Archive for the Light Novel Category


I’m in Love With the Villainess, Volume 2

January 8th, 2021

Remember how amazed we were in Volume 1, when the characters of Claire, Misha and Rae had a frank discussion of sexuality? Well, I’m In Love With The Villainesss, Volume 2 has looked at Volume 1 and said, “Hold my mead”….

Rae Taylor is an extraordinary young woman, because in fact, she is not a young woman. She is a corporate drone from our world who has found herself in the world of her favorite otome game as the player character. Instead of romancing the princes, however, Rae has opted for a new route; one in which she is romancing the villainess, the aristocratic and strong-willed Claire François. Here in Volume 2, the holodeck controls are off and Rae and Claire run full speed towards a resolution that even Rae with her knowledge of the game can not predict.

As a reader and as a writer, I ascribe to what we called at the Fanfic Revolution called the “one-handwave” theory. This theory allows every world is allowed one massive, ridiculous, inexplicable thing that must be accepted at face value and cannot be questioned. This volume of I’m in Love With the Villainess, *immediately* blew that theory to hell in the most hilarious way I have ever seen. And then it did it again. And again. The rules? They are for some other story. This story could not have cared less what rules say. Massively important plot points were handled with literal magical handwaves, while actual time and attention were given to discussions of same-sex attraction, gender dysphoria, and, of course, the social impact of income inequality and political upheaval. It was compelling to say the least. It was a little too on the nose for this week, in particular.

This volume is significantly larger than volume 1. Given the resolution there’s only one thing the author left undealt with so Volume 3, when we get it, ought to address that.

In the meantime, this was an amazing read. Whatever benchmark might have been set by Volume 1, was shattered with sound-of speed waves as this volume goes blasting by it. It got exponentially queerer as the story went on. Final tally – 6 queer characters among the main cast, and a happy ending for our principles. And an epilogue that made me ugly cry at 2AM.

I give it my strongest recommendation. If you have not read this series, I hope you will. I know isekai isn’t everyone’s thing, but this is a shining example of exactly what I was talking about in my essay about queer representation Author Inori doesn’t consider that the limits of the worlds that previously existed are the limits of what the worlds could be. They’ve taken an already played-out plot driver and used it to explore very real-world situations in fantasy cosplay and come up with a different resolution. Rather than just assuming what was is what has to be, this series models a new ideal.  I feel even more confident that this was the right choice for my Top Yuri of the year for 2020, and it is going to be very, very hard to beat for 2021. But you know….I really hope something does beat it, because that would be something. ^_^

 

Ratings:

Art – 7 Okay. I’m still angry we didn’t get a picture of Claire in the tux in V1.
Story – 10 Perfection
Characters – 10
Service – 3 Yes, but…somehow this time didn’t bother me at all.
Yuri – 10
Queer – 10

Overall – 10

“Miss Claire, watch over me now.” I am slayed.





Girl’s Kingdom, Volume 1

January 4th, 2021

A few years ago, I was approached by a relatively new publisher of Yuri webnovels, GL Bunko. They wanted to bring their books to the western audience. I took at look at their first title, GIRLS KINGDOM 1 & 2 (that is to say, the first two webnovels of the series, collected. I found the book to be humorous and imperfectly – but sincerely – translated. And I had some hope for the series. I have since read and reviewed a few other GL Bunko novels and likewise find them to be highly entertaining. ^_^ It was a pleasure, then to hear that J-Novel Club has picked up GL Bunko titles and is now offering us Girls Kingdom, Volume 1 as a collected light novel volume.

Let’s get the main questioned answered right away – yes, this book is fun and at times, funny.

Written by Nayo and illustrated by Shio Sakura (whose work you’ve seen in other GL Bunko titles, like A Lily Blooms in Another World,) Girls Kingdom is centered around some classic Yuri tropes – the private girl’s school for obscenely wealthy young ladies with no grasp of the real world (TM), maids and a main character who has lived under a rock and signed up for a school having never once looked at its home page, much less read the handbook. Within these tropes, the story is clever. At this particular school half the students are obscenely wealthy young ladies with no grasp of the real world(TM) and the other half are young ladies vying to become their maids.

