As the Villainess, I Reject These Happy-Bad Endings!

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By Iota AIUE and Kuroyuki. Released in Japan as “Watashi, Tensei Akuyaku Reijōnanode, Meribaendo wa Soshi sa Sete Itadakimasu! !” by Berry’s Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Molly Lee.

By now we are so familiar with the Reincarnated As a Villainess genre that we start to look for differences or alternate takes that make this stand out from the pack. On that score, Happy-Bad Endings (as I’m going to call it) doesn’t hold up so well. This is almost textbook reincarnated villainess, down to the letter. Actually, it’s a good sign that, as I was reading along, I found myself thinking “I want to read the original VN the heroine was playing, it sounds ludicrously over the top. Iris as a heroine is not cheerful yet dim like Katarina, but she does possess a bit of the same “I cannot see this person as anything other than their character from the game”, which certainly frustrates her love interest, the prince. That said, I found this a very good book to read, mostly as it does the genre very well, and it has some individual scenes that are stellar set-pieces.

One morning, Iris du Chevalier wakes up from a horrible nightmare of the world burning to discover… she’s not in Japan playing her favorite otome, game, she’s in the game. And Iris is the villainess. And the game is notorious for even its happy endings being dark and twisted. Her twin brother chains up the love interest and brands her, the prince imprisons her in a tower forever, and the mage discovers that they’re really half-siblings and destroys the world. And, in ALL the endings, good or bad, Iris suffers. Death is not actually the worst thing. Now she has to a) make the three love interests less twisted, b) deal with the soilpox scars on her arm that cause her to be shunned, c) deal with going to the academy despite having literally zero magic, and d) avoid horrible fates. It’s harder than you think!

As I said, the plot itself is pretty much otome villainess 101, but it’s handled well. Iris searching for a way to beat soilpox (this world’s smallpox) is a compelling plot that has nothing to do with the game’s events. The world itself has several elements that weren’t present in the game at all, and finding out about them both gives Iris a huge leg up and also confuses the hell out of her. The heroine, Camille, is sweet as pie but also invites trouble – as you’d expect of an otome heroine. My favorite scene is near the end, where the cast approaches what, to Iris, is the final fate of the most dreaded of her bad ends. She’s long since made sure that this end is not going to happen, but it doesn’t matter – the fact that she is Iris, in the game world, and at THIS place causes her to have a tremendous stress reaction. It’s fantastically written.

So yes, once again, cliches can be defeated when the writing is good enough, which this certainly is. It’s also done-in-one, so you don’t need to worry about a cost sink. A must for Villainess fans, and a good read for shoujo light novel fans.

Also, please don’t name your otome game love interest de Sade. I beg of you.

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 27

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By Mizuho Kusanagi. Released in Japan as “Akatsuki no Yona” by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by JN Productions, Adapted by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane.

While the manga occasionally dips its toes into romance, that’s not its main function. As such, it feels quite refreshing when the end of the last volume and the start of this one focus so much on the feelings that Hak has had for Yona for so long, and finally telling her in one big burst of repression boiling over. This volume focuses on the aftermath, and does a very good job of both being lighthearted and funny about it but also taking his confession and Yona’s response to it seriously. I was worried there would be a “forgot about what happened last night” plot, but nope, Hak knows exactly what he said.As for Yona, while she’s a bit poleaxed there’s no reciprocation here, at least not consciously – she’s still more concerned with doing what they do. Which is good, but it also appears that the days of the Happy Hungry Bunch are being replaced with something a bit more legendary.

We’ve spent the last few volumes seeing the Four Dragons grievously wounded and depowered, and even for the first part of this book they’re still recovering. And while that was a good and important story to tell, it’s a joy and a relief to see everyone getting back to kicking eight kinds of ass. There’s also more humor here, as Hak is trying to alter the legend to add a 5th dragon, though no one’s going along with it. More to the point, though, they’re making themselves known now to world leaders rather than just disgraced princes and poor villages, and the disguise is not working – everyone knows who Yona is. She says, and rightly so, that Su Won knows they’re alive and hasn’t done anything, but they weren’t the chosen ones then.

They’re also not children anymore. Probably my favorite scenes of the book are the conversations between Riri, who is hanging around at the palace mostly as she functions well as Su Won’s beard (something she questions him pointedly on, and he admits a lot of people do think he’s gay). In fact, she’s getting a bit TOO casual with him, as one somewhat chilling scene shows. But there’s a wonderful moment when he goes to look at a mausoleum that he had been forbidden from entering when he was a child. He’d built up this huge idea of it in his head, and is incredibly disappointed to find that it’s just a room. The cast growing up has been one of the most important parts of Yona, and that applies just as much to Su Won as it does to Yona and Hak. Childhood illusions can be powerful, but should not replace the underwhelming reality of life.

Fans of the series don’t have to wait for the next book – my reviews are running behind. But as always, everyone should be reading Yona of the Dawn, and this is a particularly good volume.

My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, Vol. 10.5

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By Wataru Watari and Ponkan 8. Released in Japan as “Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatte Iru” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

As with the previous .5 volume in this series, this is not really a short story volume, as all three stories are interconnected and build on each other like a normal book. If I was to guess why this got a .5, I’d say it’s probably because it does not really advance any of the major plot beats, romantic or otherwise. If you skipped this and went straight to the 11th book, you would be perfectly content… unless you’re an Iroha fan. She’s all over this book, and the costar of the second story, having essentially become a member of the Service Club without ever actually doing anything or officially joining. She just sits in the room all the time. Still, the point of Iroha is that she’s a different type than both Yukino and Yui, and in this volume, despite her supposed ongoing desire for Hayama, we see that she could be a potential third love interest for Hachiman. One that will not win, of course, but hey.

The first story in the book is the one that has the best argument for being a real unconnected short story. Zaimokuza is once again having a crisis of faith about his abilities, and decides that rather than be an author, he’ll be an editor! This leads to the Service Club researching just how hard that is. Lots of funny, biting the hand humor here. The second story has Iroha going on a date with Hachiman, ostensibly to research what she plans to do with Hayama in the future. The best parts here are those where he treats Iroha pretty much the same as Komachi, which is probably the best idea. Finally, Iroha is trying to use up the rest of the student council budget (so that they don’t get a budget cut the next year) by making a magazine to give out at school… and blackmails Hachiman into providing most of the content.

As with the previous volume, Hachiman is still in a pretty mellow mood here. The romance is also on the back-burner, except when Iroha is trying to manipulate Hachiman or get Yukino and Yui pissed off. The best parts of the book show off the contrast between cynical Hachiman and helpful Hachiman, which means the date with Iroha is the best story in the book. They may not make a good romantic pair, but they make for a good faux brother-sister dynamic. The chapter also had some great laughs, such as Hachiman deciding, on a date with another girl, that they should go to separate movies. The most interesting parts of the book, however, come near the end, as Yukino and Yui quietly, in murmured asides that only Hachiman hears, set up the remaining books in the series. The two of them are nearing a crisis point.

So yes, it’s inessential, but it’s still good. Those who enjoy the series’ razor wit will like the first story, those who enjoy Iroha the second, and those who enjoy the main trio will find the third most appealing. This is the last .5 volume, so from here on it’s onward to the end.