The Asterisk War: The Way of the Sword

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By Yuu Miyazaki and okiura. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

There is not usually much continuity between reviews of different series on my site: these are meant to stand alone. That said, as I read The Asterisk War’s 11th volume, a series derided by many as being cookie-cutter and plot-by-numbers, filled with harem heroines getting jealous, cool girls with swords, and a lead who seems to be putting all issues of romance aside till he solves the big problems, it was hard not to compare this with the 13th Strike the Blood, which I’d read right before it. Heck, they even both have the exact same number of fanfics on AO3. Five. I was somewhat grumpy with the StB volume, which I felt fell back into its old patterns (admittedly on purpose). This volume of Asterisk War, which is a “between arcs” volume with no tournaments, should in theory be even more by the numbers – and it is. Despite that, I found myself enjoying it a lot more. I’m not entirely sure why this is, though.

Kirin was on the cover of the 10th volume, so she’s not on this one, which is a shame, as this is absolutely her book through and through. She invites the rest of the group to her family house for the break, but all of them have other plans, which devastates her, as she’s that sort of person. That said, Ayato is quick enough to realize this, and asks if she wouldn’t mind going to HIS house, mostly as he wants to avoid being alone with his father. Kirin learns about Ayato’s family and past, and yearns to help him get closer to his parents. Things are slightly happier at her house, and Ayato naturally comes with her in return, as she has a full family once more – her father is out of prison due to her wish. But will she have to drop out of school to take over the family? And will she manage to confess to Ayato?

Again, every single plot beat you see here can be read a mile away, both on Kirin’s end, and also with Ayato, who also has to deal with the larger plot (his sister being revived, and also his late mother, whose secret identity the reader learns about here). And it probably helps that I haven’t read or seen Chivalry of a Failed Knight, the series everyone negatively compares Asterisk War to, unlike Strike the Blood, where I am familiar with Index. I think the main reason I enjoy this series more is that, despite both having complicated plots, the Asterisk War characters grow and develop emotionally in satisfying ways that have little to nothing to do with the fact that they love Ayato. Yes, Kirin wants to get strong so that she can stand by Ayato’s side, but her arc is also satisfying for her standing up to her family and inspiring Ayato to do the same, even if he can’t quite make up with his stern but awkward father. Julis and Claudia also get mini-arcs in this book that help develop their own plotlines and character, neither of which have anything to do with Ayato.

Asterisk War may be cookie-cutter and written to order, but its characters have a depth I just don’t really see from Kojou and Yukina. If you want to read a predictable light novel series that Western fans tend to dislike, this is definitely the one to pick.

Strike the Blood, Vol. 13

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By Gakuto Mikumo and Manyako. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Bourque.

The author mentioned in his afterword that this volume was meant to be something of a return to “traditional” Strike the Blood volumes, and it certainly succeeds at that. We’re back on the island, which is under attack by a terrorist organization that seemingly has all the cards. Half of Kojou’s allies are taken out, and he’s weakened by a Beast that can do something no one else had thought possible. Fortunately, by biting Yukina, as well as another girl, he’s able to save the day. And Yukina gets to say “No, senpai, this is our fight!” It’s all here, all present and correct. Unfortunately, that also includes the less-than-stellar parts of the series – for the first time in a while, I was thinking of this as book-by-numbers. This series has a tendency to feel like it’s a novelization of an anime rather than the other way around, and plot, characterization and action scenes are so smoothly written and precise that they come across as dull some of the time. Nothing is particularly surprising in this book.

The head of the terrorist organization has a past connection with Natsuki, something that cries out for a flashback or more detail but sadly no. He’s also a rather crap terrorist, trying to get Kojou to join him by mentioning that some of the Island’s leaders are evil while also causing events that will kill massive numbers of innocents and yeah, sorry, your #2 love interest also has to die too, but join us anyway. Needless to say, this doesn’t go well, and he ends up being killed off by one of the evil leaders of the island, whose identity is meant to be a shocking surprise but is not. The other members of the terrorist organization are essentially plucky orphans who no one ever loved, and I’d feel sympathy if we got more time with each of them, which we don’t. The other leader is December, who does manage to be interesting, but she’s also a spoiler, so I’ll just end it there.

