86 –Eighty-Six–, Vol. 9: Valkyrie Has Landed

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By Asato Asato and Shirabii. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Roman Lempert.

There is an awful lot going on in this volume of 86, but we have to start by talking about Kurena, who pretty much owns this book. When we last saw her at the end of Book 8, she was in a very bad place, her screw-up having cost lives, and throughout this book we see her fragile psyche try to recover from it. She’s grasping for a renewed purpose, which for the most part in previous books has been “Shin”, but now that she’s finally acknowledged that he’s in love with Lena she needs something else. It could be the war – after all, getting back her mojo and becoming the best sniper of all the 86 is certainly something that would be an excellent goal for this book. But, as she realizes to her growing horror, having something war-related as a goal is not cutting it anymore. It’s not what the others are doing. They’re all trying to END the war, to find a future that does not involve constantly fighting the Legion. And I’m gonna be honest, that nearly breaks her.

Our core unit that we’ve known since the first book is now down a member, as Theo is forced to retire from military service, something that he tries to cope with over the course of the book. As for the rest of the group, they’re all headed to The Holy Theocracy of Noiryanaruse, a country whose religion and military needs have combined in a disturbing way, and whose general is an odd mix of high priestess and idol singer. Several countries are sending units to try to take care of the Noctiluca, the Legion’s main weapon from the previous book, which has settled in a ruined and ash-filled area of the Theocracy. The battle will be tricky. The ash turns out to be very hard to navigate in, the entire plan hinges on a sniper who’s having a crisis of faith, and, most importantly, when you combine several countries to try to achieve a task, they may not always be on the same page – or even in the same book.

As usual, the bulk of the back half of this book consists of a large battle, which I can’t really review except to say “hey, nice combat, 5 stars!”. So I’ll go back to 86’s core theme, which is that war is terrible, the idea of “constant war” is an easy one to slip into, and that to prevent that everyone needs SOMETHING that they can think of doing when this war finally ends – because otherwise it never will. Shin has Lena, Anju has Dustin, Raiden… will be getting a book to himself soon, I expect, and this entire book is about Kurena’s journey to find a purpose in life. As for Theo, while I doubt we’ve seen the last of him, I suspect we’re going to see him about as often as we do Annette (who does show up here to rally his morale). His future is not in battle, much to his dismay. As for the war itself, our heroes are faced with actually having to fight soldiers who are not Legion… and they hate it.

This feels like we’re headed towards a grand finale, but we’re not there yet. Nevertheless, this is a fine entry in a very fine series.

Prison Life Is Easy for a Villainess, Vol. 1

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By Hibiki Yamazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Konyaku Haki kara Hajimaru Akuyaku Reijou no Kangoku Slow Life” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

We’ve seen enough villainess stories by now that we’re used to the subgenres and deconstructions. We’ve seen ditzy villainesses, crafty villainesses, fleeing villainesses, and depressed villainesses. We’ve seen women who are aghast at how the relationships have changed around them, and other women who have no idea that they’ve become a beloved and cherished young lady. That said, for the most part even the most excessive of the villainess books has had a similar theme, which is “I am a villainess and I want to stop being one”. But what if our heroine is in fact a terrible person? What if she has not awoken to her past memories but simply been holding back her true self naturally? What if the world she lives in is, in fact, a cartoon? This novel is here to answer those questions. If you’ve been dying for some gaslighting, gatekeeping, and girlbossing, Rachel Ferguson is here for you. Even if she’s also behind bars.

Despite the villainess tag, there’s no past life from Japan or otome game hijinks here; it just describes our protagonist. Rachel is the duke’s daughter and the fiancee of the prince… however, he accuses her of bullying his new love, Margaret, and (as the King and Queen are conveniently away) tosses her into a cell. A… strangely full cell. What are all those packing crates doing there? Why is Rachel sitting on a chair eating canned food and sipping wine? Why does she have a COUCH? Most of all, why is she not sobbing and begging for mercy? Unfortunately for Prince Elliott, it turns out that Rachel’s somewhat detached, doll-like demeanor was hiding her true self… which everyone but him (and the other men Margaret is manipulating) seems to know about. And now that the beast has been let loose, Rachel is going to destroy him. Peacefully. While enjoying her prison life.

As noted, this book works best if you think of it as a cartoon, with Rachel as Bugs Bunny and Elliott as Yosemite Sam. The main reason for this is that if you try to find sympathy for any of these people, the story will collapse. The author wants the reader to be delighted at Rachel torturing people for her own amusement. Fortunately, for the most part, I am. Rachel is a bitchy delight. Elliott is the perfect dumb clown villain the book needs (it would not work with anyone smart of likeable). Oddly, Margaret, the commoner-turned-baroness’ daughter who started all this, ends up coming off as oddly cute, possibly as she’s clearly meant to be an innocent teenage brat rather than a scheming vixen. The book expands a lot on the original webnovel, and the author freely admits in the afterword that when you have a scene that doesn’t star Rachel in prison, it’s new to the light novel. These scenes don’t work quite as well, but they’re also fine.

If the idea of a woman casually destroying her idiotic fiancee over the course of 240 pages makes you go “hrm, not sure”, I’d avoid this book. If, like me, it makes you say “OH GOD, YES PLEASE”, then this will delight you. Also, the next volume is the last, so Rachel won’t wear out her welcome.

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 5

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By Zappon and Yasumo. Released in Japan as “Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasaretanode, Henkyou de Slow Life Surukoto ni Shimashita” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

Sometimes you just can’t balance a book so that the coolest, most exciting stuff happens at the climax. Oh sure, you do your best. There’s an insurmountable monster that has never been killed before, that can easily take on the magic of your two strongest characters. Good stuff, everyone has to work together to achieve victory, lots of near death experiences, etc. But then the readers get to the book and no one is talking about that. They’re all saying “Did you see the part where the tiny spider rides to the rescue on a horse? Because that is a thing that happened.” I’m not even sure how you could top that in future books. The victim being saved is even a former bad guy, and so there’s a “we’re friends now, bond between brothers” scene. Again, one of the characters in that scene is a small spider. Mr. Crawly Wawly is the real hero here.

As you can see by the cover, this book reunited Red and Rit with Yarandrala, the high elf who helped the hero’s party for a time and also had some romantic ship tease, though she is quite accepting of their relationship. In fact, she’s there to invite both of them, as well as Ruti, to come live with her in the elf kingdom… because humans will betray your trust. Yeah, she’s still not over the whole “banished from the hero’s party” thing. As for Red, he wants to get the perfect gem for Rit’s engagement ring, but that involves a long journey to the land of giants, which may not even work out. Still, it’ll be fine. Rit is with him. And Ruti. Oh, and his dwarf friend. And the former mayor of the city, who happens to be a mage. And then Yarandrala shows up with Tisse, Godwin, and Mr. Crawly Wawly. This party is even bigger than the Hero’s Party!

Despite the action sequences, this book is trying its best to be a bit more slow life than the previous one. Ruti is still trying to search for a purpose in life (yay!) and also wants to become lovers with her brother (boo). Fortunately, Red has enough common sense that I’m sure this will go nowhere. Red and Rit are by now sickening everyone they come across with their flirting, even if they’re unaware of it. There’s even time for a visit to a natural hot spring, and the whole book ends with a citywide festival. That said, there are hints that we’re starting to set up for a second arc, as the epilogue has assassins in town, and we also get a long prologue reminding us of the large number of other kingdoms that are also trying to defeat the demon lord. Ruti may be adventuring only when she wants to for now, but can she keep that up?

Overall, good book, and those who watched the anime can start here. Long live Mr. Crawly Wawly.