It seems very appropriate to start our happy New Year with some happy new Yuri, so today we’re going to take a look at Yuusha ni Naritai Shoujo To, Yuusha Narubeki Kanojo (勇者になりたい少女と、勇者になるべき彼女), written by inori., illustrated by Akamoku.

The English translation used by inori.-sensei for this is, “Me The Wannabe Hero and You Who Oughta Be A Hero” and is  shortened to BokuKimi in Japanese. This is the story of two girls at Yuusha Academy and their struggle against bias and expectation, as well as the power of simply not giving a shit what people think.

It was a lot of fun. Everything I want in a Dengeki Bunko read – a “light” novel in the broadest sense. It’s small, quickly paced, not entirely predictable and ends just where you want it to.

The story begins with Ruchika, a demon girl who has come to the capital to enter Yuusha Academy and meets a human girl Leonie.

Please let me stop here and digress into translation notes. (One sentence into the synopsis, wow, Erica. ^_^)  I’m sticking with Yuusha because neither “Brave” Academy or “Hero” Academy is working for me, but you do you. Likewise, I am using Ruchika entirely for the aesthetics of the R, because otherwise the leads are Luchika and Leonie and that…annoys me somehow? ^_^;  But really, Luchika is easier to say than Ruchika, so use whichever works for you, as you read.)

The wars between demons and humans are over and the two races are at peace. Demon girl Ruchika wants to be a Hero, because she thinks it would be neat. Leonie, the daughter of the most famous Hero of the world, who slayed the Demon Ruler, is expected to become a great Hero. They meet as  Ruchika collapses from being hungry. Leonie and her childhood friend Noor (or Noru, choose your poison) see Ruchika and Leonie buys her some food. At which Ruchika asks Leonie to marry her.

Students at Yuusha Acadamy use AI collars around their necks called Gear. Ruchika learns pretty quickly that Gear do not work for her demony-fighting style, so against all student norms, she tosses her gear, Proto, off and kicks ass in her test mock battle. Leonie, the daughter of the most famous Hero of the world, who slayed the Demon Ruler, is not that great at fighting.

Together they will fight the prejudices – both societal and individual – to become a great partnership.

And the girl gets the girl, but you probably already guessed that. ^_^

This story is not as deeply embedded in issues of queer identity as I’m In Love With The Villainess is, but it’s not not there, either. Ruchika states that it simply doesn’t matter to demons, and Leonie protests that it kind of does to humans, but that is not the main conflict here. Also not the main point, but given time and attention, is issues of how society treats “other.”

So what is the main point? The main point is that Leonie is fighting from the first page against the expectations heaped on her by having a famous mother. Some people are disappointed in her, others enraged by her. The antagonist sees her as a barrier that must be removed. Ruchika, as a demon, simply does not care at all about what she is “expected” to do and she eventually frees Leonie from her own burden, redefining the way everyone in the story sees Heroes… which was a really excellent moment that was not at all what I expected.

What did I expect? Well, something happens early on that was either a plot point that slipped away, or will be used in a sequel…or was one of the best MacGuffins I’ve ever encountered. I spent the entire volume looking in that direction, while the real story was right under my nose the whole time. If it turns out that that plot point comes back around, it could make for an intriguing delve into the history of Yuusha Academy and how it trains Heroes.

Akamoku’s art both good and I didn’t much like it. It is not to my personal taste – once again, everyone looks just way too young for the story. I know that’s just how it is light novels, but I’ll never stop hoping that we get characters who look their stated age once again. On the other hand, the illustrations actually illustrate the scene one is reading, rather than just being a character image – I appreciate that very much.

One other note before I wrap this up. Leonie’s friend Noor, in another book might have become a rival, a plot complication or a handwave. I thought the way Ruchika handled the question of what Noor and she would be to one another was absolutely brilliant. I’d love to also talk about one other character, but after trying three times, I realize that everything I say would necessarily be at least partially a spoiler, so I’ll confine myself to say, I hope we get more of them in a way that suits the overall tone of the story.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 0
Yuri – 9

Overall  – 9

This was a fun and fast read and everything I hoped for from both inori.-sensei and Dengeki. I look forward to the sequel.

I purchased this at Melonbooks (this was one of two things I absolutely wanted to get while I was in Japan this past time,), so got an acrylic standee of the protagonists, which really is quite adorable. So often standees have the title of the series either baked into the stand or on the plastic that one throws out. In this case, the title is an active part of the standee display. It’s really grown on me. ^_^

And it came with a bonus book cover which was the closest thing to service in the story. ^_^ It comes with a bonus story on the inside.