Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel!, Vol. 1

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By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

For the most part, the “villainess” stories that we’ve seen a lot of lately have all been… well, villainesses. The genre began as a woman-driven creation, usually pairing the (former) villainess with various hot guys, because theoretically they live in an otome game. The male equivalent has not particularly shown up much. Visual novels meant for guys tend not to have a serious romantic rival for anyone. If for villainesses you think of sneering ladies covering their mouths with fans while laughing “OHOHOHOHOHO!”, then for villains in anime and manga you tend to think of a specific type. Short, fat, usually has a bowl cut. Son of a major noble, so can bully people pretty well, and usually will get a humiliating defeat at the hands of our heroes. That said, one of the more interesting things about this new series is that it really isn’t that. The titular Piggy Duke is actually the “Ensemble Darkhorse” of the show.

We don’t even find out how our hero died this time, but he’s been reincarnated as Slowe Denning, a duke’s son and the antagonist of the popular anime Shuya Marionette. Shuya is the hero. Slowe has spent most of his recent history destroying his reputation, to the point where he’s now despised by almost everyone around him. Of course, the reincarnated anime fan knows why: he’s trying to rig things so that he can confess to his retainer, a (secret) former princess who now lives as a commoner. That said, with his new memories of how the anime turned out for Slowe (badly, though the fans loved his stubbornness), our hero is NOT going to go down that path. He’s going to try to lose some weight. He’s going to improve his reputation. And he’s going to confess to the girl he likes. That said… easier said than done when he can’t even walk ten feet without three passersby calling him the Piggy Duke.

Not gonna lie, this book’s fat shaming is not great. Slowe’s appearance is belittled all the time, and while some of it is due to his porcine face and occasional snorts making him sound like an “orc”, most of it is mocking his weight. A good deal of the book sees him starting to work out to lose it, or searching for magical weight loss potions to help take the pounds off. But that said, I did enjoy this more than I expected. Slowe actually does sound much of the time like an anime fan would if their memories were now part of their favorite villain character. Also, unlike almost all villains of Slowe’s type, he actually has HUGE skills with magic… which, yes, means this is an OP hero story, sorry, did you expect something else? The magic system is classist (and described as such, to the point that when Slowe helps a commoner figure out how to use magic, it’s a big effing deal) but does allow for nice property-damaging mage battles. And the girls are cute.

So it’s not terrific, and I could do without the fat shaming embedded into the premise, but for the most part I found this book quite readable and the protagonist a fun guy. I’ll be picking up the next volume.

Outbreak Company, Vol. 18

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By Ichiro Sakaki and Yuugen. Released in Japan by Kodansha Light Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

(This review discusses the ending of the series, so spoilers abound.)

OK, I’ve calmed down now. When I first finished this volume, the final one in the Outbreak Company series (let’s leave Gaiden aside for the moment), I was a little upset. The book ended up going in a couple of unexpected directions that threw me for a loop, which the author seems to specialize in – Bluesteel Blasphemer did the same thing. Unlike Bluesteel Blasphemer, I was able to finish this series and do recommend it, though I’m tempted to tell people to simply skip the epilogue. In the end, this book is a political one, and who Shinichi chooses (which is pretty obvious by now anyway) takes a backseat to the hyperspace tunnels, the damage they’re doing to Japan, and the fact that closing them has become complicated by the presence of the US Navy and Marines, who are looking at a fantasy world with technology beyond anything they have and getting very sinister ideas.

The J-Novel Club Forums discuss the novels as they come out, and there was some discussion of how realistically the United States military was in this book, which seems to portray them most of the time as arrogant, cartoon bad guys. The folks who said “nope, no issues, it’s 100% realistic” in the comments were in fact ex-military, so there you go, then. They quickly decide to make the most of being in Eldasnt by taking over everything, threatening Shinichi repeatedly (as he and Theresa can control the Dragon’s Den) to give them power, and then going so far as to become “advisors” to a terrorist group that kidnaps Patralka and holds her hostage, meaning the series is ending much the same way it begun. That said, in these modern times, Americans being power-mad psychos is not something all too surprising, though the treatment of Theresa, who is murdered repeatedly to keep her down, is disturbing and creepy.

