Repeated Vice: I Refuse to Be Important Enough to Die, Vol. 3

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By Kuroakawa Hitsugi and Kushiro Kuki. Released in Japan as “Repeat Vice: Akuyaku Kizoku wa Shinitakunai node Shitennou ni Naru no wo Yamemashita” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by piyo.

I do enjoy this series, but it seems every book has something there to tick me off specifically. Last time it was the rape victim recovering by basically being told “get over yourself”. The issue with this book is not one unique to this series alone… in fact it’s in a large number of light novels… but it’s made more annoying because Lofus is in a constant state of rage, and thus it’s handled even worse. This series focuses on a noble kid with lots of power trying to escape his fate. He has met a few commoners, and he does not like them at all. “Know your place” is literally said at one point. And lest we think it’s just Lofus, the love interest from the first book is told that if she wants to get anywhere with Lofus, she’s got to be a noble, and perform great deeds to get there. I get that this genre invites this sort of thing, but don’t make it sound like a goal.

Picking up from where we left off at the end of the last book, Warm has been arrested for trying to save his father, who was arrested for pointing out the corruption of the corrupt but vital to the nobles merchant. Oh yes, and the captain of the sky pirates we met last time? Also arrested. So Lofus has to go rescue everyone, despite the fact that you sense he’d rather chew glass. He’s being egged on by Warm’s little sister, who is a cutie pie; by the mysterious white-haired girl from last time, who remains mysterious and white haired till suddenly she isn’t; and by the rest of the pirates, particularly Lilka, who has started acting very weird… and not in the “I am madly in love with Lofus” way that she was before. With all this going on, will Lofus still find the free time to do what he does best, be an asshole?

No fear there. I’m going to skip the flashy battles that are about half the book, because we know already I don’t care about those. There were some very effective scenes in this book. Most of Lilka’s subplot plays out here. As it turned out, she was indeed playing dumb in the second book, and is in a similar situation to Lofus. But while he’s a “I was reincarnated into this game” sort, she’s the “I am redoing my past life” sort. As such, a lot of her “I’m absolutely smitten with you” bullshit is a false front… though you get the sense not all of it is. I also likes the scenes with Lofus and Warm once he got over his annoying “why are you so weak I kill you” routine. Sometimes keeping an animal alive when they’re hurting is more painful than letting them go, and that’s a lesson Warm needs to learn. It’s done very well.

So will Lofus and his merry band really manage to cure Iz? Or will they get drawn into some other plot instead? If Iz dies, does she reincarnated into the Bofuri LNs? For fans of “villain” novels who like their villain extra pissed off.

The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 16

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By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Compared to the last volume, this one feels a lot more laid back and relaxed. Of course, that’s likely only because the Emperor isn’t in it. There’s still a lot going on. We’re in the middle of the Smallpox arc, after all. It’s deadly, it’s horribly, and a cure is still very elusive, though Maomao moves things along by enlisting the help of Kokuyou, the smiling wandering doctor who has facial scarring but also a heap of experience. Also, a noble family asks Maomao about a cursed jar, and that unearths a heaping helping of family… drama seems the wrong word. Family horror. Fortunately, the worst is avoided, at least for the victim. And for Jinshi, who every volume seems to have to try to finagle his way out of something that has as its result “and then he can never be with Maomao again”. Still, at least he knows Maomao does kinda like him, in her own “I try not to care unless I am literally at the end of my rope” way. Other couples need more help.

I’ve talked before about how I quite like Yao and En’en, Maomao’s kinda sorta friends and medical partners. Maomao does as well, but she also finds them exasperating. Fandom has a bit of a hate on for Yao, who is given several good canonical reasons to be very immature and then actually *is*! Gasp! (It’s totally because of that, and not because she’s fallen for the fandom’s chief hottie who isn’t Jinshi.) But even I admit she needs a talking to. More importantly, she needs to have En’en removed from her hip. En’en being gay for Yao has been quietly dialed back in the last few volumes, with it more being presented as a co-dependent big sis/mom thing, but it’s certainly the case that a Yao who has En’en doing everything for her is not going to get anywhere with either Lahan *or* her family. Which Yao understands. (En’en also does, but she’s in denial.) Good volume for them.

