Too Many Losing Heroines!, Vol. 4

Leave a reply

By Takibi Amamori and Imigimuru. Released in Japan as “Make Heroine ga Ōsugiru!” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Acro.

I feel that as this series has gone on it has very much decided to be a normal romcom with an oblivious protagonist rather than a satire/deconstruction of same, and I like it better this way. Sure, I still want to strangle Nukumizu, but that’s the point, and everyone else in the story agrees with me. Unfortunately, because this is a romcom, all the women in the series who are not otherwise seeing someone seem to be falling in love with him. Including new candidates this volume, because unlike previous ones, the plot forces him to stay involved the entire time and not try to blow everyone off. What it shows is that when he tries, he can be observant, caring, and genuinely nice… provided he’s not thinking about it. Once he does, and he gets into that “no, I’m overthinking this, there’s no way she could be interested in me that way” mode, that’s when he makes girls want to punch him.

This is one of those series where each volume has the heroine of that particular book, so as you may have guessed, this volume focuses on Shikiya, student council secretary and vaguely emotionless weirdo. That said, the book starts with Tiara Basori, the uptight vice-president of the student council, confiscating Tsukinoki’s later BL novel, which features… erm… a genderswapped student council president and Nukumizu in RPF. Naturally, she threatens to submit it to the faculty, which will definitely lead to Tsukinoki getting suspended at least, the dissolution of the literature club, and possibly Nukumizu, who’s in the book, also getting suspended. As such, there’s a new goal for Nukumizu to achieve… find a way to blackmail Tiara and get that book back! Of course, this is not an issue, because, as Shikiya says, “Tiara is easy.”

Note that easy means a romantic pushover, and not easy in the western way. She falls for Nukumizu almost immediately, it’s honestly one of the better jokes in the book at how comically fast it is. That said, she’s also the duller, more standard part of the book. The more interesting bit is with Shikiya and Tsukinoki’s fractured relationship, and how no one really wants to talk about it. Shikiya has been amusing but an enigma in the first three books, and in this one we see that her emotional difficulties are actually a major issue for her, and that she regards other people smiling – even if it turns out to be just a faked smile – as something that she can’t really do. As with every other girl in this series, if she and Nukumizu became a couple, they’d be a good one. Also like every other girl in this series, that would require Nukumizu to be self-aware, which he painfully isn’t. Right now he has a better chance of scoring with his “still walking the incest line but not going over it” younger sister.

Still, if you like romcoms with a greater emphasis on “com”, and don’t mind the fact that everyone in the cast is a failure pile in a sadness bowl, this is perfect for you.

The Hero and the Sage, Reincarnated and Engaged, Vol. 4

Leave a reply

By Washiro Fujiki and Heiro. Released in Japan as “Eiyū to Kenja no Tensei Kon: Katsute no Kōtekishu to Konyaku Shite Saikyō Fūfu ni Narimashita” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Joey Antonio.

It is honestly getting a bit hilarious about how relaxing this series is. Generally speaking you want a series like this to have, well, tension or suspense. But with this series you get the exact opposite. At no point in the book’s 202 pages do you ever, EVER think anything will not go exactly the way our leads want. Their plan is a fait accompli as soon as they come up with it. And while you’d expect that to be a disaster, it’s the bread and butter that makes this go. The running gag in the series is that character tell Raid and Eluria to stop shamelessly flirting in front of them, but the audience wants MORE of that. The flirting is the point. The battle against alternate world goons from the past is irrelevant. Nothing a massive magical world tree can’t solve.

There’s a war coming, but Raid and Eluria have more important things to worry about, and I don’t just mean the massive pile of exposition at the start of the book, which even the two of them say needs to be dumbed down a little. No, I mean Eluria has to meet Raid’s family, including his overserious brother, his overzealous mother, and his incredibly strong and bonkers younger sister, who is basically “NOW FIGHT ME!” for about 35 pages. There’s also a reunion with the beastgirl Raid saved a thousand years ago, who is still alive, ruling a kingdom, and still in love with him. (Don’t worry, the amount of romantic drama is zero. She and Eluria get along great). Then we get the exams, which Raid knows will be interrupted by an invading army of alternate world suicide bombers who are also OK with killing innocents. Can they stop this without anyone dying? Have you forgotten what series you’re reading?