In the end, things are taken care of, and we end up where we’ve been for a couple of books now: are the main cast returning to Japan or staying in Eldant, and who is Shinichi in love with? The answer to Question 2 is obvious, as if the cover didn’t already tell you, but suffice to say getting him to say the words is like pulling teeth. As for their decision to stay or go, it’s not what I’d heard (showing to never trust spoilers on the Internet), but it fits the series pretty well, and leads to a nice, sweet, relatively happy ending… until you get to the epilogue, showing a future Japan is a dystopia where BL doujinshi is punishable by death. (It’s also a Japan that’s been essentially taken over by China with the US’s help, which… let’s not go there.) I suppose it’s meant to show that the struggle for otaku lifestyle will always go on no matter where or when, and also that our heroes will be there to be on the side of the otaku, but it really did not work for me. I’d have preferred the next-gen that the author rejected (as he says in the afterword).

That said, me liking certain things and really disliking other things is par for the course for Outbreak Company, a series that has always worn its heart on its sleeve, sometimes to a truly horrifying degree. I wish Shinichi and Myusel luck, and feel bad for Petralka, who (as the author admits) just wasn’t in a role that allowed her to do a lot.

I Refuse to Be Your Enemy!, Vol. 6

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By Kanata Satsuki and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Teki ni Narimasen!” by PASH! Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tara Quinn.

It’s the final volume of this series, and I am pleased that it’s ending pretty much the way that it began: with lots of strategy and battles. There is some romance here, as the cover art will no doubt clue you in on, but for the most part this is still a military fantasy first and a romance second. e get to see the remaining bad guys be really bad, but also (well, in one case) see how they got to be that way, and witness Kiara say that if Reggie had died she’d totally have done something very similar, which is… chilling, but very on brand. There’s a character reveal that’s well-handled and an actual surprise, which pleased me. And, of course, our heroes very nearly lose several times, as we are shown that just because you may know about the past in a game… or even via other means… does not mean that there is not still danger of death lurking everywhere. This ISN’T a game.

Having confessed to each other, all that’s left for Kiara and Reggie’s happy ending is… well, a lot, to be honest. Lord Patriciel is still around, as is Queen Marianne. And they both seem far more confident than they should, really. It would help to have a few more allies, which means getting the Thorn Princess completely on their side, but to do so they’ll have to discover who she really is. The enemy is brutal, enslaving people and using them as meat shields, then using the slaves and its own soldiers as defective spellcasters in order to kill the troops. And oh yes, they also have a monster, a huge flying beast that obeys the Queen’s command. Even when they’ve won and all that’s left is for the Queen to surrender, there’s still one nasty trick up her sleeve, which Kiara may have to pay for with her life.

As I mentioned earlier, I appreciated that it’s very hard to change fate, but not impossible. Every time Kiara or the Thorn Princess feel that they’ve managed to alter the past so that Reggie is not brutally killed, he ends up in a different kind of danger. It’s not easy trying to find the right butterfly to step on. Fortunately, they have the ability to plan and strategize on the fly, but it’s a touch-and-go thing, especially towards the end, where various characters compete to see who can sacrifice their life to save 3everyone else first. That said, it’s not a big spoiler to say that most everyone lives happily ever after, even some people that I was pretty sure were going to die. And, for those who DO like romance, there’s some nice stuff here – Reggie is very affectionate, and spends most of the book trying to get a very reserved Kiara to accept him touching her. A lot.

At six volumes, this turned out to be exactly the right length. If you like villainess stories done almost completely straight, with few cliches and a heaping helping of battle, this is a terrific series to read.