The Applause of Marielle Clarac

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By Haruka Momo and Maro. Released in Japan as “Marielle Clarac no Kassai” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Philip Reuben.

This is another one of those volumes where all I want to talk about is the last quarter of the book, but I will try to restrain myself. This is not to see the main storyline is not good or interesting, as it’s very good. As you can imagine with that title, the story revolves around the theater, as an acting troupe that Marielle and her husband go to see is suddenly interrupted by a threatening message… from Lutin! Or is it? This doesn’t seem like his style. We know Lutin is around because his master, Prince Liberto, is there to meet his fiancee Henrietta, one of the princesses of the kingdom. Everything seems great there… till Henrietta notices that Liberto always has a mask of “charming smile” going on, and begins to worry that she has no clue how he really things. Marielle needs to solve both these problems, and she does so with her usual talent of getting involved, accidentally stealing evidence, getting captured, and flirting with her husband.

Marielle is growing up in some ways, and I can’t really call her a scatterbrain anymore. Indeed, as we see near the end of the book, her ability to analyze and lay bare the emotional turmoil around romance is second to none. That said, to Simeon’s frustration, she’s always going to get involved in potentially lethal situations, because that’s just the sort of series that the two of them are in. It was amusing to see that, after going undercover, escaping, getting caught and interrogated by Lutin, and falling asleep in a cold room, she finally comes down with a bad cold, something she was proud of never having had before. (I thought at first it might be signs that she’s pregnant, but if that happens it’s not in this book.) She’s the very model of an amateur detective, and everyone has basically stopped trying to discourage her from this and instead they use her as sort of a guided missile of “trouble follows her” to get to the bottom of things.

The mystery is solved way before the end of the book, and we’re left with the last quarter, where everything is taken to another level. Henrietta is having a nervous breakdown over the fact that she can’t tell what her fiancee is thinking, and the solution is apparently to have her (and her allies, including Marielle and Julianne) locked in a tower with only one high window, which Liberto must scale to prove his love for her (and also to show that he can make faces other than “pleasant smile”). This works even better than planned, as Marielle’s plan is essentially to humiliate him until he snaps, and it works beautifully. This is topped by his true feelings towards his fiancee, which are entirely political and not romantic in nature… something she promptly accepts. It wasn’t that she worried he didn’t love her, it was that she worried she had no idea what he thought AT ALL. Now that he’s said what he thinks, a steady foundation can be built.

So all in all an excellent volume, and I don’t even mind that these books tend towards the lengthy. It’s worth it to spend more time in Marielle’s head.

The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 6

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By Tsunehiko Watanabe and Jyuu Ayakura. Released in Japan as “Risou no Himo Seikatsu” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT.

The idea of “You have to take a concubine for political reasons” has been around since the start of the series, but Zenjirou and Aura have been deftly avoiding it by essentially being in the “honeymoon” stage of their relationship. Now, however, she’s had a son and they’re trying for another child (trying an awful lot in this book, though as always there’s nothing explicit) and the murmurs are getting louder. Lots of factions are arranging to have their daughters be what is essentially Wife #2. That said, it is still something of a surprise when Princess Freya does the equivalent of a public proposal to him at her introductory event. Indeed, it’s a surprise to Freya’s group as well, particularly her bodyguard Skaji. They’d have been less surprised if they looked at future cover art for this series: The Ideal Sponger Life has 14 volumes out in Japan so far, and Freya features on more covers than Aura. She’s absolutely here to stay. That said, politics…

Negotiating Zenjirou’s emotional state is also an important part of this volume. We’ve seen how he is mostly a very kind, accepting person (indeed, the main reason Freya moves so quickly is that she realizes that if she becomes his concubine she’ll still have some power, as he’s not a sexist like most of this society) but that doesn’t mean that he’s happy with everything that’s happening. Taking another woman into his bed seriously bothers him (it doesn’t happen here, and it’s implied won’t for several books – negotiations, etc.) but he sees why it’s very politically advantageous for their nation. It’s a matter of sucking it up and dealing with it, unfortunately. Which is possibly why Aura basically decides the best way to pacify him for the moment is “lots of sex”. Still, at least he now has his goats, which means he can make CHEESE! And chocolate, more importantly.

