The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom, Vol. 3

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By Fuyutsuki Koki and Masami. Released in Japan as “Kanpeki Sugite Kawaige ga Nai to Konyaku Haki Sareta Seijo wa Ringoku ni Urareru” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tiffany Lim and Amelia Mason. Adapted by Shaenon K. Garrity.

I must admit, I used to get upset when I saw this sort of thing in Japanese light novels, but now I just laugh. is there some meme picture that is the opposite of the guy sweating over which button to push? Because I think if you presented two buttons to a light novel author, one of which said ‘tragic and nuanced villain who the audience empathizes but does not sympathize with’, and the other of which said ‘villain who will happily destroy the world for petty spite and also drinks puppies’, the average light novel author would not think twice before slamming Button #2. And needless to say Fuyutsuki Koki is exactly the same. Heck, we’re introduced to the villain and given a legitimate sympathetic reason for their villainy, but then it turns out to not be enough, they have to go full ham. Fortunately, the heroine of this series also goes full ham, albeit stoically.

All is well. The evil from Book Two has been defeated, Philia and Osvalt are engaged and planning their wedding, and the anime managed to fix a lot of the problems the second book had with pacing. Surely nothing could go wrong now… oh, what’s this missive from the Church? It turns out that the Pope is dead, and Philia has supposedly been chosen as the new Pope in his will, surprising everyone, not least of all Philia herself, as a Saint has never been made Pope before. But everyone agrees that she has to obey the declaration that she is Pope or risk being excommunicated and starting a Holy War in Parnacorta. It’s fine! She can even still marry Osvalt! But she has to live in Dalbert now, this world’s Vatican City. Philia, though, starts to smell a rat, especially when she hears about Archbishop Henry, who everyone THOUGHT would be the next Pope…

As with so many light novels, this is not a series to read if you like subtlety. Leaving aside the villain, who has an epic revenge that involves destroying Philia’s happiness and ruining the country of Parnacorta, and has plans to resurrect the dead and also command an ancient God to do his bidding, there’s also Philia herself, who hears about a divine spell that can let someone talk to the dead, hears that no one has ever done it as divine spells are lethal if done slightly wrong, and just does it anyway, in an Ace-Attorney style finale that has her calling the dead back to testify TWICE. The good news is that Mia, who was mostly sidelined in book 2, gets things to do here, and she also gets to show off that she is not only as OP as her sister, but can also get a prince to propose to her. If there’s a flaw in this book, it’s that no one ever really feels in danger when these sisters are around.

You’d think this was the last in the series, but no, we’ve got a long way to go. Next volume is the wedding picture cover art one, though. Fans of the anime can happily start here.

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 7

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By Shigeru Sagazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga Ore o Hōttekurenai Ken” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

Last time I wrote a review of this, the anime was just starting, and as I write this one, the anime has just ended. Most people agree that it was stolid, unremarkable, did not really do anything wrong but was nothing to write home about except the fight scenes were very well done. Folks also agree that the Japanese voice of Beryl really nailed the part, that sort of world-weary “I am forty years old, sigh” quality that he has a lot of the time. I thought the voice was excellent, and it also helps as I read this seventh volume in the series, where Beryl’s soul-searching monologues are at an all-time high. And while it’s just a coincidence, the fact that folks who finished the anime and decided to buy this new book get a volume that is almost a direct sequel to the end of the anime is very nice.

Beryl has been asked to help provide security for the wedding of Princess Salacia to Prince Glenn of Sphenedyardvania, a wedding that, of course, takes place in that country, which also recently resurrected the dead, including Mewi’s sister, and is in the middle of a holy war. So, extra protection is recommended. After stopping off in Flumvelk to rest and so that Beryl can get seduced (spoiler: he does not get seduced), they arrive there to find everything seemingly going well… until the wedding is invaded by undead, and the city outside is invaded by horrible chimera. Fortunately, Beryl and Allucia have help, including a mysterious masked woman, as well as… the enemies from the last book?

