How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, Vol. 5

Leave a reply

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

There is something of a cliche about light novel fans, many of whom are teenage boys and young men, that when a new light novel is announced and the plot summary appears, the first questions asked by said fans is whether there is sex in the series. (Actually, they tend to say “snusnu’, which is a Futurama reference, for added nerd appeal.) I mentioned on Twitter the other day that if I saw one more fan asking about whether a light novel has snusnu, I was going to flip tables. It therefore amused me greatly that a great deal of the plot of this fifth light novel in the Realist Hero series involves the fact that he hasn’t yet had sex with any of his fiancees, and that it’s beginning to annoy people who want an heir. This being Realist Hero, of course, we get long discussions of why heirs are important, the succession order, and the pros and cons of why Souma should or should not take Liscia to bed before he feels ready. That said, fans may relax. There is sex in this. But it’s offscreen, so they may stay frustrated.

Fortunately, there’s a lot more going on in this book than just wondering when Souma and Liscia will get it on. In fact, I’d argue it’s the strongest volume to date. There are finally hints that we’re going to be getting, if not forward plot motion, at least more just than running to stand still. The religious theocracy country has sent a representative to Souma to ask him to accept their religion as his country’s own, as well as make him a Holy King. Given they’re already angry at Maria of the Empire for daring to call herself a Saint, even though that’s a nickname not of her choosing, the reader is not inclined to hold them in high esteem. That said, the author does not appear to have it in for religion in general, unlike other light novels (hi, Smartphone), and Souma’s solution as to how to avoid the Papal State while not inciting them to foment rebellion is quite clever. We also get a setup for the next volume, showing that we will be meeting the Dragon People, who (given we’re told they can take human form and mate with Knights) I suspect will be providing another fiancee for our busy king.

There’s also some ridiculousness, as we’ve seen every volume. Souma bringing children’s television to the masses is a heck of a lot of fun, combining aspect of Sesame Street with the sentai superhero shows he recalls from Japan. And he’s also trying to think of ways to improve the nation, ranging from aircraft carriers disguised as islands to turning the wyverns into aircycles (which Kaede and Hal are in charge of, in case you were wondering about the cover). And of course the “bridal training” mentioned earlier, which is being handled by Excel Walter (you do remember Walter, right?) with the help of some truth serum spiked in Souma’s alcohol, which I was not happy with, but at least she didn’t try to bed him after that. We even have a discussion of idealism vs. realism, which I found quite amusing given that I myself sometimes tend to forget that this is not supposed to be “about an Idealist Hero”.

Essentially, a very good volume to the series. Also, feel sorry for Liscia, who even her own fiancee says is the standard, ordinary heroine. All she has going for her is her Saberface. Sad!

Takane & Hana, Vol. 1

Leave a reply

By Yuki Shiwusa. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by JN Productions. Adapted by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane.

I am known for being notoriously easy to please, but it has to be said, I have a type. I have a certain kind of manga that I will automatically pick up sight unseen, and will always assume I will love unless proven otherwise. That type is shoujo manga from Hakusensha’s Hana to Yume magazine. From Skip Beat! and Oresama Teacher back through Fruits Basket and the complete works of Banri Hidaka all the way back to Here Is Greenwood, Hana to Yume is almost always a win for me. So I was prepared for Takane & Hana to please me. And yet I admit to surprise. It surpassed my expectations. What’s more, it surpassed them on the inside cover page. When you can win over a reader before the table of contents, you’re doing something right. Best of all, it kept my attention and kept me laughing and grinning the rest of the volume.

Hana is a cute high school girl with the misfortune to be the younger sister to a girl that is absolutely gorgeous. Her father also works as a corporate guy for a rich conglomerate, and the head of said conglomerate wants his grandson to marry – and thinks that Hana’s sister is pretty and would be just the thing. Unfortunately, the sister blows the whole thing off, so (as the grandfather is getting on and they may as well) they disguise Hana as her sister and try to have the marriage meeting anyway. It is, predictably, a disaster. The grandson, Takane, is arrogant, grumpy, and insensitive, and Hana blows up and storms out. Except… Hana blowing up intrigued Takane, and now he’s taken an interest in her. What follows is their hilarious semi-courtship, involving Takane’s social ineptness and sneering visage, and Hana’s razor-sharp tongue.

