How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, Vol. 10

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By Dojyomaru and Fuyuyuki. Released in Japan by Overlap, Inc. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

Once we found out that the world of Realist Hero is one that supports polyamory, the romantic pairings started flying fast and furious. The main focus of this volume is the marriage between Souma and his five wives, and that does happen. But Souma wants to have a lot of other weddings at the same time. His reasoning is solid: he wants lots of babies now so that everyone is available later on, as he suspects soon he’ll be battling Fuuga and other higher-ups for control of the kingdom and other lands, and needs all the help he can get. As a result, he goes around resolving all the sort of romances we’ve had to date that don’t involve him. (Sometimes he doesn’t even need to get involved. Julius marries the princess we saw in Book 8, and Haruhi – sorry, Kuu – proposes to the Realist Hero equivalent of Yuki and Mikuru.) So Hal is marrying Kaede and Ruby, and may also get an elf bride in a few years as a third. The resident mad scientist is marrying her minder. And Poncho also resolves his OT3… well, no. All these marriages are resolved by women. Indeed, the core of this book is that the guys have the nominal power, but the women are the more mature ones who resolve things.

Having had Saber Red on the cover of the first book, we get Saber Lily here for the 10th. Of course, both are Liscia, but the artist has never quite managed to hide their Fate fanart origins. It seems appropriate for this book, which reads almost like a fanfic writer decided to resolve all the uncommitted pairings at once. The “make babies at once” edict also seems like a fan thing, and while there’s no sex in this book, we glide around the topic quite a bit, going from another “Excel Walter Explains It All For You” bridal meeting to Liscia explicitly telling Souma he’ll be bedding everyone one night after another right after the wedding (Aisha is first up) to Serina making sure that Poncho is eating aphrodisiac foods at their own wedding reception. I am not sure if Book 11 will be filled with babies, though. Oh yes, and in non-wedding news, the identity of a certain masked ninja is made a lot clearer.

The best story is saved for last, though, as Liscia’s mother Elisha tells her own life story, and how she discovered her horrible power and used it in order to marry the right man, set up the kingdom so that it would not end in bloodshed, and when all that failed at least send the memories of the one thing she did wrong to the Elisha of OUR world. Yes, that is a plot twist I am spoiling, but it’s brilliant, and I applaud. Elisha’s similarity to Liscia as a child was amusing, but it’s her compassion that is how we remember her. I also liked the callback to an earlier volume where Elisha tells Souma of the fate he and Liscia suffered in that world, and Souma suggests the old “they never saw the bodies” defense, which turns out o be rather relevant after all. In a book filled with sweet, sappy love stories, this one really made me grin.

If I recall, the webnovel this is based on slightly changed the title for future books, implying this is the end of Season 1. I doubt the official books will do the same, but I do expect a change of pace next time. Till then, enjoy all the weddings.

Silver Spoon, Vol. 11

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By Hiromu Arakawa. Released in Japan as “Gin no Saji” by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Amanda Haley.

As promised, we get the Valentine’s Day arc in this volume. That said, it pretty much relies on the sort of thing that I talked about in the last review: everyone is sort of pissed off watching the happy not-yet-a-couple while they themselves are single. Indeed, we even get a breakup here from one of the minor characters, and it’s pointed out that “eldest son of a farmer” is not a big plus for women looking for a man. In fact, it’s the opposite. That said, there is hope on the horizon. Hachiken successfully conveys that he wants chocolate from Mikage. Despite enormous obstacles, she manages to give it to him. And even with an immediate mood-killer, it’s not destroyed like Hachiken’s phone was in the last book. The same applies to Mikage’s grades – they aren’t great, but they’re now good enough that she can see about getting a recommendation for her college. Steady progress is important – in fact, that’s the key to this whole volume.

