Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! Bonus Story: We Are the Megumin Bandits!

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By Natsume Akatsuki and Kurone Mishima. Released in Japan as “Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Bakuen wo!” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Of course, this is just the 4th volume of the Megumin spinoff, really. But since it’s now caught up with the main series and is no longer a prequel (or possibly as the original was announced as a trilogy), we get a “Bonus Story” with more Megumin shenanigans. Yunyun is here as well, though the expansion of the cast means that she doesn’t really get a chance to do much other than play the tsukkomi and be pathetic. And, alas, Cecily is back as well, and continues to be the worst nun ever. That said, as the 10th volume of the main series hinted, we get a new addition to the group. Princess Iris is sneaking away from the royal residence every day, and quickly insinuates herself into Megumin’s group as the muscle (she certainly has the sword skills). Add a very reluctant thief, and you have all you could ever want in a KonoSuba spinoff.

The “plot”, such as it is, takes place mostly around Vol. 9 of the main series, though the last quarter or so takes place around the 11th book. Megumin has discovered Chris and Kazuma pulling off one of their Silver Haired Bandit raids, and finds herself fired up about the idea of stealing in order to defeat bad people (and also strangely attracted to the masked assistant). She decides to form her own group, quickly rounding up those I mentioned above… including Chris, who as you can imagine feels very awkward about all of this. After a brief detour where they try to figure out who a blond, handsome adventurer of legend is (it’s pretty obviously Dust, though the legend, as you might guess, is quite wrong in many places), they end up taking on a rival of Darkness’s who has a herd of monsters around her mansion deep in the forest. There has to be a reason, right?

There are a few flaws here. The last chunk of the book is back to Kazuma’s POV, which is fine but is not really what I signed up for with this Megumin-driven spinoff. And, as with the main series hinting about this series before we got it in English, the spinoff series hints about another as yet unlicensed spinoff series, this one starring Dust, that is familiar with Japanese readers. Mostly you get the fact that Yunyun and Dust have had adventures before, and she’s not happy about it. On the other hand, the parts of the book with Megumin thinking about her current state are excellent. She’s newly in love with Kazuma, but isn’t quite sure how that works, or even why she fell for him. She’s also trying to figure out how to be a “leader”, and Kazuma, who is mostly in non-dirtbag mode in this book, gives her some excellent advice. Fans of their pairing will be happy with this book.

There’s one more book in the series, which I’m sure we’ll get relatively soon. Till then, this is a solid KonoSuba spinoff with lots of laughs and some good Megumin character development.

Torture Princess: Fremd Torturchen, Vol. 5

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By Keishi Ayasato and Saki Ukai. Released in Japan as “Isekai Goumon Hime” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Hiroshi Thrasher.

I have been preparing myself since the start of the first book for the fact that this series, which has an awful lot of gore, death, and icky things happening to everyone in the world, is going to have characters I care about die in horrible ways. That said, the author knows how to keep us coming back, and while Hina may have spent one of the volumes on ice, for the most part the main cast has made it though with a lot of pain and maiming but with their essential selves intact. That changes big time in this volume, in ways both surprising and not so surprising. No one is going to gasp at the idea that Izabella, the one noble Paladin in a corrupt church, is not going to have a fun time, and that turns out to be the case. Far more surprising it the fates of our two Torture Princesses themselves, as we get a book that sounds like it’s the penultimate volume (it’s not).

This volume picks up right where the last left off, with the reveal of the church’s big secret. After escaping thanks to Izabella making a noble sacrifice of herself, the rest of the cast go off to let the Butcher out of the gibbet Elisabeth left him in. Anyone surprised he isn’t there doesn’t know either the Butcher or books like these. Instead he leaves them a clue that takes them over the ocean to this world’s equivalent of the South Pole, where they might find the Saint – who everyone agrees they need to kill if they are to stop the world being completely annihilated. Fortunately, they have some allies here, as the Beastmen (mainly Lute) have also been led here. Unfortunately, the Church is here too, with yet another creepy child who essentially gives Kaito a Trolley Problem that he proves unable to solve. Then of course, we see what the Butcher has really been doing, and finally meet the Saint… which is not good news for our title character. Either of them.

