The Invincible Shovel, Vol. 2

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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.

It should not come as too much of a surprise to find that this second volume is not quite as funny as the first. The Invincible Shovel has a few choice gags that it hammers on with the subtlety of a truck hitting an isekai protagonist, And so the element of surprise is gone here. That said, this ended up being funnier than I expected, particularly as it went along. We meet a couple more heroines who add themselves to the uninterested Alan’s not-quite-harem, including a ditzy sage and a sheltered princess, everyone misunderstands things in a sexual way due to the use of ‘shovel’ to mean absolutely everything, and we get somewhat incrementally closer to finishing the quest, as there’s a mid-range boss to defeat and we get a glimpse of the big bad. And then there’s Lithisia, who definitely levels up in this book… in both good and bad ways. Alan may be the OP hero, but in the end Lithisia is the most terrifying.

I’d mentioned in my review of the first volume that the word ‘shovel’ was used 703 times, and in this second book it’s 880. Note that we don’t really get variations – at one point an illustration shows Lithisia is clearly holding a trowel, but it’s referred to as a shovel, and we don’t see spade or other types either. This is deliberate, both for the comedy – the overuse of the word, especially from Lithisia inventing new words including it, is ridiculous – but it’s also meant to be exhausting, to leave the reader so drowning in shovels that they just learn to let it roll over them. We feel much like Catria, the sole voice of reason in this title, who wants things to make sense but is constantly cursed by Alan using his shovel to make instant tunnels through gigantic mountains, remove a memory block to help someone recall their past, and force the villain to confess his evil deeds by literally digging his own grave.

As for Lithisia, I will admit that I did get very tired of her constant horniness, which ends up carrying over to the other characters. The idea of ‘shovel’ meaning sex… or, frequently in this book, masturbation, as Alan says that they can learn to shovel better by themselves, is the sort of thing that’s mostly interesting to 15-year-old boys. Fortunately, there’s more to her than that… in a somewhat scary way. Lithisia devoting herself to the Way of the Shovel is funny, but Lithisia being able to brainwash others to the same vision is alarming. The shovel is gaining more and more followers, though as a worried Alan notes, they don’t actually have the shovel superpowers that she assumes come with the job. This actually has a serious core at its deluded center: she’s afraid that when the quest is over, Alan will leave her, and so vows to TAKE OVER THE WORLD! to ensure she remains by his side. It’s… sweet? In a way?

As I said earlier, your enjoyment of this title may end up being how tolerant you are of the word ‘shovel’ and the female cast being horny on main most of the time. But it’s still gloriously silly enough that I’ll be shoveling the next book. Um, reading. I meant reading. Shovel.

A Wild Last Boss Appeared!, Vol. 1

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By Firehead and YahaKo. Released in Japan by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Chen.

Sometimes you get books where the concept is drab and you’ve seen it before, but the execution is excellent, and sometimes you get novels with a great concept that can’t quite pull it off. This comes closer to the second type, which may surprise readers given that it’s another “Japanese gamer is pulled into his game world” sort of book. But there are intriguing things going on here. It’s sort of reminiscent of Overlord, in that we have a gamer who arrives in his game world as the villain he created, complete with minions (most of whom have to be tracked down, admittedly) and whose self of self is being somewhat overlaid with the character. That said, this book does not seem to be nearly as dark as Overlord gets. It’s just Lufas getting used to being back in the world (which is 200 years later), getting used to being a woman (the gamer who created her was male), and getting used to being far, far more powerful than everyone else. Does it work? Somewhat.

