like her slapping Diodora for insulting Issei. Unfortunately, she’s still in ‘meek healer’ mode, so her role in this book is to get kidnapped and threatened with rape. This made me grumpy. Other than that, it’s a perfectly good book in regards to the standards of High School DxD, which bear no resemblance to other light novel standards. Issei gets to be cool a few times, and has started to think on his feet much better. The solution for getting Akeno to one-shot kill all the bad guys was hilarious. The theme song, jaw-dropping though it was, was also pretty funny, I will grant you. I have to hand it to High School DxD, it does not do anything in half measures. It is here to talk about tits and it will talk about them until it is blue in the face.

This is apparently the end of the second “arc” of the series, and does include several tantalizing setups for later events. Overall, it was decent. For a value of decent that is a High School DxD book.