The Legendary Witch Is Reborn As an Oppressed Princess, Vol. 5

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By Touko Amekawa and Kuroyuki. Released in Japan as “Shiitagerareta Tsuihou Oujo wa, Tenseishita Densetsu no Majo deshita: Mukae ni Koraretemo Komarumasu. Juuboku to no Ohirune wo Jamashinaide Kudasai” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Jeremy Browning.

I admit to being quite surprised that this volume wasn’t the final one. Frankly, all the plot guns and secrets have now been well and truly revealed (and yes, I will have to spoil a lot of them further down this review), and yet there is a 6th and final book that is going to wrap things up. I am worried that the final book will just be a big fight, but that’s future Sean’s problem. As for what IS in this book, well, as you’d expect, Claudia wakes up three years later, but it’s everything else that manages to be the surprise. We’ve got multiple master plans being carried out at the same time. We’ve got alternate universes. We’ve got even more reincarnations. We’ve got concealed backstories. And yes, we do have a bit of cool fighting, though even that is made up of “you fell for it!” gambits.

Three years after the fourth book, Claudia remains in a state of suspended animation, basically dead but her body remains as it is and doesn’t decay. Meanwhile, Noah has risen to become Commander of the knights, and spends his spare time meeting with all the other allies and friends Claudia has made in the previous four books to find out how to revive her, as it’s taking a long time. They’re a bit hurried as Lemilsia’s “mourning period” is almost up, and everyone knows the moment it is Sieghart is going to invade. And sure enough, he does, muttering constantly about making Adelheid his and being controlled by a mysterious person. As for Claudia, she has in fact woken up… in an alternate universe where her magic is still suppressed and everyone knows who she is. And in this world, Leonhard is her enemy.

If I had a nickel every time that a reincarnated noble who was formerly one of the most powerful witches in the country ends up fighting against what turns out to be one of her former minions who was deeply in love with her and that love has turned to possessive need and a complete disrespect for what she actually wants, I’d have two nickels. In fact, call it three, as this is also very similar to one of the previous books in this series. But yeah, if you’ve read The Countess Is a Coward No More, this might seem a bit familiar. That said, this series is better written than that one, and there are a lot more surprise twists, mostly involving Claudia’s mother, who we get to know here, and who turns out to be trying to look out from her daughter beyond the grave, which involves a complex memory spell that only lets people remember things when it’s needed. Handy, that. As for the identity of the person behind all this… well, yes, it’s her obsessive minion, but it’s who they’re possessing that’s the other big reveal. We’re getting the family back together for a reunion.

As of this writing, the 6th and final book is not out in Japan yet, so it will be a long wait. Ah well, there’s a new 7th Time Loop by the same author that just came out in Japan. That’s something, right?

The Hero-Killing Bride: The God-Killing Maiden

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By Aoikou and Enji. Released in Japan as “Yuusha-goroshi no Hanayome” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Faye Duxovni.

I spoil one of the major “surprises” of this book in the third paragraph, just letting folks know.

There’s an implication in the afterword of this third volume that there will be more, as the author says this is the end of the first “arc”, talks about an online-only prequel, and tries to blackmail readers into buying enough copies to justify more of the series by implying they’ll throw sex in later. That said, it definitely has the feel of a final volume, and al the plot beats and secrets are revealed for all to see, so I won’t be surprised if we don’t get more. Alicia is still Best Girl, but I admit I was less wild about this volume than I was the first two, mostly because, in order to wrap things yup, it ended up being over 50% fighting against an annoying bad guy. As a general rule, anytime I can read a scene and have the bad guy say “Don’t you understand? Your weapons are USELESS against me!” a la MST3K and have it work perfectly, your bad guy is too over the top.

