When we left our heroines in Volume 3, they were in the Nur Empire, and we have had any number of massive plot points set up. So, of course, the first half of the book deals with literally anything else.
I love the first half of the book so much. ^_^
In the first half of I’m in Love with the Villainess, Volume 4, Rae and Claire will be dealing with important things like a cooking contest, getting dresses for a grand ball, solving two murder mysteries, and opening a forbidden box. There will be discussion of rights and lives for for sexual and gender minorities. And they will, presumably, also be going to school.
And, then, in the second half of the book, our Heroines of the Revolution, will jump willy-nilly into another fraught political situation and shepherd the world to a shape we could not have predicted. But, because I am in Rae’s position (in a meta sense – she knows what will happen in the narrative up to the end of this novel and I know what will happen afterwards,) I also know that none of it may matter. But that is for Volume 5. I cannot *wait* for you to read Volume 5.
Chapters here are short and move quickly, whether they are serious of silly, which means that both serious and silly items have an equivalent weight in the overall narrative. And, indeed, some of the stuff that is silly, will come to be serious in time.
One of the major concerns I had after reading Volume 3 in Japanese was the twins. They are savants, clearly, but in different ways. Volume 4 goes a long way to sorting their paths. I hope, after inori-sensei finishes her current work, which I hope you will all be able to read in published format soon, she takes a look at the twins when they are taking after their mothers in high school, causing societal upheaval.
hangata’s art has visibly improved since the first novel, but this book still favors character over scene, so we have a lot of straight-up character portraits with little scenery.
It will come as no surprise that I love Dorothea with all my love. Competent, impatient, not prepared to suffer fools, the only thing wrong with her is her disinterest in food. That’s a fatal flaw. Aonoshimo-sensei, the artist for the manga recently shared their version of Dorothea and I just completely lost my mind – just perfect. ^_^
So, you’re all set up now with the world as we know it. You’ve met all the players, you’ve learned about Dana, Melica and Kiko. And you are ready for them all the return home. Volume 5 does not have a release date yet, but my gut says it will be late summer, based on the release dates of the rest.
I read this on Bookwalker because I did not want to wait – the paperback will be released in late February. Overall, it is a good adaptation but, I have one teeny weeny quibble. Sorry. I know translators have hard jobs and I’m not angry or anything and probably no one but me cares. I just …could not cope so I made a meme. ^_^ I will keep this meme, and probably use it endlessly for the rest of my life, because “translating” itadakimasu into another not-English language is my personal path into madness. My head screams “Why!?!?” every time I see it.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 10
Service – 4? Suggestive commentary, dress-up and Rae slavering over Claire.
Yuri – 10
Queer – 10
Overall – 10
Overall, this was everything was as fun and memorable as I hoped and I am now waiting for Volume 5!
“Aonoshimo-sensei, the artist for the manga recently shared their version of Dorothea and I just completely lost my mind – just perfect. ^_^”
To quote Tim Rogers: I’d let her kill me!
Agreed. Not that we’d have the choice. ^_^
Like you, I bought this volume on Bookwalker because I did not want to wait. It’s the first time I’ve ever double-dipped on a book like this (I’ve already pre-ordered it from Right Stuf).
I didn’t notice it at the time because seeing things like “Bon apetit” as a translation/localization of “itadakimasu” is second nature to me at this point and something that doesn’t tend to bother me, but your meme helped me realize the particular absurdity of it in this case. Well done.
It just struck me as extra absurd this time. ^_^ The line that comes after reads “”Moments like this really drove home that the world this game was set in had been developed by a Japanese company.” and I laughed out loud.
I realize the circumstances were exigent, but the way Rae and Claire pressured Joel into outing herself publicly doesn’t quite sit right with me.
I understand you’re uncomfortable with it, but Rae explicitly asks for Joel’s consent. Yes, the situation is horrid, and there is a sense of pressure – but it’s not from Rae or Claire. It’s from the circumstance in which Joel is facing a death penalty.