Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 1

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By Reia and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Koushaku Reijou no Tashinami” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Alexander Keller-Nelson.

Seven Seas has been circling back a bit now that light novels actually sell and has picked up a few of the books they chose to only pick up the manga for earlier. The one that interested me most is this title, whose manga I had reviewed the first volume of in 2018. Since it’s come out, we’ve seen a boom in “villainess” works, mostly helped along by My Next Life As a Villainess but with a bit of help from this series as well. Unfortunately, the novel coming out now does sort of give the reader the feeling that they’ve read this all before, even though it was one of the first to pull off this plot. That said, the isekai aspect of it is barely touched on, and it’s clear that it’s more an excuse for the author to write political intrigue and worldbuilding. To be fair to the author, they are very good at that. As is Iris, though she’s helped along by a built-in support system.

An unnamed young woman, after being hit by a car in Japan, wakes up inside an otome game she enjoyed playing. Who she was is unimportant, because unlike other villainess books in this genre, Iris Armelia is still fully in charge here. Unfortunately, she’s about to get thrown out of school after bullying the “heroine”, and then exiled to a nunnery. Iris, whose influx of isekai memories has caused her jealous heart to come to its senses, is having none of that. She goes to negotiate with her father and, after proving that she’s no longer a lovestruck young lady, he puts her in charge of their local fiefdom. And it needs someone like her in charge – the economy is struggling, there’s a huge gap between rich and poor, and even basic needs such as medicine are hard to come by. Can a former villainess manage to turn things around? And introduce chocolate to the masses?

The biggest fault here is the same as I mentioned in my review of the manga – for a villainess, Iris certainly seems to have everyone on her side already. Her behavior towards Yuri is explained away by iris (and, indeed, the narrative) as basically a temporary lapse of reason, as for the most part she’s been a sensible and kind young noble, whose ENTIRE servant group comes from orphans she rescued from dying in the gutter. (Is this where all the other books get it from?) She has a capable butler, a doting and incredibly strong grandfather, and her savvy mother, who is such fun to read about you wish that she’d get a multi-volume prequel written about her past by the same author. (Good news on that front, though it’s not licensed here.) And of course there’s Dean, whose secret identity is not so secret to anybody but Iris, but that’s fine – he’s there to save her from literally working herself to death, and also setting himself up as the one non-problematic love interest in her life. Villainess? She’s loaded with allies, and did not even need to fall and whack her head to get them.

I definitely think this is a must for fans of the manga. That said, I suspect fans of “I’m in charge of a country and must reform the nobility” books, such as Realist Hero, might get more out of this than the standard Villainess reader. I’m definitely picking up more, though.

The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy, Vol. 3

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By Yu Shimizu and Asagi Tosaka. Released in Japan as “Seiken Gakuin no Maken Tsukai” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Roman Lampert.

It’s always the same, isn’t it? You get a thousand-year-old powerful being with a desire to take over the world resurrected, and all of a sudden the bus arrives with ten more. Still, it keeps you busy. this series continues to feel like someone wrote a Shonen Jump manga and, instead of getting it published in Jump, decided to novelize it. Well, OK, this would fit Shonen Magazine better than Jump, especially given the large number of kickass women who like to take baths with our hero. (It’s OK, he’s 10! Right? It is somewhat odd to see the “she looks 8 years old but she’s really 600” cliche used to justify underage fanservice seen in the opposite direction… again, also to help with fanservice.) Fortunately, aside from said bath scenes, this third volume is much like the first two. It will never be anyone’s favorite, but I’m probably going to be reading the next book in the series. And it is starting to show off its plot, though that relies on Leonis being dim.