As noted, our hero is a gamer who played a fun MMORPG (she’s the blonde on the cover, not the blue-haired girl), taking on a character who ended up playing the role of the villain. She was taken down by seven heroes in a massive battle (which the gamer was totally in on, this was a controlled event) and killed off. Suddenly the gamer finds himself in what appears to be that world, two hundred years later, summoned as part of a botched spell to summon a hero. Lufus has no interest in dealing with the folks who summoned her (the character is a woman, something that actually has a lot less relevance than you’d expect) and so goes back to her old Dark Tower, which she finds is rather decrepit but still standing. It also has her minion and expodump girl Dina, who Lufas created as an NPC and then forgot about, but who can helpfully explain what’s happened since Lufas’ death. She decides to round up her twelve monster companions, which first involves talking one of them down from his roaring rampage of revenge.

There are interesting things going on here. The gamer’s memories and Lufas’ have sort of melded together, and as the book goes on the relevance of “this is a game I played in Japan” lessens, which is interesting. To my surprise, the book also has virtually no fanservice at all, and in fact Lufas notes that she doesn’t really feel any desires for women anymore – or men, for that matter. This does, admittedly, make you wonder why the gender bender was conceived of to begin with, except that Lufas looks really beautiful. There’s also some foreshadowing that one of the characters is not what they seem, and it’s handled very deftly. I am rather relieved that the book slowly starts to drop the gamer stuff as it goes along, as the gamer sometimes uses vocab and ideas that make me suspect he was one of those basic sexist Japanese guys. More to the point, while I appreciate that it has a long game in mind, the book meanders. It’s not meant to be a slow life title, but sure feels like one at times, especially when Lufas is doing things like making Golem Winnebagos.

So I’d say that the series has not quite gelled yet. That said, it’s interesting enough that I’ll read more, and folks who (have I said this a lot in my reviews lately?) don’t mind overpowered heroes will find something to enjoy here.

Outbreak Company, Vol. 14

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By Ichiro Sakaki and Yuugen. Released in Japan by Kodansha Light Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Short stories here, two starring Shinichi and one Hikaru, of varying quality. The three together do remind you that this series has been sort of coasting ever since the Japan arc. The author says that he plans to end it in three more volumes (it ended up being four), so they at least have an endgame in mind, but there is very much the sense of “killing time” here. That said, at least the stories, for the most part, avoid the worst of Shinichi’s otaku qualities. The first one is a continuation of the prior volume, and offers us our hero hiding in his room to avoid seeing the girls in love with him. The second one involves Brook and Cerise hatching a family, and Shinichi trying to bond with the new lizard baby, who unfortunately sees him as food. And in the final story, another magical maguffin is found that ends up turning Hikaru into a girl for real.

The first story is the weakest. For all that the series has seen Shinichi achieve a lot of things and even save the world once or twice, there has been little to no actual maturity in his character. That’s really been emphasized in the last couple of books, as he’s totally unable to deal with the idea that more than one girl might be in love with him. Seeing him deal with this by hiding in his room and reading manga/playing games is totally in character but also 100% annoying to a reader who sort of wants him to grow up. That said, there was some nice suspense writing here as the team uses an obvious but effective lure to get him out. As for the second story, it shows Shinichi in a slightly better light. He could have simply given up and avoided the new baby, but he’s stubbornly determined to make it like him. This shows off the qualities Myusel and Petralka see in him.

The final story is the most interesting, though it loses a bit when the author admits the editors gave him the idea. It’s actually a sex-change slime, discovered in the caves and turning out to be yet another piece of long-lost technology. It fastens onto Hikaru and essentially leaves his real body there while putting his consciousness in a female body. The rest of the cast have some discussion of how Hikaru identifies – Shinichi discovers that he wears real bras and panties rather than male underwear, and they discuss how much he might identify as a woman. That said, Hikaru’s own POV narration is more matter of fact about it – he thinks of himself as a man, and is attracted to women, but dresses as a girl for reasons of family upbringing. Probably the most interesting part of the story is seeing Elvia forcibly bathe Hikaru, who realizes that getting involved in wacky harem comedy “I saw your boobs!” scenes is easier than it seems.

There weren’t really any big missteps taken here, and it’s certainly pleasant enough. That said, it’s not a good sign when, after each volume finishes, you’re thinking “When will this series come to an end?”.