Now that Alicia’s mentor (and her beloved cat) have disappeared, Alicia and Cion are going around trying to stop the demons and negotiate with their leaders. This does not go particularly well. It goes even worse when the saint is also kidnapped, and there’s a huge wolf guy who is reminding Cion a lot of her missing mentor. And then there’s the guy we meet in the prologue, a former slave who tried to destroy everything ten years ago or so and has now reappeared and is trying to do all that over again. That said, the bad guy is very good at making our two heroines doubt themselves. Cion, who admits in the heat of battle that she loves Alicia without actually realizing it, is thrown off her game by almost anything, but especially the idea that Alicia may actually be an assassin sent to kill her. That can’t be right, can it?

And then there’s Alicia. She’s always been able to do most anything involving mana, even as she complains about running out of it. She’s survived being dead. Twice. And when she got a transfusion she grew animal ears and a tail. Funny, that. Oh yes, and she’s an orphan. Now we get the big reveal that she is in fact the daughter of the demon lord, which allows the bad guy to twist the relationship between her and Cion (who, y’know, killed the demon lord). That said, Alicia’s ancestry was never really why we read this book – and if I’m being honest, whether Alicia and Cion end up as a couple is not the reason either. We’re reading this to see if Alicia can meld her intense cynicism and bitterness over religion and the world they live in with the kind, pure heart and desire to save people. Which she finally does, trying her damnedest to save everyone, even the villain who has already murdered a WHOLE LOT of people. Fortunately, she gets a reward of “ignoring her boss and going on a vacation with her girlfriend and cat” at the end.

So yeah, good series, but too much fighting and it felt like a “you’re being cancelled, wrap it up” volume. For fans of Executioner and her Way of Life, as always.

Sword Art Online, Vol. 28: Unital Ring VII

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By Reki Kawahara and abec. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

And here we are, almost two years later. I’ve talked before about how I think the author is trying to do too much with this arc, where they have a perfectly good plotline with Unital Ring (it’s in the title!), but they also can’t resist going back to Underworld for more battles that could actually kill people rather than just log them out. But it’s not just the main series, it’s everything. Right now Reki Kawahara has going on, at the same time, Sword Art Online (last JP volume June 2024), Sword Art Online Progressive (last JP volume March 2025, almost four years after the last one), Accel World (new volume due out next month, but has only had four since 2020), Demons’ Crest (last JP volume November 2024), and The Isolator… wait, did I only imagine The Isolator? Does it really exist? it’s been so long… anyway, my point is, if he tries to juggle any more series I may have to start calling him Ryohgo Narita. As for this volume? It’s good, but needs focus. Surprise!

We pick up with the cliffhanger from the last volume, and it does not go well. Kirito is simply too overstretched, and Eolyne is kidnapped. Meanwhile, the villains are doing their damnedest to destroy Central Cathedral, with only Alice and Fanatio there to try to stop them. In order to fix things… and this sounds sillier than it actually is… Asuna will need to convince her father to drive her to Rath in the dead of night to log in and help them. Meanwhile, in Unital Ring, everyone’s still trying to figure out how to go to the next level without abandoning their beloved cabin. And Kirito, now back from Underworld, has to fight in a mock duel, because everyone still sees him as their leader. As for who’s behind everything in Underworld and Unital Ring… could it be the same person?

I’ve said this before, but a lot of the time in SAO the most interesting parts are what’s happening in the real world. I loved Asuna’s talk with her dad, who has very good reasons not to want her to keep diving into potentially lethal VR all the time, but also understands that she’s pretty much an adult now and she has to rescue those she loves. Then there’s the whole scene with her and Argo/Tomo at the cafe near her old school, which also brings back bittersweet memories, but allows her to reunite with another face from the past. It’s a reminder that not everyone who was in SAO was allowed to go off to the school designed for survivors, and some simply were told to resume their normal life only with FAR MORE PARENTAL CONTROL. Which, again, understandable, especially given the difference between Kawahara’s idealized AI of this world and our current AI woes. And it also allows him to tie things in to his movies as well. Because of course. And hey, Kizmel gets mentioned once!

If you have to read all things SAO to keep up, this is a quick, easy read, even if I did have to google some names to remind myself. As for what’s next? Probably Progressive sometime next year, but for the franchise, we’re back to GGO in the fall, so Swords Down, Guns Up.