I cannot begin to count the things that this series does that are right in my strike zone. Even the cover has her pulling on his tie – I love shots like that. Hana is a down-to-earth girl with a line in retorts, and realizes right away that this is a war to see who can be the most in control. At the start she’s winning over him hands down, as underneath the arrogant persona Takane is awkward and doesn’t really know many social cues – and also is seemingly a genuinely good businessman, something that impresses her. As the volume goes on we see Takane get his own back a bit as Hana has to realize that yes indeed, she may have feelings for him after all. This is all conveyed through some excellent art, particularly the faces – Takane’s one-sided sneer, which is how Hana can tell he’s genuinely happy. Hana’s various reactions to the dumb things that he does. Hell, even when she points at him in an accusatory way at one point, her finger has a little mini-Hana face on it. The art fits the story, which is to say it’s hilarious but also can be romantic when it wants to be.

Essentially, if you are me, this is essential reading. Thankfully, most of you are not me, but even so I highly recommend Takane & Hana. I haven’t been this excited about a shoujo title in some time.

Strike the Blood, Vol. 8

Leave a reply

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

This does not quite hit the highs (relatively speaking) of the previous volume, mostly as the entire volume is “let’s reveal the backstory the reader has been in the dark about for so long” and not much else, but it’s still a pretty solid volume of Strike the Blood. While we’re technically carrying on from the end of the last book, most of this is Kojou (and Asagi, along for the ride for some reason) remembering the events that led to him becoming the Fourth Primogenitor, which took place just before the start of the series. There’s a lot of attempts at worldbuiding and introducing potential new antagonists, which doesn’t work quite as well as the author likes. The good news is that there were a couple of genuine surprises in this volume, which is especially impressive given that Strike the Blood is one of the most by-the-numbers light novels out there.

Despite being on the cover as always, there’s very little Yukina in this book, which makes sense given it’s predominately a flashback. (This, by the way, means we have now gone TWO WHOLE BOOKS without her catchphrase of “No, sempai, this is OUR fight!”. I feel like I’m going through withdrawal.) She and Natsuki have removed Kojou and Asagi to her dream prison space so that Kojou can recover the memories of what really happened and be controlled if that happens to drive him insane (spoiler: it doesn’t.) What we see is not particularly surprising: Kojou is a natural at empathizing with others, which is why all the girls fall for him, and that also works here for Avrova. I hate to break it to people who may roll their eyes at the appearance of another one, but Avrova is, in fact, a blond vampire girl with the body of a child. That said, while she occasionally tries to be haughty in a Shinobu Oshino sort of way, she’s really more introverted and scared. Her bonding with Kojou was the best part of this book.

I’d mentioned surprises, and it comes in the form of Veldiana, who we’d met in the prior volume as a somewhat harried colleague of Kojou’s father. (Speaking of which, both Kojou’s parents appear quite a bit in this book, and while they are admittedly trying their best to save Nagisa’s life, it doesn’t change the fact that they are terrible, terrible parents.) Veldiana is played, in the first half of the book, as something of a comic relief character, and we assume that this is going to be her role in the book. But no, she’s here to teach a darker lesson about what happens when you let revenge consume you, and (leaving the epilogue aside, which I wasn’t too fond of) it works very well. There are also one or two scenes that are not surprises, but the way that they work out with precision timing is also well handled – watch for Kojou bribing the enemy with ice cream.

Strike the Blood is never going to rise to the level of the top light novels being released over here. But it has at least risen to the level where I don’t feel the need to make fun of it or wonder if it’s written by a Light Novel artificial intelligence. As always, the fights are well written and make you want to see them animated. It’s a decent volume in what has become a decent series.