By Kazuma Ogiwara and CARIMARICA. Released in Japan as “Isekai Toushou no Maken Seisaku Gurashi” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ryan Burris.

I usually try, when J-Novel Club announces their usual pile of licenses, to try one or two that I otherwise might not. With the ones announced in April, this one piqued my interest, mostly as it did not seem to involve “weak to strong”, revenge fantasies, or harems of elves and beastgirls, the current hot new subsubgenres. This seemed to be about a bunch of sword nuts, and had a likeable cover. Why not give it a shot. And I am happy to say this is definitely on the “good” end of the “give it a shot” spectrum, leaning towards “very good”, though that comes with a caveat I’ll get to later. The biggest surprise for me was that, while this was indeed a title that featured a bunch of sword nuts, it also has a really sweet and lovely romance at the center of it, which I was not expecting. When your “ah, slow burn, I wonder how long they’ll drag it out” turns out to be “twenty pages”, you know it’s a different sort of romance.

Lutz is a struggling smith who lives in the poorer areas outside the city, and he’s just forged an incredibly beautiful katana. Perhaps a bit TOO beautiful, as while examining it he almost kills himself with it. He’s not sure what to do with it, though, and doesn’t even sign or name it. Then he has to go rescue his friend and business partner Claudia from a bunch of thuggish knights who plan to sell her into slavery, and ends up trading the katana for her (afterwards, brought together by peril, a rescue romance, and them both being incredibly attractive, they quickly become lovers, then spouses). The katana ends up attracting the attention of an old enchanter, Gerhard, who is also fascinated by beautiful blades. And when they bring in an engraver who also falls madly in love with a sword created by Lutz, we have a combination that may prove far more dangerous than anyone could imagine.

I made that sound a lot more dramatic than the book actually is. While there are some tense, dramatic moments, such as Claudia getting rescued, or hero Ricardo facing off against some dangerous creatures, this ends up being a lot lighter and more goofy than you’d think. A lot of this is due to the fact that it’s a pretty horny book. Claudia and Lutz, once they hook up, are very sexually active, which is a refreshing change from most LNs that drag things out 15-20 books. But what I actually mean is Lutz’s weapon that ends up with Ricardo, which, well, makes people want to kill themselves, and also arouses them beyond belief. Erections are mentioned more than once. As is the word ‘ahegao’. It’s also a really sweet book. Lutz and Claudia’s love is adorable, even if Lutz would sometimes rather the adorable part not be revealed for all to see.

Basically, unlike almost everything else out there right now, this doesn’t pigeonhole itself easily into a subgenre. Even the “isekai” in the title isn’t quite right – this is a fantasy world, but no one’s here from Japan, at least not in Book 1. It’s worth your time, assuming you don’t mind a slight layer of eroticism over the whole thing. These blades enchant people. Yes, like that.