Everyone is moving up a grade – and in many cases, that means moving out of the dorms. Hachiken decides that he wants a place of his own, and manages to barter with his parents to get it. Less successful is his attempt to explain to his dad that he wants to start a business and would like funding. He has the ideas and the fortitude – and his father is impressed that he actually stands up for himself – but he has no real plan beyond “stuff happens”, so is coldly rejected. Fortunately, he has the sense to ask Tamako for help, as she’s the economic genius of the bunch. Hachiken’s dad is not made magically nicer here, but we do start to see why he was so frustrated at Hachiken passively doing what others wanted before, and it’s Hachiken (and Mikage!) standing up to him that means that the door is not permanently shut. That said, Hachiken’s dad is still sort of a scary ass.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m not all that fond of “lovable idiot” characters like tokiwa and Ookawa. We get a lot of Ookawa in this book, as he’s finally forced to graduate (literally, they have to physically make him take the diploma) and face up to unemployment. There isn’t a job of “ruin Hachiken’s life”, sadly, which is a shame as he’s perfectly qualified for it. We also get a long, serious and heartwarming explanation of the Silver Spoon in the title from the headmaster, though again Arakawa can’t resist undercutting things by having the teacher point out it’s his “standard speech”. It still works, and by the end of the volume you get the sense that Hachiken is on the right path, using the resources of abandoned and half-finished projects that the school still has lying around for his own.

This seems to end the “Winter” arc, and the next arc, “Four Seasons”, is the final one (assuming the manga ever comes off of hiatus again). It remains essential reading for anyone who loves a great story and characters.

The Irregular at Magic High School: Steeplechase Arc

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By Tsutomu Sato and Kana Ishida. Released in Japan as “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

When you’re doing a series set in high school, and it actually moves forward in time, it can be hard to find new material for the same thing you’ve seen before. Last time on Irregular at Magic High School we saw everyone searching for new club members – again – and this time we get the second time around for their equivalent of the athletic festival, the Nine Schools Competition. So, naturally, the author decides to have things changed around at the last minute, in order to better serve the plot. Three events are different, much to Azusa’s horror, as it means they have to do a lot of last-minute planning. Why the last-minute changes? Well, it’s all part of a powerplay involving the military, the parasites from previous books, an some Chinese defectors – who we don’t actually meet in this book, but I’ve no doubt will appear soon. Not that the schools know this. Fortunately, First High has Tatsuya, who can do anything.

That said, even Tatsuya is having trouble keeping up. In addition to ferreting out the saboteurs who plan to put parasite-infected androids in the steeplechase course to maim magic students – rather cruelly, we’re told it’s OK to ruin the student’s lives and magic career as long as they aren’t killed – but he also has to do prep for all the students competing in the various events this year. At least he’s not IN the events, but it’s so exhausting that he barely even notices his sister having a mental meltdown one night and “warming his body” with her own. Fortunately for my sanity, this low point is followed by the book’s high point, as Tatsuya is about to go out and invade the Steeplechase course to take out the androids before the events, and Miyuki correctly notes that he’s about to fall over exhausted, and why does he have to do absolutely everything all the time? Miyuki works so much better as a caring little sister than as a thirsty one.

As for the rest of the book, it’s Mahouka-by-numbers, but in a series like this that’s not a bad thin. There’s lots of intrigue, and we get to see various characters show off how talented they are, including Ayako and Fumiya, who are on the cover, making this the second cover in a row starring twins. We’ve met these two before, but here they show off that they too can clean up at the competition, taking events for Fourth High and generally showing off. I also like Minami, who gets to use her all-powerful barrier, though finds that it can be a drawback when the enemy runs away and the cops show up to question her. Minami has absolutely had it with the incestual subtext, and I completely agree. And I was also amused by one event where Subaru pronounces that she will defeat Honoka and ensure that it’s not just “everyone who has Tatsuya as their engineer wins”, but forgets which series she’s in – one word of encouragement from Tatsuya and Honoka cleans up. Yes, it IS everyone who has Tatsuya wins. Please bow to him.

The usual irritations aside, this was a pretty decent Mahouka. Next up is apparently a two-part arc, which will no doubt continue to deal with China or its equivalent in this world. Worth picking up if you like really powerful stoic heroes.