The maids are also here at the end of the book, of course. Indeed, their presence is slowly starting to intersect with the main plot, as one of the older maids is married off to the middle management noble we saw in the previous book, and her two fellow maids are also called back home by their families to marry, meaning there’s a need for new trainees. Naturally, our three “wacky” maids are not being called home to marry just yet (and we are forcibly reminded that they are from noble families, something fairly easy to forget), but they do now have to act as teachers to the new girls – and it can be especially difficult given that Zenjirou is nothing like other guys that might need maids. There’s less comedy schtick here than usual, and it’s implied that the three maids are – slowly – growing up. I wonder how long they’ll be in the cast.

So with Freya added to the mix, I assume that we need to head back to fantasy Scandinavia soon, but Zenjirou has to learn more magic to do that without it taking years. And what of Bona, the other really obvious concubinal candidate? If nothing else, you know the next volume will have lots of extended discussion about it.

Also, the cover art is hilarious to me. “Sure, Aura’s got big tits, but check out THIS!” (twerks)

Spy Classroom: To My Dearest Grete

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By Takemachi and Tomari. Released in Japan as “Spy Kyoushitsu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Thrasher.

It’s always tricky writing the second volume of what was clearly meant to be a one-volume stand alone. There’s a bit of reshuffling the cards, a lot of “our work is not yet done”. More importantly, we have to find out about the rest of the cast. Spy Classroom 1 was terrific, but it really only gave insight into two of the girls, so we need to get into a few more heads. Here, aside from Lily (who is clearly the ‘main heroine’), we have Grete, who gets the bulk of the heavy lifting and is the planner of the group; Sybilla, who is the straightforward “when all you have is a hammer” type; and Sara, the meek animal lover. Note that none of these are the girl (girls?) on the cover, as she’s elsewhere during the contents of this book, something the author apologizes for. (Indeed, she’s also on the cover of Book 3, which seems excessive.) In any case, these three, plus Lily, get the important mission of helping Klaus take out a spy.

Klaus is not particularly happy about this, as he doesn’t think that any of the girls are ready to do major spy missions – indeed, Lily and Sybilla are poleaxed when they find out that they’re part of the team chosen. As for the mission, well, there’s an assassin going around killing off left-wing politicians. Nicknamed Corpse, he always makes it appear as though they jumped to their death. And next on his list is influential politician Uwe Appel. Grete, Lily and Sybilla arrive at his house pretending to be maids, while Klaus and Sara provide backup. Of course, there are a few tiny problems. Lily is a classic clumsy shoujo heroine, so asking her to be a maid is a reach. The man they’re protecting seems to be angry constantly and find everything wanting, including them. And Klaus really isn’t doing much except giving the occasional piece of advice. Is this really so straightforward?

Of course it’s not – as with the first book, there’s a lot of Christie-style twists that I will try not to spoil. Amusingly, the identity of the villain is not one of them – those are the easy clues left out for the reader to pounce on so that they miss the other stuff. But it’s quite well written (that said, as I’ve noted before,l I tend to be a sucker when I read mysteries, so YMMV). As for characterization, Grete and Sybilla get the bulk of it. We learn their tragic backstories (as does Uwe, who seems to be a lot more savvy than he lets on most of the time) and root for them, particularly Grete, who is not only dealing with her burgeoning love for Klaus but also androphobia (yes, both at the same time). This resolves in a way that made me smile, as the series reaffirms that it’s not gonna be romantic but is instead about family. Which these kids are.

I’m startled how fast I’ve taken to this series. We’re only two volumes in and I’m already putting it up there with my favorite LN series of all time. It’s just a great read, lots of thrilling action and emotional turmoil. And accidental poisoning. All the best light novels have that. In any case, the third book promises to focus on the remainder of the group, and I can’t wait.