In Another World with My Smartphone, Vol. 21

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By Patora Fuyuhara and Eiji Usatsuka. Released in Japan as “Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni” by HJ Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andrew Hodgson.

This is not the final volume of In Another World with My Smartphone – the 22nd volume is out in Japan, and no doubt there are limitless numbers of stories that could be told about Touya and company in the upcoming years. But I had decided a while back that this, the volume where Touya marries his wives and they go on their honeymoon – would be my final volume of the series. I definitely had a lot of fun with the early books, but as the series has gone on I’ve been exposed to a few too many of the author’s awful choices and toxic characterization. Fortunately, this is an excellent volume to end with, featuring a minimum of poor taste (though the girl who gets aroused by good deeds becoming a teacher reminds us it’s still there) and a nice victory lap for Touya and his companions, showing them finally tying the knot, having their first times (except for too-young Sue), and bopping around Earth. Yes, Touya’s honeymoon is back in Japan.

As noted, the first half of the book deals with Touya and company preparing for the wedding. As you can imagine, this features the brief cameos of three-quarters of the regular cast, which has ballooned out so much that I barely remembered which one was which. Most of the wedding day jitters are on Touya’s end – his relationship with his spouses that are of age may go all the way this time around (offscreen), but it’s very on point that even during his actual wedding he kisses each of them on the cheek. This is one shy boy. And I mean that literally for the second half of the book, where God allows Touya and company to go to Japan… but since he’s dead there, he goes in disguise as a five-year-old boy. This, as you might imagine, leads to some wacky hijinx. He also drops in on his parents, who have a newly born daughter, in a dream and reassures them as best he can that he’s happy “in the afterlife”.

His parents take this better than you’d expect, as it turns out God has been sending Touya’s adventures as dreams to his parents and his best friend from school – who is now drawing it as a manga. I’d say this beggars belief, but hey, Smartphone. It was amusing to find out that it was not power that went to Touya’s head – he’s always seemed to be a bit sociopathic, and we see him dealing with delinquents before he was killed in much the same way he dealt with bandits in his new world. But really, most of this book is watching the wives shop. And shop. And shop. Oh, and go to the zoo. They get piles of food, they get accessories, they see zebras and hippos, they even go to a school festival and watch a high school production of Beauty and the Beast. It’s a full, rich two weeks.

And in the end, they go back home and life goes on. In the meantime, if, like me, you have been looking for an excuse to not read Smartphone anymore, this is an excellent one, as it could easily also service as a final volume, and leaves few to no loose ends that might niggle at you. Thanks, Smartphone. You drove me crazy, but you were never boring… OK, that’s not, true, you were boring a lot. But I’ll see you off with a smile.

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 34

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

This is a plot-heavy volume of Rokujouma!?, so no ‘what if this girl won?’ side stories, and apparently 35 won’t have one either. Instead we are reminded that the series did not end with the 29th volume after all, and that there’s a lot still going on. In particular, this series is very good about avoiding “bwahaha!” cartoon evil villains, and when it does have them it shows them to be easily manipulated by other, better villains. There’s actually a lot of double crossing going on at the moment, both between the Forthorthe villains and the People of the Earth radicals, and between their forces and our heroes, as both end up winning in some ways but losing in others. With Earth still dealing with the revelations of Theia’s planet, and everyone and their brother trying to get their hands on new technology to make them rich and powerful, it’s going to be a while till Koutarou can settle down, though the other girls are certainly taking every chance they can to be around him anyway.

For once the cover doesn’t lie, as Ruth actually does have a significant role in this book. She and Koutarou are waylaid on a shopping trip and she’s almost killed, then the former bad guy of the Radical Faction of the People of the Earth, now captured, reveals that the remains of his faction are allied with Ralgwin, the nephew of Vandarion who plans to keep on carrying out his legacy. They’re also being set up to be patsies for Ralgwin’s faction, which is why Raiga tells our heroes about them. Now it’s time for infiltration something that, for once, is not done by Koutarou but instead Ruth and Harumi, who are led to a suspicious sake brewery that turns out… well, to be a trap, and the real attack is happening elsewhere. Fortunately, the rest of our merry band are there, and each of them gets a chance to show off their stuff as the last quarter of the book descends into a firefight.