Misaki is a student with straightened circumstances who wants to study at Amanotsuka Girl’s School because it is free. Why it is free is not interesting to her, so she ignores all the information she is given and arrives at the school, an uncarved block. An uncarved block who is late to the entrance ceremony and happen to be discovered by one of the most powerful students at the school, Amanotsuka Himeko. Himeko confirms that Misaki has no interest in being a maid and straightaway makes Misaki her maid. And, so, Misaki is thrust into the cuthroat world of competition to become ladies’ maids to obscenely wealthy young ladies with no grasp of the real world (TM).

The remainder of the story is…well, honestly it’s gobsmackingly silly with dollops of tiresome fanservice, but because it’s so irrepressibly silly, it’s easy to enjoy. A quality that has, so far been my experience with GL Bunko. As you may remember the other series I’m reading from them is Kunoichi Bettegumi Igarashi Satsuki, (くノ一別手組ー五十嵐五月) about a samurai bodyguard and the very-probably-a-vampire she serves. These are not novels one needs to analyze deeply. They are novels one ought to read without letting your brain get in the way. But if excessive discussion of underwear and random groping is a deal-killer for you, then you will want to avoid this. There’s are twin maids, and you know that never goes well. ^_^;

Absolutely going to give props to translator Philip Reuben, editor teiko and the entire J-Novel Club team for making sense of this novel while  keeping the loopiness of the story intact.

As I said in my initial review, a “climactic “battle” of table manners fill the final pages of the book. If you did not already know how to eat escargot when you begin this book, you will by the time you finish.” which ought to give you an idea of where you stand with this novel.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Vastly improved from the original version, if, again, heavy on the service
Story – 7 Even sillier than I remembered.
Characters – 8 Enjoyable. Honestly
Service – 7
Yuri – Erm….kind of hard to judge, as its mostly fanservice and “maid’s loyalty” kind of stuff, 3? 5? I dunno.

Overall – 7

My very sincere thanks to J-Novel Club for the review copy. I definitely look forward to Volume 2, which ought to arrive with spring.

Thanks also to my Okazu Patrons who voted for this to be the first review of 2021!

 





Bloom Into You Regarding Saeki Sayaka, Volume 3

December 24th, 2020

Capping this weird, and horrible and amazing year off is the volume that I have been waiting for since April, when I raved about the Japanese edition. At last I can share with you, the joyousness of Bloom Into You Regarding Saeki Sayaka, Volume 3!

Saeki Sayaka, a girl who tends overthink most things, is confronted by a situation that requires faith in the future.

I almost don’t want to tell you anything about it, because I want you to enjoy the whole thing on your own, without my prompts. I’m also tempted to just quote huge chunks of my initial review at you, since the things I loved about the book in Japanese hold up beautifully in English, thanks to the deft translation by Jan Cash and Vincent Castaneda and Jenny McKeon’s adaptation. They captured Sayaka’s cool, reflective, outside voice and the increasing turmoil inside her head beautifully.

The humor fit perfectly, even the one thing I *felt* but wasn’t entirely sure was real, was communicated well. Everything here is as polished as it needed to be, with the result that I picked this long-waited volume up after dinner and did not put it down until I had finished it.

