I Could Never Be a Succubus!, Vol. 6

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By Nora Kohigashi and Wasabi. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Succubus Ja Arimasen” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

When I finished this volume, I went to the Hero Bunko site to see its status, and discovered that this volume came out in 2023. I worried that it had been. y’know… (whispers) cancelled. Then I discovered that it was just Hero Bunko not bothering to update their site, the 7th volume came out in July of last year. Still, if the author had been told “can you write an ending that might pass if there aren’t any more of these?”, this would be close to what they might have come up with. We get to hear a lot about the war between Heaven and Hell years and years ago, and the hero’s sword (which, in case the last volume didn’t clue you in, is definitely Altina’s rather than Cain’s). We also get an explanation for Liz, and why she’s super powerful and super horny. We don’t get her memories back, but we get a WAY to get them back. This could be an “our fight has only just begun” Jump ending. Luckily, it isn’t.

Cain and Liz show up for a planned trip to the seaside… only to find that the entire rest of the cast bailed on them. On purpose. So they could date. Deciding to have fun anyway, Cain and Liz show off swimsuits, frolic in the surf, and then go back to their hotel… to find their friends got them a hotel room with a hot spring in the room, but only one bed. They’re not subtle. Unfortunately, it turns out that Liz has been having a massive attack of self-loathing that she’s been keeping from everyone, and when Cain tries to press his suit and say that he’s absolutely fine with loving her, she snaps and essentially becomes a weapon of mass destruction, throwing off holy powers and devil powers that no one knew she had before. can they stop her before the power burns her life away?

This was slightly less horny than previous books, but it makes up for the lack of pages with past Liz’s invention, Girl Time (in Darkness) Mk. I. and then, after Cain destroys it, Mk. II. Which is, not to put too fine a point on it, a robot covered in dildos and vibrators that is supposed to show guys how good anal is. I mention this mostly because I worry that my reviews may entice innocents into reading this series, and if they want to, please don’t. Other than that, this was very good, working Altina The Sword Catgirl into the regular cast and showing how good Cain and Liz’s chemistry is while also showing why Liz feels like she’s so weak compared to everyone else. We also get a new character here, who is Liz’s ancient ancestor, and she’s going to be mentoring Liz from now on, because though they know how to recover her memories it’s not going to be easy or fast.

So yes, Volume 7 is out in Japan! But not here yet, it hasn’t even started pre-pub. So we may have a bit of a wait. Fortunately, I’m sure Liz will send the Girl Time (in Darkness) Mk. IV to help everyone endure the wait. For fans of horny romantic comedy

The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain, Vol. 4

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By Bakufu Narayama and Ebisushi. Released in Japan as “Danzaisareta Akuyaku Reijō wa, Gyakkō-shite Kanpekina Akujo o Mezasu” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Alyssa Niioka.

It’s been a while since the start of this series, and it’s become very hard to remember that Claudia had a life before this one. I mean, we hear about her life as a sex worker on a regular basis in the series, but that’s not what I mean. I mean the “Condemned Villainess” part of the title. And since we haven’t thought about that part as much, it can be hard to remember, not to put to fine a point on it, how gullible and naive Claudia was, and how easily she was led around by the nose. That’s not the Claudia we have here, who is the belle of everyone’s ball, the apple of everyone’s eye, and saving the world one yakuza organization at a time. Unfortunately, there are still shadowy people in the background who very much want things to go badly for the main cast. And as a result, since Claudia can’t be a condemned villainess, someone else is going to have to step to the plate.

We’re dealing with another country next door, and things are pretty bad there. At a masquerade ball, the delegation from Parte, a neighboring country whose citizens seems to hate Harland more and more by the day, have arrived, and they bring with them Niamilia, a noble woman who ends up being suggested as the prince’s fiancee in order to prevent a potential war. But what of Claudia? Well, another of the fiancee candidates, calls her out at the party (can’t have a villainess book without public call out), saying Claudia is an evil woman who uses her mob to traffic in slaves and also murdered a noble the other day. Claudia is, needless to say, above most of these accusations, but given that she IS the secret mob boss of a yakuza organization, she decides to investigate… and finds that someone has been impersonating her.

So yeah, my favorite scene in the book is right at the end – in fact, it’s one of the extra stories added for the book. Throughout the book, we get Wendy, who if she’s been in previous books I’ve never noticed, and she is horrible. She’s easily led, falls for an obvious loser who is luring her into a trap to do his bidding, ignores the advice of the maids who have her best interests at heart, and ends up literally orchestrating murder to prove that Claudia is SECRETLY EVIL. It’s a good look at how conspiracy theories can take hold in someone, and she is teeth-grindingly annoying throughout this book. But at the end, as Claudia leaves the prison where Wendy resides till her exile, she realizes, Oh, that was me. That was literally me in my last life. And thus it affects her more than it otherwise would, and therefore affects us more as well. Claudia gets a time travel get out of jail free card Wendy probably ain’t getting.

All this plus our horrible antagonist from last time, who isn’t in this book in person but who makes his presence felt throughout. These books are difficult but rewarding reads.

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Ice Wyrm That Slew Champions

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By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian.

After spending a long time promising us that Tina would be playing a larger role in the narrative any day now, we finally get a book (well, arc, as I think she’ll be heavily featured in the next volume as well) where Tina plays a major role and gets to do things and be cool. And it sadly underlines the biggest fault of this series, which is that the title and premise promise that the series is about Tina, the Duke’s Daughter, but she’s the least interesting one in the cast. Now, this is not exactly a cast filled with depth – it’s a very McDonald’s sort of series that runs on harems and shonen battles. Despite that, the author continues to struggle to give Tina things to do beyond be jealous and childish and whip out her super ice powers. Heck, she can’t even have a “turn evil” arc, as both Lydia AND Stella have already covered that. (Still, better than Ellie, who was supposed to feature till Stella booted her out of the arc.) Weak heroine energy.

After the events of the last two books, you’d think that our heroes could catch a break. But the villains have been doing the “losing the battle but winning the war” thing for a number of volumes now, and it’s all coming to a head in the next country over, Lallanoy. This is where Felecia’s father was taken, and it’s where the villainous beastmen went, and basically it’s become the go-to place for anyone evil. And now Gondor is calling for aid, and Allen gets to go over there (because of course he’s the key to everything going on everywhere right now), along with Lily (as the diplomat), Tina and Stella (as the magical muscle), and… a random girl they met on the train, who seems to be young but is clearly hundreds of years old. Well, I guess we hadn’t broken out THAT cliche yet.

That summary covers only the first third of the book or so, but… look, much as I enjoy reading this series, and I do, I can usually sum it up by saying “a lot of fights happen, and things look bad for our heroes” as well as “all the girls fight over Allen while he ignores them”. Fans of The Apothecary Diaries anime adaptation who are frustrated at Maomao’s seeming obtuseness will find that she, like Allen, knows but chooses not to. That’s the trouble with being both the chosen one and someone that half the leaders of the country despise (the other half, of course, adore him) – he really can’t afford to notice any of this. That said, he’s in a bit of a pickle this time, though not a bad enough one that his living alarm clocks sets off in front of Girl #1. Yet. We see him having to use Tina as a living battery, and it still drains the hell out of him. Who can possibly come to the rescue?

The cover of the next book might hint. In the meantime, sorry, Tina. Your fights were pretty cool. Your heart is in the right place. But you’re still too damn young and childish to make me prefer you over the older girls.