I have to admit, Jeanne went from villain to ally awfully fast, and the book lampshades that it’s mostly due to Izabella. I’d been expecting Very Bad Things to happen to her for a while, so my only surprise here is that it wasn’t as bad as I expected. It did give Jeanne some nice character development that might have gone somewhere were it not for the end of the book. There’s also some lovely imagery regarding the Suffering Saint, who is less the Lamb of God taking on the sins of the world and more simply tired and worn. She wants a change, which Jeanne and Elisabeth are here to provide. Fortunately, Elisabeth and Kaito are very clever, so our heroes do find some way to carry on – it causes Kaito monumental pain, but let’s face it, that’s become almost a gag for humor purposes by this time. Now all he and the others have to do is stop the rest of the world going to war.

The first three books were an arc, and I suspect the same is true of the second three, so I’m pretty sure we’ll get an even more grandiose climax in the next volume. Till then, enjoy this dark, pitiless world and the creepy yet strangely awesome cast that walk through it. (Also, does anyone else get Jimi Hendrix in their head when they see Izabella?)

I Shall Survive Using Potions!, Vol. 5

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By FUNA and Sukima. Released in Japan as “Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu!” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hiroya Watanabe.

The series that makes me eat my words on a regular basis is back, and it continues to be the most FUNA series out there. Make My Abilities Average! may be more popular and have the anime, but this is straight no chaser stuff, with Kaoru, perhaps hearing me say last time that she was getting more normal, breaking out the personality traits that caused the 2nd volume to scare me so much. As with other works by the author, the attitude extends to every other woman she’s met (men are immune, with Emile being an exception), as Francette is eager to use her sword to remove limbs at the slightest excuse, Emile and Belle are perfectly trained freedom fighters, and even Mariel, the victim in the last book whose family were all killed off by an evil guy, we now find has the combination of being the head of the family, a friend of the Goddess, and the ability to talk to animals still being around has making her terrifying. Kaoru is not alone.

Theoretically Kaoru is still looking for a husband, though again the fact that she perpetually looks like a twelve-year-old is pretty much a nail in the coffin that she chooses to ignore. In reality, she’s settled in at this coastal city, happily selling her knick-knacks. Sadly, the world has caught up to her, as folks from her previous countries are investigating her shop to see if she is the Angel o the Goddess after all, and disguises and denial can only confuse them for so long. Then Layette decides, and not without cause, that she’s become too spoiled, and wants to go out without Kaoru sometimes. While this starts out as an amusing story showing off the overprotectiveness of everyone around her, it goes south fast when more goons arrive to kidnap Layette, and they’re not above nearly killing her orphan friends to do so. Honestly, after this, helping Mariel avoid getting married is a relaxing jaunt by comparison.

As with the second book, the 5th book revolves around a scene that makes you rear back a bit, layette’s attempted kidnapping. She had befriended several orphan kids earlier when exerting her independence (which I suspect is now gone, sadly) unleashes the fury of both Francette and Kaoru, Francette in particular as she was briefly away from guard duty using the necessary when this happened and curses her bodily functions. Kaoru is perfectly happy to torture bandits and hired goons to get the answers she needs, to the point where Francette cuts their arms off and Kaoru says she can reattach them… if they cough up info. It’s seriously terrifying, and reminds you what a loose cannon she is compared to Mile or Mitsuha. The latter half of the book ties all these plots together, as Kaoru discovers that those behind the kidnapping are the priests from the religious country she helped destroy. So she and her gang are headed back to the place where she began, this time hopefully with fewer cure-all medicines.

Make no mistake about it, this is still primarily funny. Indeed, it’s the humor that makes the rage and fury all the more jarring. It’s also hinted that Mariel, who regards Kaoru more as a god than as an angel, is perfectly happy to solve Kaoru’s relationship issues in yuri ways, though I doubt the book is going that way – FUNA tends to avoid romance in general. If you can stomach a lot of torture of bad guys, Potion Girl is still your go to source for the darker side of the overpowered little girl story.