And then there’s our favorite couple who really, really really need to fuck but unfortunately autocorrect has ruined everything and all they do is duck. Lishu has shown up so infrequently since Book 6 that any appearance of her is welcome, but she and Basen are still at the “gosh, isn’t the weather nice” stage of things, and everybody else around them, particularly Maamei and Chue, are shouting “JUST BANG ALREADY!”. It’s pretty clear that the Emperor wouldn’t object to this. It’s also pretty clear that Basen has done more than enough to merit it, especially near the end of this book, where he once again saves Jinshi at the possible cost of his own life. (It’s fine, he can get rid of smallpox by pullups somehow.) The question is, did this current crisis and Basen’s quarantine afterwards actually get Lishu to leave the duck village? Can we actually get another fricking couple?

Maybe! Book 17? Book 17. Whenever that is. Not out in Japan. In any case, this book has Maomao in it, so it’s essential.

The Misdeeds of an Extremely Arrogant Villain Aristocrat, Vol. 3

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By Yukiha Kuroyuki and Uodenim. Released in Japan as “Kiwamete Gouman Taru Akuyaku Kizoku no Shogyou” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Ben Trethewey. Adapted by Kylee Yasin.

So the bad news is that this is still the last volume published for the moment. The good news is that, after a two-year break, the author has recently started writing more of the webnovel, so that may eventually change. Certainly absolutely nothing is resolved by the end of this book, so more of it would be welcome. As for the book itself, it continues to do what it wants to. If you like male power fantasies and are not too picky, it fills that need. Luke is a grumpy asshole who can’t help but get involved in his friend’s problems and have every girl in the series (except one, mercifully, this hasn’t turned into a cheating series yet) fall for him. What’s worse, his father has big plans for him… plans, I suspect, that Luke will very much not approve of. And there’s fanservice galore, of course. It also manages to, somehow, avoid being completely misogynist despite every love interest turning into a submissive masochist when they see Luke.

Note I said “completely” – the art still exists, and is pretty blatantly “Hope you like big tits”. In any case, after taming the ice dragon, Luke has to figure out what to do with… her? Yes, her, and while she stays in two forms in this book – big powerful scary dragon and cute fun-sized dragon – I suspect we’ll get a hot dragon woman soon enough. In a normal world, he’d be invited to the palace to be honored for this amazing feat. This is not a normal world, and his dad is pretty much openly trying to bring down the royal family by being much better at running a country than they are. As such, there’s a party being held where the second prince might drop by if he feels like it. (He does, though he’s not happy with what he finds.) But the author says this is Abel’s book, and… I guess? Abel definitely gets stronger, and suffers a lot, but it’s hard to pass someone like Luke.

Because I suspect readers of this series will want to know, yes, there’s an (offscreen) sex scene here, and Mia is now Luke’s lover as well as Alice. More to the point, it’s not just Abel – all of Luke’s lovers and potential lovers are desperate to remain useful to him, knowing he’s the sort to abandon anyone who isn’t, and so they push themselves desperately to become ludicrously powerful. Unfortunately, comparing themselves to Luke just leads to depression, as Mia finds out – she even gets a pep talk from Luke’s dad, who has to point out that she already can use multiple magic elements. Their desperation and co-dependency would be a bit sad and tragic if this series were not comedic and upbeat about it. The only despair in the book comes from Abel when he’s trying to rescue Lily, and even then most of this is just Abel hating himself, rather than actual danger. Luke, the most powerful man in the country, is usually depressed, and everyone around him seems to be getting that trait too.

We end in another country, with elf terrorists, and multiple invasions. Hopefully I remember all this by the time the fourth book comes out!