The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 1

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By Tsunehiko Watanabe and Neko Hinotsuki. Released in Japan as “Risou no Himo Seikatsu” by Kadokawa Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Ace. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Wesley Bridges. Adapted by Jessica Cluess.

Well, here we are again with another isekai. They tend to be male power fantasies, but this one’s even more blatant about what it is than most. Based on an (as yet unlicensed) light novel, our hero is a Japanese salaryman working for a shady company and not enjoying his life, until he’s transported to another world! (Not hit by a truck, which is honestly what I was expecting.) There he meets the beautiful and busty Queen, ho explains why he’s there. Due to plot reasons, he has royal blood from the other world in him, so he needs to marry the queen and get her producing an heir. That’s all he has to do. Despite this world being pretty patriarchal, he’s not required to rule the land a la Realist Hero or anything. He’s savvy enough to realize that’s the catch (she wants to rule herself, not pass a baton), but decides to go for it anyway. Of course, this being an isekai, he immediately is an influence regardless.

It has to be said, even for a male power fantasy this one’s pretty nice to the hero. He’s briefly threatened by guards when he approaches the queen, but that’s about it. She happily explains everything to him, and even allows him to return to Earth for a month so he can settle his affairs and say goodbye to his family, which is more than 90% of isekai heroes get. He also thinks ahead, taking a portable generator and tons of books/CDs/DVDs/a fridge with him when he goes, as he knows this is standard fantasy world. I’m assuming there will be the typical adventure things later on in the series, but for the moment he is there to marry and knock up the queen. Which he does, or at least presumably. He also needs to learn the language, as it turns out that while he can hear everyone in Japanese, they aren’t really speaking it – it’s a magic ability he has. This means learning to read and write, and also teaching Excel Spreadsheets to the kingdom, which I suspect may win him enemies.

Given that we see it on Page 1 (in a sort of premonition), it should not be a surprise that there IS sex in this, which isn’t 100% explicit but gets as close as it can to that line. I’ll be honest, I was expecting more plot to interfere in the actual consummation, since I’ve seen this type of thing before, but no, this time both hero and heroine are actual adults, and the whole point is to produce an heir, and so coitus ensues. This also allows us a brief look at the queen, Aura, when she isn’t wearing the queenly mask, as we see her on the wedding night trying to act smooth and seductive, but once she’s alone in the bedroom she shows off a blush that suggests she’s just as innocent as he is. Nor is he a majestic lover, either – while they both seem to have happy sex, the line “I guess this means you’ve finished” seems to imply it was better for him than for her.

I’ve heard this series described as “come for the boobs, stay for the political intrigue”, and that seems accurate. Certainly the latter is what motivates me to try another volume. There’s some good setup here, assuming you can get past the sex scenes and objectification of the queen that’s also in these pages.

Division Maneuver: A Hero Reincarnated

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By Shippo Senoo and Nidy-2D-. Released in Japan by Kodansha. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. Adapted by Dayna Abel.

I’ll freely admit, I had not originally planned to read or review this at all. We have come to a point in the North American light novel market where you simply can’t read absolutely everything. And that cover made me say “Oh boy, another masturbatory aid for teenage boys!” But I had a gap in my schedule before Yen’s March light novels hit like a bat to the head, and I thought “OK, I guess.” In the end, it balances out that I’m pleased that I read the book, and I’ll likely pick up the second (and final) volume. So I’m here to tell you about why yet another book with teens in powered suits at a magical academy is something that you might want to take notice of, rather than, say, Infinite Stratos, or Seirei Gensouki, or The Asterisk War, etc. And I will also warn you that my first impression of the book is ALSO very true. If you’re reading this book, hope you like endless descriptions of boobs.

So once there was a hero. He was a bit headstrong and stubborn. He fought to save the Earth from hideous tentacle monsters (who thankfully only want to eat humanity, not do anything else with it) and he sacrificed himself to take out the evil queen monster. Unfortunately, she’s not quite dead. So he’s reincarnated back into the world as a young man and resolves to get stronger and try again. The big problem there is his new self has virtually no magical aptitude. Fortunately, he runs into his old teacher, who also happens to be the headmaster of the magical academy for awesome magical students. She trains him in fencing, martial arts, and the like to the point where even though he has virtually no magic, he can still beat most everyone. When he arrives at the school, he joins an elite unit, learns to actually use teamwork (something his former self was bad at), and falls in love with his sempai, who is also the little girl saved by his former self right before he died.