Much of this volume is taken up with the fact that Koutarou, while a wonderful man that they all love, cannot protect everyone all the time. He needs to accept this, which is why he backs down after suggesting he go with Ruth and Harumi on their espionage. They’re both powerful enough now that they don’t need him to protect their fragile selves. The same goes for Theia and company in the final battle, where Koutarou gives “fight at your discretion” as the basic order, allowing the others to prioritize what needs doing rather than just following orders. He’s trusting everyone to save themselves, in other words. This definitely works out well for Yurika, who is touched by Koutarou giving her agency, and proceeds to lay waste to a good deal of the enemy forces by a combination of poison gas and turning the area into a murky swamp. (This also leads to the standard making fun of Yurika, as Koutarou calls her a “dirty girl”, much to her displeasure.)

If you’re still reading Rokujouma, you know what to expect, and this won’t disappoint. Still one of the better harem series out there.

Can Someone Please Explain What’s Going On?! ~A Sign-on-the-Line Wedding Story~, Vol. 4

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By Tsuredurebana and Rin Hagiwara. Released in Japan as “Dareka Kono Joukyou wo Setsumei Shite Kudasai! ~Keiyaku Kara Hajimaru Wedding~” by ArianRose. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mattias Hirsch.

Despite the fact that we’re only at Vol. 4 of 9, it is sometimes difficult to remember how far Cersis has come since the start of the series. Let’s recall the premise: he asks Viola to become his wife on paper so he can continue to fool around with a dancing girl. It’s hardly a surprise that, having fallen in love with Viola instead, she does not really believe he’s all that serious. (Viola’s amazing self-worth issues don’t help, though thankfully there’s far less of that in this particular book.) That said, we’ve slowly seen him grow and change, both as a commander and as a somewhat clueless husband. It should therefore not come as too much of a surprise when, towards the end of this new volume, he admits to his past faults and is resolving to become the best duke he can be, everyone is staring with their jaw dropping. Including Viola. He now has to prove that he means it.

the first half of the book wraps up the war storyline, with our gallant soldiers returning home victorious, and Viola forced to go to the palace to have the King welcome everyone back. (Which he does. At length.) The King gives all the soldiers a two-week vacation, and Cersis decides to use the time to take Viola on a tour of his duchy, starting with the manor that his parents normally stay in when they aren’t doting over Viola. Everyone and their brother are calling this the honeymoon that she and Cersis never actually had, and are expecting them to spend most of it trying to conceive some children. Everyone except Viola, of course, who is far more interested in the town scenery and the local shops. Fortunately, Cersis by now has sort of figured out how much of a job he has ahead of him, and just rolls with it. Unfortunately, the duchy, thanks to the war, is in more dire straits than expected…

I’m going to be honest, I was among the people who were boggling at Cersis’s change of heart at the end of the book. I was expecting that the conflict in the Town that he got into was arranged by him for Viola’s sake… though perhaps not the kidnapping attempt. But credit to him, he is trying hard, taking note of the issues that lead to the unrest, and taking Viola’s suggestions on how to handle things based on what she did in her much poorer Earldom, where they can’t afford a constant fleet of guards to keep the peace. It is also very in character of the series so far that, even after directly confessing his love to her – again – Viola’s response is still “sorry, I’m still just not really that into you”. Romance is a foreign nation to her. That said, this is going to change, and now that Cersis is no longer the bumbling doofus husband (much), I look forward to seeing how he wins her over. I will warn, though, there’s one scene where where Viola narrates a fight between her would-be kidnappers and Cersis, and there is a repeated use of the word “fatso” which, while I’m sure was also bad in the Japanese, might have been replaced with something else.

This is one of those shoujo light novels that feels the most like a Western romance, with a definite lack of magic, past lives, or villainesses. Even Calendula, the dancer and former beau of Cersis who kicked this all off, is a relatively nuanced and sympathetic woman. Definitely checking out more.