The Regarding Saeki Sayaka series was an unexpected bonus for this reader of Bloom Into You. Sayaka was the reason I kept tuning in. This novel reminded us again of the importance of Miyako as an older role model for Sayaka. How much angst and loneliness might she have to struggle with without someone to just talk to? Instead, this series had carefully, cleanly laid the path out for us to see Sayaka become a person who understands she likes women and feels neither shame nor confusion about it. Having cleared the way of negativity, we are allowed to watch Sayaka become interested in someone for their own sake, for the first time in her life. And, so, we can fully enjoy that moment, alone in her room, when Sayaka says, “I have a girlfriend.” out loud, to her own amazement. ^_^

I tip my hat to Hitoma Iruma whose work here – which included a brief conversation about gaydar, as well – is some of the best they’ve done.  I am so very much looking forward to Iruma and Nakatani’s next collaboration. With this book, Bloom Into You is over, but we have End Blue (エンドブルー) to look forward to.  They really seemed to bring out the best in each other, and here we are, able to reap the benefits. Even if you weren’t a huge Bloom Into You fan, I recommend this LN series.

My sincerest thanks to the folks at Seven Seas for their work on this series. Clay Garderner’s interior design was lovely, Nicky Lam’s cover, as well. And thank you Seven Seas for crediting *everyone* who worked on the book. It’s a pleasure to see the team get their due.

Ratings:

Art – 10
Story – 9
Character – 10
Service – 3
Yuri – 9

Overall – 9

Spending time watching Sayaka bloom into herself is absolutely worth your time.





Girls Love of the Dead, Shi ga Futari wo Waka..tanai?, Volume 1 (ガールズラブ・オブ・ザ・デッド〈死がふたりを分か……たない？〉)

October 15th, 2020

It’s October, which means all my friends are finding virtual ways to celebrate Halloween. I’ve decided to join in with Ooooohhhh~~~kazu on Twitter. Every day I’m sharing a spoooooky review from the last 20 years of Okazu, starring witches and vampires and ghouls of all kinds. It’s not in order, because hashtags and threads are smart and I am not. Here’s a link to a Twitter search. ^_^

While I was collecting up 31 days of creepy reviews, I came across a news item I had bookmarked. Because of Ameko Kaeruda’s work we’ve talked a lot about Syosetsuka ni Narou, the free website for web novelists that has spawned a couple of new faves. But there’s also Yomuco, a by-the-chapter service where a number of novelists have paired up with well-known artists to created serialized-for-pay webnovels. Yomuco webnovels are also available on Global Bookwalker and Amazon JP Kindle. There are a ton of Yuri stories on Yomuco and I’ve been meaning to get to reading some for a long time.

Well, here I am reviewing a jaunty seasonal little story called Girls Love of the Dead, Shi ga Futari wo Waka..tanai?, (ガールズラブ・オブ・ザ・デッド <死がふたりを分か……たない？>) written by  Hoshii Nanao, with illustrations by Morishima Akiko.

The story begins on a dark and moonlit night, as Mitsuki decides she must leave her life behind…her beloved Rin is gone from this world and there’s nothing to live for. So she has come to this secluded old school building to die. Only, for a secluded place, it’s awfully full of…zombies!

Chased by zombies, Mitsuki finds herself in the art room, where she paints herself to look like a zombie. And so, Mitsuki finds herself in zombie school…sitting next to none other than her late lover Rin! Rin doesn’t remember Mitsuki, but that’s okay…Mitsuki says we have all the time in the world (since Rin is dead) but no, Rin only has 6 months of undead existence before her life force will dissipate! Mitsuki has to find out what Rin wanted to say to her before that or she will never know.

There’s a mystery in the middle of all the screamers. Rin was on swim team, so how was it even possible that she drowned and was never found? And who is the girl whose eye keeps rolling out? And why is there a school for zombies at all?!?

Tune in to Volume 2 to find out, because as of now, I have no idea. ^_^

This novel is very much formatted to be read on a phone screen, so is much like a VN, with about 3-4 of text lines per screen. Morsihima-sensei’s art is both fabulous and hilarious. For some reason all the zombies are blonde with golden eyes, which provide a splash of color in an otherwise gloom- and death- filled story. A cute death- and gloom- filled story, with adorable dismemberment and moe eyeballs rolling across the room. What more could you ask?

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 7 Goofy, might still be great
Characters – 7 Rin’s a bit deadpan, (hah)
Service – I don’t even know how to score this….
Yuri – 7 Well, yes, dammit. Even if they are a inter-biological couple.

