She’s the Cutest… But We’re Just Friends!, Vol. 1

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By Akamitsu Awamura and mmu. Released in Japan as “Ore no Onna Tomodachi ga Saikou ni Kawaii” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kristine Johnson and airco.

I tend to read a bit more into the plot and characterization of light novels than they sometimes deserve. This is, honestly, a survival technique – I read a lot of light novels, and only a few of them are worthy of really high praise. Most of them are “well, OK, that was decent”. So you try to look for things you enjoy, things you can sink your teeth into. For me, in this book, it was the character of Reina. She’s not the titular just friend, but she is the ‘queen bee’ of the classroom and one of Jun’s best friends. And, despite how much the two of them deny it, everyone thinks that Kai and Jun, our protagonists, are dating. So we’re meant to be happy when Kai chooses to go out with a pack of her friends to karaoke. He doesn’t have a good time, nor does she, but he thinks he did a good job, held his own. Then Reina destroys him the next day. I really liked that. That said, the book is still “decent”.

Kai is our somewhat generic protagonist. He loves manga, light novels, and games, and is known as an otaku, but is not really on the ‘creepy’ end. He goes to this high school as they are very “freedom” oriented, so you can game in school provided it’s not during class. On his first day, he meets the gorgeous Jun and acts like a typical sputtering guy… till he sees she’s whipping out Breath of the Wild. She’s an otaku as well! The two quickly bond, and over the course of the next year they become best friends, with her going over to his house to game multiple times a week. The trouble is… they look like a couple;. They sometimes act like a couple. And not everyone approves of this. Can Kai deal with both Jun’s friends AND the jerk jocks and come out with his friendship intact?

As I said, this has issues. It’s a big ol’ male fantasy, despite the male lead’s desire to stay friends with Jun rather than date her. (Fanservice is actually relatively low, limited to “wow those breasts are big”, though when Jun’s friends interrogate him they’re very coarse.) You had better enjoy high school drama or else you’re going to hate this. There’s a subplot added near the end with a teacher in the school turning out to also be someone else that I felt was perhaps one subplot too many. The ending implies this is going to be one of those “new lead girl every book” series, which subverts the premise. Most importantly, it’s a walking ad for GA Bunko, mentioning so many of their main series by name (no censoring in this book) that I almost felt ill. Don’t be a shill.

That said… I found the leads very likeable and sympathetic. I really liked Kai thinking he was doing great and getting torn apart, reminding us he’s still very much a guy who doesn’t get women. And there’s a secondary friend of Jun’s who is so annoying she actually flips back over towards hilarious. You look for the little things. And that’s enough for me to recommend this to romcom fans. I’ll get Vol. 2, despite the change in lead girls.

The Intrigue of Marielle Clarac

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By Haruka Momo and Maro. Released in Japan as “Marielle Clarac no Mitsubou” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Philip Reuben.

At last Marielle and Simeon are married, and can go on a honeymoon. Of course, this being a Marielle Clarac book, the honeymoon does not go very smoothly. Indeed, this may be the quintessential Marielle Clarac books. From the moment that we see pirates boarding the steamer they’re taking on their journey, you know you’re in for a heaping helping of drama and thrills. There’s no sunken pirate gold, but we do get the Flauberts (Marielle is now married, of course, but the series will keep her maiden name for branding reasons) accused of smuggling, a pirate cove, and a speedboat chase without the actual speedboats. In the midst of all this, they are settling into married life – Simeon is noticeably less critical of Marielle in this book, and she… well, no, she’s as fangirlish as ever, particularly when Simeon, for lack of any other weapon at hand, uses a whip on someone trying to abduct her. The world bends itself to play to her fetishes.

