Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~, Vol. 27

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By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan as “Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

I’ve talked before about how the way that these books come out in Japan vs. America can sometimes hinder the English-speaking reader. The afterword to this volume says that the 5th Ex book will be a great thing to read to explain much of what happens at the end. Which it absolutely is. The trouble is that here it came out before the final volume of the 5th arc, and also I’ve forgotten most of it by now. Not great, though I understand why Yen cannot simply match another country’s publication schedule to help the wiki-consulting reader. On the other hand, sometimes we can actually get a release schedule helping us out. The last Re: Zero I reviewed was the third short story collection, which has the debut of Natsumi Schwartz, Subaru’s cross-dressing alter ego. And now here we are with the 2nd book in Arc 7, and who should appear to save the day (well, somewhat) but the same Natsumi Schwartz? I expected to see “her” again, but not this soon.

Subaru wants nothing to do with Abel’s crusade, and so he, Rem, and Louis ask the Shudrack to help them reach the nearest town, which they enter thanks to a brother-sister team of eccentrics. Unfortunately, Subaru then dies. Over. And over. And over again. Without quite figuring out what’s going on, which does not help his state of mind at all. Once he’s able to finally realize who is doing this, he manages to break out of the city and go BACK to Abel – as Abel had predicted he would do. That said, he also brought along Flop and Medium (yes, those are their names, it’s a bit Baccano, methinks), which allows Abel the possibility of actually winning his next battle. Unfortunately, Flop proves reluctant to help, so it’s up to Subaru to remember what he’s best at: dumb-sounding plans that work brilliantly.

This is another book that gets better as it goes along. The first half is basically Subaru learning a lesson the only way he knows how – by dying over and over again till it sticks in his head. And that lesson is that this is not a war that he and Rem (and Louis, who Subaru is finally realizing he cannot simply treat like a criminal anymore) can run away from. Honestly, the best parts of the book are him and Rem. This makes sense, given how much ground Rem lost to Emilia over the last fifteen or so books. She’s still grumpy and distrusts Subaru’s smell, but she’s starting to see what his morals and ethics are… and is there to help support them when needed, and criticize him when he varies from them. Subaru worrying she was going to run away from him again, and begging her to stay not for him, but for all the others who love her, is fantastic.

The cliffhanger suggests we’ll be getting a lot of a certain Royal Selection candidate soon… not a surprise given who Abel actually is. Unfortunately, it’ll be till at least December till we get more, as Yen’s schedule lightens up. Till then, this is great in the second half, and OK in the first.

Imperial Reincarnation: I Came, I Saw, I Survived, Vol. 2

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By Masekinokatasa and Kaito Shinobu. Released in Japan as “Tenseishitara Koutei deshita: Umarenagara no Koutei wa Konosaki Ikinokoreru ka?” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Jason Li.

I admit, I had expected the build-up to the imperial coup (literally, the Emperor is doing the couping) to be longer than this. In retrospect, though, this actually feels about right. The series knows that there’s only so much we can take of Carmine pretending to be a dumb little puppet while gradually gaining trusted allies and learning vital bits of information. Especially given that he’s also still having to fight off assassination attempts. But it does show, as Carmine reminds us in this book, that the battle against the Chancellor and the Minister of Ceremony is only the beginning, and that we end this book with an Emperor who may finally have revealed his true self but is also left with an Empire that is still on the verge of collapse. This is only the beginning, and he’s going to need more things – allies, military power, and most of all money – to avoid history coming down on him very hard indeed.

This book divides pretty neatly in two. The first part of the book shows him touring the Empire, where he has to fend off another attempted assassination, try to win over some potential allies, and also be exposed to the horrors of war, which he knows very well he bears responsibility for indirectly, puppet or no. He’s revealing his true self to more and more people at this point. In the second half he learns the truth behind the Illuminatus, and that he is not the first person to be reincarnated into this world. And finally, all his plans come together, as he manages to have a faction send their troops to take over the empire because of treason, and then demonstrates – as he’s being crowned – what the reward actually is for traitors.

The first book had a substantial role for Rosaria as Carmine’s love interest, but also teased two other girls who may also end up with him. Nadine gets more focus here, and at first seems to be a standard cliche – Carmine sees her at the start of this volume and thinks “so this is what tsunderes are like”. But she also has to be imprisoned in order for Carmine’s plot to not get discovered too early, and it becomes apparent that she’s the most “normal” of the three girls – and therefore the most vulnerable, especially as she’s not put in a gilded tower like Vera-Sylvie, but put in the traitor dungeon, which is exactly what you’d expect a cliched dungeon to be like. Carmine literally has to send an ally to help her so that she doesn’t kill herself in despair. But her simpleness is also her best quality – she’s determined to mold him into a good Emperor, and though she can’t spot the act consciously like Rosaria can, she does spot it unconsciously – and when the truth is revealed, seems overjoyed to be of use to him after all. These are good kids.

By the end of the book Carmine is 12, in power, and in trouble. We’ll see if he can age further in the third book. This can be dry at times, but is also rewarding for those who like OP politics light novels.

My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 14

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By Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka. Released in Japan as “Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei Shite Shimatta…” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Joshua Douglass-Molloy.

This is one of the lengthier volumes in the series, as the author notes in their afterword. That said, by the end of it, there’s really only one new piece of information, and I’m not sure where we’re going to go with it. The rest of the book is made up of the usual romantic stasis (Jeord, having once again forced a kiss, ends up getting a fever and taking the rest of the volume off), with one exception that I’ll get to. And there’s also the continuing story of what’s going on with all the black magic and who’s behind it, which we get closer to, but have not quite arrived at an endgame. In other words, this volume is full of sound and fury. That said, Katarina’s clueless narration is always pleasant, and the book is definitely fun to read much of the time. But as always, anyone who came to this from the anime has likely dropped it ages ago.

Katarina and the others attend a palace ball, and given that Maria and her family were recently attacked, this includes extra bodyguarding in Cyrus, who is forced to have to deal with women. Katarina, meanwhile, is delighted to find a kindred spirit, as another woman is also eating far too much food and being chided by her brother for it. This is Haru and her brother Ryo, and as the names might have suggested, they’re from this world’s version of Japan. And, the two plots dovetailing nicely, it turns out that Haru is in love with Cyrus, and has been lurking around palace balls trying to pin him down. This all culminates in a visit to Cyrus’ lands, which are having a disturbingly familiar problem… animals are disappearing from the nearby forest. Is Katarina going to have to fight another dragon?

I try not to be a shipper in these reviews, but sorry, a great deal of this book is devoted to setting up Maria and Cyrus, which is naturally going to make my MariKata heart sad. Katarina, as ever, is very canny about everyone else’s romantic relationships but not her own – she even pegs Haru as the second’ otome game’s version of Mary, and she’s absolutely correct, right down to the rejection that inevitably comes. The key difference between Fortune Lover I and II in Katarina’s universe is that unlike the first book, where almost all the events were killed off by Katarina’s niceness, the second game’s events are actually happening, making it harder for her to avoid her doom. Though she’ll give it a try, as long as she can use her magical staff like a vacuum cleaner (the best part of the book).

The big revelation here is that Sarah, our increasingly distressed villain, is a childhood friend of Raphael’s “alter ego” Sirius. How that plays out will need to wait for the next book. For hardcore fans.