There’s No Way a Side Character Like Me Could Be Popular, Right?, Vol. 3

Leave a reply

By Sekaiichi and Tomari. Released in Japan as “Yujinchara no Ore ga Motemakuru Wakenaidaro?” by Overlap. Released in North America by Tentai Books. Translated by Alejandro de Vicente Suárez.

When the first novel in this series first got translated into English, the romcom was still very much a rarity in the market. When the second one was published, the genre was starting to be licensed here, if not yet seen. But it’s been a good 15 months since the 2nd volume came out over here, and since then we’ve had absolutely PILES of cute high school romantic comedies. Indeed, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! manages to hit a lot of the exact same plot points as There’s No Way a Side Character Like Me Could Be Popular, Right?, down to the character types. Unfortunately, that also means that I’m a lot less forgiving of said types when they hit on things I don’t like. And this one absolutely does that, as it adds a third romantic love interest to our “side character”, his teacher Makiri-sensei. Should be fine, should be fine, we know how well teacher-student romances go over here. Buckle up, folks.

After the events of the second book, Yuuji now has a fake girlfriend, Touka (who is genuinely in love with him but he doesn’t get it) and a rejected childhood friend Kana (whose love he DOES get, but he rejects her because of what’s going on with Touka). The two of them unfortunately spend the majority of the book sniping at each other in a classic romantic comedy “jealous girls fighting over their boy” way that irritates Yuuji’s friends almost as much as it does the reader. While this is going on, though, he makes a discovery about his teacher, Makiri-sensei. We already know that she’s much kinder than her seeming cold exterior – now we find that she’s an awful drunk, thjat’s she’s very upset about still being a virgin, and that her father is setting her up for an arranged marriage. It feels like a pulled a slot machine and got three lemons. But I really don’t want to make this lemonade.

The book does have some interesting moments, usually when it tries to push against its romcom cliches. Yuuji’s got the face of a thug, but also has had violent incidents in his past, and in this book we get to see his relationship with his father, which is… really, really uncomfortable and also far more interesting than anything else with his teacher. He and his dad are alike in far more ways than either of them are willing to admit, and seeing Yuuji snap and finally air his grievances – so to speak – in that flashback was chilling. It’s then followed up wtih his father also being a secret manga otaku who reads We Never Learn adn is therefore OK with his son banging his teacher, and I’m ready to hit my head against the table again.

I like the dynamic between the two leads in this series. Touka is fine here, and I can feel her frustration. But it was going to take a miracle to get me to like this plot, and the book didn’t even turn water into Sprite, much less wine. Skip this and see if the fourth book gets back to entertaining romcom stuff.

A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life, Vol. 2

Leave a reply

By Yuu Tanaka and Nardack. Released in Japan as “Deokure Tamer no Sono Higurashi” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Yuko C. Shimomoto.

It can often be very tempting to say “please see previous review” rather than trying to find 500+ new words about a series. Oh, there’s nothing particularly bad about this second volume. It continues to manage to make me want to keep reading it despite the fact that it is really just a gaming log of this guy building up his stats and choosing his bonuses. For 350 pages. The fact that I enjoy it is a big point in the author’s favor. And yet… there’s not really a lot to delve into here. Yuto is never really going to have major character development, as this is not that sort of book. He’s in an actual game, rather than trapped in a game or in a fantasy world that looks like a game, so there’s never any worry of bad things happening to him. Heck, it’s a G-rated game, so his two tamed monsters have a child by their magic intermingling, rather than for any more sordid reason. It’s not boring per se, but boring surrounds it like a cloud.

Yuto continues to chug along. He’s now hatched his monster egg, which produces a bear. No, not a normal, realistic bear – a teddy bear. Who Yuto promptly names Bear Bear, because that’s the kind of guy he is. He also meets a few other people, mostly young women (aside from his friendship with elf boy Sawyer, who is attractive and thus forces us to trot out the loathed “I’m straight, though” rejoinder) who assist him in running his farm, not dying from fighting ghosts, or just building him woodworking projects because his tamed animals are so KYUTE! Admittedly, he does still have a bit of negative attention. Not as bad as the first book – permabanning can send a message – but they’re not happy he always seems to be getting cool new things and has some hot babes hanging out with him. That said, he’s more concerned with tea and cookies.

It really does feel as you read this volume that the author is someone who wants to play a very specific kind of game, the one we are seeing in this book, but can’t quite find the one that has all the bells and whistles they want so has decided to just write it as a light novel. It is an ode to the sort of player who actually tries to do the useless quests everyone else avoids, or experiments with combining two completely disparate things into a recipe because why not? It also shows how rewarding this kind of thinking is – though only if you’re original about it, as people who are trying to do the exact same things that Yuto did are finding the game does not crank out the same cool rewards. I will admit I do also like the fact that Yuto is the opposite of a fighter. He’s saved by badass women from certain death twice in this book, and the book ends with a special event literally being created for him because he’s clearly not interested in the martial arts tournament. The devs have their eye on him. (Possibly in a disturbing way.)

Again, if you like Bofuri, you should give this a try. It really does make ‘a +3 boost to strength for 30 minutes’ come alive. (OK, no, it does not do that. But it tries.)

When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace, Vol. 1

Leave a reply

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?