Overall – 8

If you’re into horror Yuri, as befits the season, and want a little something that isn’t too challenging, is good for practicing reading, I think there’s a good case for webnovels generally, and Girls Love of the Dead, ‘Til Death Do Us Part…Not?, one specifically. ^_^





A Lily Blooms in Another World

October 12th, 2020

The land of Pajan, we’ve learned, has a real problem. Women are forced to do more, for less, and given very little respect for it. In Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Mythical Sorceress! powerful and skilled women in the villages are dismissed and demeaned because they are women, while mediocre men are given rank and power they do not deserve. In A Lily Blooms in Another World, we learn that life is not much better for women among the nobility.

“I’m Still Talking.”

Miyako Florence is the daughter of the noble Florence family, who has just learned that her engagement to the powerful Klaus Reinhardt has been canceled. Her reaction is the very opposite of unhappy, as she ecstatically runs off to use her new-found freedom and confess her love to the reason she’s here in Ode in the first place, the lovely, talented Fuuka Hamilton.  Miyako has a secret that Fuuka can’t possibly know…she not from the capital…she’s not even from this world. Another unappreciated and overworked corporate drone from our world, Miyako has found herself in the world of her favorite game and…she’s ready to romance the villainess, Fuuka Hamilton.

Fuuka has good reason to want to escape her circumstances, but being seduced away by a rival was not among them. Nonetheless, she gives Miyako 2 weeks, 14 days to convince her to say that she’s happy.

It is obvious to us that they are almost instantly happier in the country together than they ever were in the capital, with oppressive rules that treat them as not much more than fodder for trade negotiations. But it will take a lot more than just a country idyll to convince Fuuka that there are alternatives to a toxic system that poisons men against women, and women against each other.

“Nevertheless, she persisted”

This Light Novel is so adorable and fluffy and sweet, with a cute magical creature and bathing and cooking, that you might be tempted to not notice the gigantic hammer that crushes up the patriarchy, and all the little razorsblades that slice it into ribbons as you read. And that’s okay. A Lily Blooms in Another World isn’t a treatise, it’s a grin-making little Yuri romance. A grin-making Yuri romance that wields a powerful message nonetheless: There is power is recognizing and appreciating what women are capable of.There is power in love.

“Sisterhood is powerful”

As I noted in my review of the Japanese webnovel back in July of this year, “In the way that Sexiled creates a female revenge scenario in which the man is merely made to be seen as foolish as he actually is, and the women’s skills and power appreciated for what they actually are…in Isekai ni Saku ha Yuri no Hana the woman is finally seen and appreciated for what she can and does do. In a lot of ways, I found this story, as gobsmackingly silly as it is, to be more touching and personal.”

Back in July I had one small, request. I hoped that the art for the Light Novel would be better than the cover image…which, honestly, makes the leads look 10 years old. Well, I am very pleased to report that the teenagers look like teenagers in the final art. ^_^ And, although I would have gladly traded Miyako’s fantasy image for one of Maria coming home…or would it kill anyone to illustrate the epic climax?…I’ll take what I can get.

I know I am among legions this time as I was with I’m in Love with the Villainess, but I do highly recommend A Lily Blooms in Another World, for a spoonful of sweet Yuri sugar wrapped around a bitter pill so many women are still being forced to swallow.

Top marks to translator Tom Harris, who pretty much nailed the tone of voice and all the goofinesses in the dialogue, especially that of magical creature Umi. And thanks to the entire team at J-Novel Club for bringing us another great read!

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – 2
Yuri – 9
LGBTQ – Yes. Wait for it.

Overall – 9

In 2020, Kaeruda’s stories are doing something extraordinary – they are fun, romantic, epic and meaningful all at the same time, without anything having to be sacrificed to make anything else work.

The Yuricon Store link leads to the Bookwalker Global version of this book, but it is also available on Amazon Kindle  and other sites where J-Novel Club sells their books.