This was another one where, after reading the ending of the volume, and seeing JN-C had not put its usual “go to our site for the next volume!” blurb, I had to check to see if this was it. It’s not, there’s two more volumes out in Japan. But boy, it really feels like it could have wrapped up here. This despite the fact that it ends with an obvious lead-in to the next volume, with Raid and Eluria going to the alternate world to try to save it. But I could easily see that as an “and our adventures continued” ending, especially as it comes with a mutual confession of love. Still, I will happily read more of these two lovesick overpowered goofs, as well as their goofy friends, their beleaguered headmaster, and all the others. The next book may only have Raid and Eluria, but I know what to expect. Everyone lives, we banter a lot, and we’re very cute.

If lack of tension bothers you, avoid. But this is my catnip.

One Piece: Heroines, Vol. 1

Leave a reply

Created by Eiichiro Oda. Written by Jun Esaka. Illustrated by Sayaka Suwa. Released in Japan by Jump Books. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Stephen Paul.

It’s been a while since I’ve dipped my toe into reviewing One Piece, but here they are with a light novel. Like most Jump light novels, the content is light as air, and you can read it in less than an hour. That’s not to say it’s bad, though. The author apparently is an old hand at this, having written a number of Sasuke spinoffs for the Naruto light novel series. The artist seems to be more on the fashion end, but it’s a terrific style – Oda does not do anything besides the cover art, but I didn’t miss him, as these have a style all their own. As for the stories themselves, well, they’re a mixed bag, as you’d expect. Our main two heroines do better, but things lag a bit in the second half. overall, frankly, the book suffers somewhat from what the manga itself does at times – it wants to write cool, strong women, but it also can’t help but objectify them.

In the first story, Nami buys shoes that will supposedly let her run fast in heels, but they’re terrible. When she goes to return them, she finds an arrogant designer and his jaded girlfriend/assistant. Told he’ll give her proper good shoes if she models for him, Nami does so, but also tells the assistant she’s better off without this jerk. Robin’s story takes place while she’s with the revolutionaries, as she tries to help the crew eat some very bitter mushrooms and Koala to decipher a newly discovered lost script. In the third story, a young boy has fallen in love with Vivi and writes a letter to her saying this, but it blows away. Trying to catch it, Koza ends up in trouble when everyone thinks he wrote it. Lastly, Zoro and Perona are living with Mihawk, and have a nice interlude – and a lot of fighting – when three bottles of delicious wine wash up at their castle.

The series is best when it’s living up to its title. Nami and Robin may be praised by the narrative as amazingly beautiful and stunning, but they’re also cool and clever – Nami gets exactly what she wants, gets a bit of revenge that nets her money, and (a distant third) helps a woman realize her life has value without a boyfriend. Robin could do everything in her story herself, but does not, knowing that Koala is undergoing the joy of discovery and working something out for herself. I also loved her washing the dishes. The weak story is the third one. It’s supposed to be about Vivi, but she only shows up for the resolution, and is used 100% as an object of worship. Koza’s relationship with her means that he takes over the narrative – Nami and Robin fortunately lack men in their lives. Perona is shown here midway between her “I am a minor villain” debut and the “I am Zoro’s friend and ally” we see later, and hers is probably the funniest story – yes, it revolves around Zoro and Mihawk too, but she’s the POV, so it works fine. (She’s not praised as the other three are. Shame, she’s cute.)

So overall, two excellent stories, one funny and good story, and Vivi’s story being hijacked. Not a bad batting average. Next time we’ll have Hancock, Tashigi, Reiju and Uta. For One Piece fans.