I’ll start with positives. Hanabi, the heroine, is not the sort of heroine I was expecting when I picked up this book – cool, hands off, tsundere, constantly yelling at the hero, etc. She’s a bit battle hungry, actually, and falls in love with Kuon faster than he does with her. He’s 13, by the way, which makes this relationship a bit “ergh” (she’s 18), but nothing seems to happen beyond making out. I also liked her best friend, who is a standard character type, but it’s one I like. Honestly, by the end of the book I was thinking that some of the cast were going to die – it gets fairly brutal at times. Now for the downside… well, you saw the cover. The color illustrations merely exacerbate it. Hanabi is a walking pinup and the author and illustrator want you to know it. Kuon thinks about her breasts all the time. It gets very aggravating for anyone over the age of 19. Oh yes, and our hero has no magic aptitude – except that he can STOP TIME. Which is apparently a martial art? I dunno.

So I liked the character relationships and plot enough to read more, but unfortunately, the fanservice and the questionable romance mean we once again have a light novel that I can only recommend to its intended audience. Teenage boys, go get it.

My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, Vol. 7

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By Wataru Watari and Ponkan 8. Released in Japan as “Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatte Iru” by Shogakukan. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

After the bleakness of the last volume, it’s good to see that this one is at least slightly more light-hearted, though as always the author can’t seem to resist ending on a downhearted note. That said, things are a lot warmer here, and the extra side-story that adapts a drama CD even tries to retcon the last book by showing that Hachiman was eventually roped into an after party anyway. This brings together most of the main protagonists, and features what may be the funniest part of the book, where Hachiman’s “hobbies” are found to be wanting (people watching doesn’t count) and they try to find him some new ones. It does reinforce a running theme of this series, though, which is that as much as Hachiman wants to push everyone as far away from him as possible, there is a growing core of people who worry and care about him. The trouble is, some are also falling for him, and at this point, that’s not a good thing.

It’s time for the traditional trip to Kyoto, with temple visits galore, something that has most people excited, even Yukino, who seems to be far more into the trip than she pretends. That said, the Service Club also has a new request, and it puts the “romantic comedy” back in the spotlight. Tobe, best known so far as “Hayama’s #2”, is in love with Ebina, best known so far as “that BL fangirl”, and wants to ask her out, but is nervous, so wants to enlist the help of Hachiman’s group. Needless to say, given this group, this involves 2/3 crushing verbal abuse and 1/3 sympathy, and even Yui is finding it hard to bring the sympathy. The trouble is, as it becomes apparent, Ebina does not want that sort of relationship – not now, and not with Tobe. And that makes everyone nervous, because the way Hayama and Miura’s cliques are set up, if a confession results in awkwardness and pulling away, it will destroy both groups.

If you guessed the solution to this was “Hachiman taking things on himself so as to deflect everything to him”, then congratulations, you are familiar with how this series works. That said, much as it was interesting to see a more serious and even poignant side to Ebina, the “main” romance is mostly there to highlight the main love triangle of Hachiman, Yukino and Yui. There’s plenty of ship tease between him and both girls here, as he holds Yui’s hand as they go through a dark and creepy temple set, and sneaks out for ramen with Yukino and Shizuka (a chapter that features Yukino at easily her cutest and most vulnerable in the series to date). But, just as everyone knows with Ebina and Tobe, the reader is aware that if the love story advances further, the core friendship of these three is going to be broken. Especially if Hachiman keeps up his “please crucify me” solutions to everyone’s problems.

So the question is, what’s next? Can the Service Club maintain its status quo? Well, my guess is yes, as the next volume is “7.5”, and is a collection of short stories. (Note that unlike, say, Devil Is a Part-Timer, these .5 volumes were not released as DVD extras, and are therefore able to be licensed here.) That said, this seventh volume of OreGairu is a bit less bleak, but you’re starting to see that the train is rushing forward towards a final destination that may simply be “crash”.