We’re briefly back in actual classes at the start of the book, as Riselia and Leonis are doing team battles against a top-standing rival. This mostly serves to show the school that Riselia is not “that girl with no holy Sword” anymore, and she can kick ass and take names. She’s also a vampire queen, but that’s still pretty much a secret. The main plot, however, starts when the Third Assault Garden, Riselia’s birthplace and last seen being totally destroyed by monsters, has now floated back into vision… and there’s a distress signal. As such, our team is sent out to see what’s happened. Will Riselia be OK with digging up her past? Who’s behind the distress signal? Can we really work an elf AND an evil priest into the same book and not smack our foreheads? And gosh, who is Roselia reincarnated as, anyway? It’s a mystery…

Again, this is a good book. The girls are likeable and also take on a majority of the combat. The combat scenes are well done, and the villains are also good at being villains. There are some things I was annoyed by. After a second book where a confrontation I was waiting for didn’t happen, the same thing happens here, as Riselia is definitely set up to have a big showdown… that does not actually occur. Instead, she grabs an ancient book. Secondly, it’s gone from amusing to vexing to really really annoying that Leonis is unable to understand, as everyone else who sees her manages to do, including anyone who might see their two names side by side, that Riselia is Roselia’s reincarnation. One of the villains literally dies of happiness on seeing this, but Leonis remains clinically thick about it. As a running gag, it drives me nuts, especially as I expect it’s only going to be drawn out more. (It has been pointed out to be the two don’t look alike, and OK, I can kind of accept that.)

Still, as with previous volumes, this was good enough to warrant my reading more. If you want a great light novel, look elsewhere. If you want a book for an afternoon’s read on the beach, this would be fine.

Durarara!!SH, Vol. 1

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By Ryohgo Narita and Suzuhito Yasuda. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

It’s been a year and a half since the final volume of Durarara!! dropped in English, and coincidentally that’s also how much time has passed between that book and this sequel. That said, it does not really feel that all THAT much has changed. Some folks have left the city for various reasons, some others have graduated, and we have three new “main characters” to take the place of Mikado, Masaomi and Anri. Of course, “main character” in a Narita work is always a fluid title, and one could argue that this book stars Ikebukuro, in which case nothing has changed. That said, it’s definitely more story than can fit into this book, and the author apologizes for making this a multi-parter right off the bat. There’s a lot of stuff going on. A young man treated as a monster comes to the city to learn how to be human. Another young man is trying his best to be the next Izaya. And a young woman is searching for her missing sisters, both supposedly done away with … by the Headless Rider.

The first three books in the DRRR!! series proper each focused on one of the three high school students, and there’s a sign this sequel may do the same, as Yahiro is definitely the protagonist of this particular book. A young man from Akiba who has spent his life getting attacked and desperately fighting back, to the point where most people consider him to be a complete monster. He hears about Ikebukuro, a place which not only has the Headless Rider but also Shizuo (whose backstory is very similar to Yahiro’s, deliberately so) and decides to go to high school in Tokyo. But finding the Headless Rider is not recommended given the string of disappearances involved with everyone who looks for her. As for Shizuo, well, Yahiro has spent his entire life accidentally beating the crap out of people, so there may be no avoiding it. But who’s gonna win?

As noted, a lot of the “main cast” of the earlier series isn’t here or only shows up later. Shinra and Celty are on a long vacation, Izaya is still AWOL (though he does get a cameo, setting things in motion towards chaos as always), Kadota, Erika and Walker are only mentioned, etc. That said, the new characters blend seamlessly into the cast herd, and there’s so many minor characters in this series that it doesn’t feel like there’s a gaping hole missing. Yahiro is highly likeable in just the sort of way that Mikado never quite managed to be, and Kuon and Himeka also look to have promising, if twisted, stories in the future. It’s clear the city has been in stasis since Izaya left. We see Akane has grown older and is in middle school now, but Shizuo and Tom are still doing the same old thing, as is Simon, as are the Orihara twins and Aoba (he’s still not dating them, mostly as he’s just not into Mairu). Peace is good, but makes for dull storylines. In that sense, I’m grateful to Izaya for siccing Yahiro on the place.

This is a typical DRRR!! multi-parter, in that the cliffhanger ending is fairly mild, but also definitely makes you want to read more. Good news! There are three more books in the series to date. And the next one should be out soon. DRRR!! fans will definitely want to pick this up: it’s like welcoming an old friend back into your life (and then having them destroy your house again).