After finishing the wedding and finally consummating their relationship (we don’t see it, of course, but Marielle does note that she needs to build up her stamina to keep up with her husband), Marielle and Simeon are traveling to a southern island to meet his grandfather. Unfortunately, they have several problems ensue. There’s a crabby young man on board the ship, a distant relative of Simeon’s who seems t despise him. There’s a girl with him who seems to despise Marielle, though that’s likely just because she’s married to a hot guy. There are pirates and smuggling fiascos, which I mentioned before. And there are threats of spies from a neighboring country that is trying to get its hands on some modern guns from the Flauberts’ home country. Can all these problems be resolved without Marielle getting abducted more than twice? Well, no, probably not.

First of all, and sorry for the spoiler, I was very surprised that Lutin was not appearing as usual. Perhaps he really has moved on. That said, in his place we get a far more evil version of him. As with previous books in this series, the thriller works better than the mystery – the villain was not hard to guess. I also admit, I grow weary of everyone constantly belittling Marielle’s appearance, especially as the artwork does not really bear that out at all. I guess brown hair + glasses = ugly in this world. It doesn’t help that Marielle does the same thing in her own narration. There is also some amusing comedy in this book, mostly revolving around Sasha, a “pirate” who in reality turns out to be a bratty teenage islander, and his blunt interactions with Marielle and Simeon.

Marielle ends up with several ideas for a new book of hers, which makes sense given that she went through a fun, if stereotypical, adventure. Fans of romantic thrillers… especially lengthy ones, this is quite a hefty book compared to other Heart titles… will be quite pleased.

I Refuse to Be Your Enemy!, Vol. 4

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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.

I’ve mentioned before that, aside from the basic “villainess otome game” plot, there’s very little here that could not simply be imported as is to a Western romantic fantasy, albeit one with a very military strategy sort of bent. No one is trying to make miso, and the references to Kiara’s past life in Japan are kept to longing for family and nothing specifically cultural. So, for the most part, I had this down as a book you could happily recommend to casual, non-anime fans… at least until the catgirl Festival showed up. See, one city has a legend of being saved from certain death by a cat goblin, and so every year girls put on kitty ears and wear angel wings. And then go out and look for men they might be attracted to. It’s not particularly handled in a bad way, and it doesn’t detract from the rest of the book. It just made me go “really? cat ears?” when I got to it.

We pick up immediately where we left off, and continue to slowly wage war against the enemy army. Several things happen here that are of note, though. First, after a second encounter with him disguised as a merchant, Kiara finally clues in that the helpful guy giving her advice is actually the opposing king. That said, the king has an “I am not evil” backstory, so I suspect we may be able to work things out. Secondly, Lady Emmeline, who was the savviest of the hostages we met in the last book, becomes a major supporting character, and another person for the perpetually baffled Kiara to turn to when it comes to emotions. She also makes a great general. Lastly, and most importantly, Lord Credias, Ada’s husband and the one who turned Kiara into a spellcaster, is on the battlefield, and his presence makes Kiara unable to use her magic.

I have, of course, left out Ada, who has the most interesting plotline in the volume. We get several short chapters from her point of view, as she struggles with trying to win Reggie over, her intense hatred for Kiara, and the fact that Kiara turns out to be a fairly decent person. I had briefly wondered if they might try to redeem her, especially as the book seemed to be shipping her with Reggie’s guard, Felix. Unfortunately, after the events in this book, I suspect if there is a redemption it’s going to be one ending in death. Ada is, as has been lampshaded, in the same position that Kiara was in in the original game. And, unlike Kiara’s game self, Ada actually has someone to blame for all of this. It is understandable that she does not decide to turn herself in. (There’s also a very interesting side scene from the POV of game Kiara, a few years before the game events, where she attempts to drown herself and is saved by Reggie.)

We’re now 2/3 of the way through this, and an ending is in sight, but until then there’s going to be pitched battles. At least Reggie has tried to make his feelings relatively clear… but Kiara’s romance aversion and low self-esteem are a wall that is still too high to climb. Definitely recommended for J-Novel Heart fans, though. Despite the cat ears.