As always, it can be very hard to take Beryl’s aw shucks attitude in large doses, and there’s an extra helping of that in this book. I am hoping that it’s because he’s actually trying to figure out how to live going forward beyond “be best at sword”. He loves being a dad, and I think would be happy for Mewi to have a mother, he has no real concept of what a wife would be like. This is most obvious in the scenes with Shueste, who does everything short of lying naked on his bed and saying “take me now, big boy”. He clearly GETS it, but the idea of another woman liking him, be it student, noble, or anyone, makes him deeply uncomfortable. Which is a decent ongoing dilemma for a harem series to have, but dragging it out too long loses readers, who won’t always be happy with 100 pages of cool fights. I’m honestly rooting for Shueste, but I suspect first girl Allucia still has the advantage right now. We’ll see how shopping for swords goes next time.

If you enjoyed the anime, you know what you’re getting with Beryl. So as long as you’re not the sort who asks if there is snu-snu, this should make you perfectly happy.

The Twelve Kingdoms, Book One: Shadow of the Moon, Shadow of the Sea, Part 1

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By Fuyumi Ono and Akihiro Yamada. Released in Japan as “Tsuki no Kage, Kage no Umi” by X Bunko White Heart. Released in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. Translated by Kim Morrissy. Adapted by Monica Sullivan.

There’s isekai, and then there’s ISEKAI. This is one of the OG isekai, back before it was a genre, and around the same time as the other majorly influential OG isekai, Fushigi Yuugi. Almost twenty years ago, Tokyopop published the first half of the series, but it then got cancelled due to poor sales, as happened a lot back then. Now it’s back, with a new translation and a spiffy looking cover. And after reading this first volume, I cannot help but feel a sneering contempt for those modern wannabe isekai. Oh, the poor guy who gets truck-kun’d into another world, and all he has its a cool sword, a bunch of catgirls, and a guild that lets him explore all the dungeons he wants for money. Or he’s summoned to be the savior of the world… well, actually, that is SORT OF how Twelve Kingdoms starts. But things go very bad very quickly. This book is dark as hell.

Youko Nakajima has been having bad dreams. Dreams of being trapped in darkness, unable to move, while hungry killer beasts are running towards her. They are making life difficult for her at her private all-girls’ school,. where she tries to keep up good grades, be a nice girl that’s easy to get along with, and ignore the bullying of other girls lower on the totem pole. Then one day, while in the teacher’s office where they’re getting annoyed about her red hair – again – suddenly a man shows up, says she needs to come with him, and tries to drag her off. Then she’s attacked by the same animals that were in her dream, who burst through the window and injure the faculty. Then she’s being told to kill then with a sword that is handed to her. Then she is possessed by a creature that can manipulate her body so she can swing the sword. Then… she’s flown to another world.

For those who saw the anime when it came out in 2002 and wonder where the other two Japanese kids are, they’re not here. (OK, Sugimoto is here to get bullied, but she doesn’t get isekai’d). Youko is all alone – indeed, very much all alone, as she quickly loses the handsome guy insisting that she come with him to fulfill her destiny and ends up in a hostile country. The book is very well written, with evocative descriptions, and Youko’s descent from terror into confusion into anger into just giving up is incredibly well done. That said… in Japan, the next volume came out one month later, and I’m going to assume that things get better for her in that. That does leave this volume, which is just unrelenting. She’s torn from Japan and told she can never return. She’s imprisoned, and told she’ll likely be executed. She meets one or two nice people… who immediately turn out to be not-so-nice. By the end of the book she can’t accept that anyone being nice to her isn’t secretly evil, and is on the verge of starvation, exhaustion, and death because she’s also having to battle countless youma every single night. This is a MISERABLE isekai for her.

That said, this is a 30+-year-old series, so I know things get better for her. Eventually. Till then, this is gorgeous trauma.