Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 32

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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.

It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with our Rokujouma family, and it’s a relief to see that everyone is much the same. It’s actually quite impressive that this series that should have ended with Vol. 29 is taking a relaxing victory lap and also springboarding a whole new plot that will take many books to resolve at the same time. It doesn’t actually feel dissonant – what’s resolved is Koutarou and the other girls, and though he’s still too “teenage” to actually say I Love You out loud or anything, it’s only a matter of time. This is pointed out to him by MacKenzie, after Koutarou worries about Yurika above and beyond the call of duty – he cannot simply choose one girl at this point. Indeed, the author agrees, which is why we’re getting the side stories that imagine life if he DID fall for only one girl. But that’s next time: this volume is back in the present-day, and showing that the aftermath of the war is still coming to Earth… literally.

There are three main plot threads here, all of which tie into each other. First of all, it’s time for the sports festival again, which is very important to the original core cast as it’s the first time they really bonded as a group way back in the single digit volumes. Unfortunately, dreams of winning the big prize may have to be put on hold. The spaceship that blew up at the end of the last volume was deliberately blown up – now its alien tech is scattered all over Japan, and is being picked up by unscrupulous companies to examine. Even worse, they’ve kidnapped an American scientist and are holding his family hostage in order to force him to work on the alien tech. Now our heroes have to rescue the scientist, his wife and daughter, and retrieve or destroy the technology, all while trying not to get in trouble at school. Oh, and Yurika’s working for the bad guys again, though this time it really is an accident.

It needs to be said, there’s a whole lot of sap here, and if you dislike that, you may want to stop reading. That said, this is the 34th book in the series (counting the two .5 volumes), and I suspect new readers are not going to be anywhere near this. Old readers will find plenty to smile about – every girl gets a chance to be sweet with the man they love, except MacKenzie’s little sister, who’s still trying to come to terms with the fact that the brother she idolized is a playboy. This actually gets weaponized towards the end of the book, as part of the plan. The plan itself makes the latter half of the book feel like a heist movie, as we see everything coming together, everyone gets to show off their cool powers, and only a few girls have emotional crises. (Yurika is a given, but Shizuka is really starting to get worried about everyone thinking of her as basically “the big guy”.)

Summing up, this is exactly what Rokujouma fans want in a book. Next time we get another three short stories/alternate universe book, with Clan winning the “what if Koutarou chose only me?” sweepstakes. So expect bickering galore.

The Invincible Shovel, Vol. 3

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By Yasohachi Tsuchise and Hagure Yuuki. Released in Japan as “Scoop Musou: “Scoop Hadouhou!” (｀・ω・´)♂〓〓〓〓★(゜Д゜ ;;) .:∴DOGOoo” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Elliot Ryoga.

Gotta admit, starting to get a bit annoyed with this title at times. Not all the time, mind you. When it’s at its best it’s doing what it’s done the last two volumes: have Alan solve problems immediately by using his shovel in ways that make no sense, have Catria get upset about this, and have Lithisia be silly and also somewhat scary. There is plenty of that in this book. It also uses the word ‘shovel’ 900 times, more than the previous two, and that’s not even counting the fact that the translator gave in and started using ‘scoop’ as well, which is there 120 times. But there is another element of the book, which is the ‘using shovel in a sexual way’ part, and it is, frankly, getting rather irritating, as it’s less subtle and more creepy throughout, especially in any scene involving Lithisia abusing Alice. It’s one of those times when the brain just refuses to make something funny. The phrase “Alice-juices” really does not help.

Our heroes continue to try to track down orbs from the four corners of the world. They rescue the mermaid population from an evil Hydra, go up to the sky world and meet two angels, one of whom briefly joins Catria as the sole voice of reason in the party, and try to stop demons corrupting more angels; they go to the Kingdom of Darkness and help free its people from demonic enslavement (and forced rape, something else I was not happy with), and finally they descend to hell and take on various minions, some familiar to Alice and some familiar to Alan. Throughout this Alan uses shovels to do damn near anything, but more surprisingly, so does Catria, though she’s not quite ready to admit that just yet.

Catria is probably the best part of the book, as it’s actually funny seeing her being the “voice of common sense” while, at the same time, firing off wave motion shovel blasts with her sword, which over the course of the book is slowly starting to turn into a shovel. She’s still the person with the most ethical sense here, though. That said, Lithisia may not be quite as far gone as the previous book… and, if I’m being honest, most of this one… has portrayed her. Seeing the hydra, who essentially turned evil when their love was spurned, makes her worry that if Alan leaves her she’ll to the exact same thing. There’s also the ending, where she gets in over her head when battling a God trying to possess Alice, and is forced to admit that perhaps she is NOT ready to solve every problem with a shovel like Alan can.

Honestly, I don’t see the sexual humor going away anytime soon, but I wish it would stick to ‘misunderstanding uses of the word ‘shovel’ in salacious ways’ rather than ‘Lithisia molests Alice with a shovel repeatedly’. The book is showing signs of depth – about 5% of the book, perhaps – which is enough given it’s meant to be a broad comedy. I will keep reading, though I expect I will remain a bit irritated. (Also, given the use of the shovel is frequently only implied by the text, how on Earth will they ever animate this?)

The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter, Vol. 2

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By Meguru Seto and Takehana Note. Released in Japan by Kodansha Lanove Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by T. Emerson. Adapted by Cae Hawksmoor.

This continues to be the most McDonald’s of light novels. It’s bad for you, and if you dig into it it’s filled with yucky stuff, but it fills you up fast and tastes yummy, so you don’t care. There is literally nothing in this entire book that will even make you raise an eyebrow in surprise. Our hero’s harem does not expand, but the others all basically do everything but stick their tongue down his throat and he blinks at them in confusion. (Honestly, the best bond he has in this book is with the lion monster he takes in as a pet. And even that has a brief ‘hah, the tulip on his head makes him gay!’ joke that made me grind my teeth.) The little sister is getting to be more like incestuous little sisters in other books. And I suspect the author has a fetish for getting stepped on that is basically showing up as is in this book. And yet… it still reads smooth as silk. Sigh.

A brief summary of things that happen to Noir in this book. He gets a huge pile of money from the noble girl he saved at the end of the last book. As mentioned above, he befriends the dungeon monster (also from the last book) and it essentially becomes his talking dog/mount. He rescues an elf zombie. He gets a midterm exam, which consists of easy, hard, and impossible tasks (pick one. He picks impossible). His guild receptionist faces off against another guild receptionist who uses sex to lure adventurers to her. He rescues a sentient tree from a passel of monsters (said tree takes the form of a little girl, so cue those sorts of jokes). And in the largest story in the book, he helps a village win against a group of thieves that has stolen their women. Oh yes, and then he and the others do the impossible task.

As the previous two paragraph might tell you, this book is still trash. It doesn’t even really get to the level of McDonald’s – it’s more of a Jack-in-the-Box. Noir is the blandest of heroes, who is always ready to help anyone but cannot understand why all these girls get angry at each other around him. This includes a chapter where he’s sick and three of them essentially fasten themselves around his body. Everyone is in love with him: the childhood friend, the elf girl, the receptionist, the little sister, the mentor stuck in the dungeon, his teacher, AND the noble princess. He gains powers by hugging, kissing and other fetishes, but of course will never go farther. And his powers are as OP as anything, but he constantly insists that he’s just lucky. I have expected him to call himself a humble vice-commander.

But it’s easy to read, the girls do actually achieve things that don’t revolve around Noir (sometimes), and its fanservice has drawn its wobbly line in the sand. If you like OP harem series and aren’t picky about anything else? This is right up your street. (It’s trash, though.)