I was going to complain about Nagisa briefly being in peril for no reason at all (actually, there is a reason, and it’s relatively benign, but we don’t figure it out till the end of the book), but then I realized that this is essentially “Peril: the Series”. Nagisa is obviously #1, but Natsuki also gets to be removed from the field for a while, and the author even jokes about “Asagi having another bad day”. The only ones NOT in peril are Sayaka, Shio and Yuiri, who actually manage to save the day to an extent. Speaking of Yuiri, I’d like to remind the author that he is absolutely shit at writing humor, so stop it. I’d rather read A Certain Magical Index’s humor than yours. That’s how bad the “he sucked my blood/took my virginity” scenes were. Stay in your “action adventure” lane, please.

There were a few elements here I liked, including seeing Astarte do something again for the first time in like ten books. But sadly this attempt to go back to the basics of Strike the Blood reminded me that the series’ basics aren’t all that interesting. Go outside the box again, please!

There Was No Secret Evil-Fighting Organization (srsly?!), So I Made One MYSELF!, Vol. 1

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By Hagane Kurodome and Katto. Released in Japan by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Taishi.

If I’m honest, this book was never going to live up to its title. That’s a big title. It promises a lot. It’s long, in the tradition of light novels these days. But the (srsly?) and the MYSELF!, between the two of them, promise more than I feel the series is prepared to deliver. The premise is solid. Indeed, if I read the second book in the series, it’s likely because I’m interested to see what happens next as I am curious. Unfortunately, the characterization and the writing can’t quite live up to it. Possibly the main sin the series commits is that I don’t think it’s funny enough. There’s an occasional smile as I read, but a title like “There Was No Secret Evil-Fighting Organization (srsly?!), So I Made One MYSELF!” demands laughs. A lot of laughs. It does not, I should note, demand endless textbook analysis of what being a telekinetic would be like in real life. Sadly, that’s what we get, as Sago is determined to relate to us in great detail his scientific method.

Sago is our hero, a teen who finds one day that he has telekinesis when he moves snack crumbs using only the power of his mind. It’s never clear how he woke to these powers, nor does anyone arrive to tell him about them, or say that he now has to fight bad guys. After years and years of training, to the point where he is laughably overpowered, he’s bored just being a salaryman, so he decides to create his own organization that would do to others what he wanted done to him. He finds a rich young woman who has just as many delusions of grandeur as he does, and two teenage kids who have issues of their own. He also creates bad guys for the kids to fight. Now he finally has everything that he originally wanted, though admittedly all he ends up doing himself is watching this play out from the sidelines, because he’s given himself the “mysterious unseen boss” character.

As I said, the premise is intriguing, especially with the revelation at the end of the book that they’ve been discovered by the press (which was intentional on their part). There is also a terrific bit of misdirection where they recruit the 5th member to their party that impressed me. But for the most part this was an exercise in frustration. The book is quite lengthy, and a large amount of that length, as I said earlier, is given over to Sago slowly and deliberately testing his powers, researching things, etc. The first fifth of the book, till he meets Kaburagi, is some of the most boring prose I’ve read in some time. Speaking of Kaburagi, I wish we’d done more with her, as she’s a character type I find fun, but she’s mostly wasted in this volume. The two teenage kids who are the “main characters” in Sago’s ploy are interesting, but Shouta’s initial jerkass character is also extremely frustrating. And the side story about the drunken CIA agent was painfully tortuous to read.

The book is trying to show how having a secret evil-fighting organization of superpowered people would be difficult to do in a “realistic” way, and it succeeds in showing us that. But man, it really does not live up to its title.