Archive for the Light Novel Category


Yuri Light Novel: Double Engage: Itsuwaru no Hime ha Kishi to Odoru

June 27th, 2010

Here’s the recipe for Ichijinsha’s Iris Bunko Yuri Light Novels:

Take a princess, (must have blonde hair and be 16) and have her told about 80 times that being married is a woman’s greatest happiness, then make her marry someone icky.

Add a savior whose hair, eyes and clothes are all the same color, (she must be female and 17 years old).

Spice it up with sexually suggestive older woman who makes everyone uncomfortable. Fold in horse, carriage, bath scene and at least one kidnapping/arrest.

Soak overnight and cover with a light frosting of being on the run. Read at room temperature.

***

Double Engage: Itsuwaru no Hime ha Kishi to Odoru (偽りの姫は騎士と踊る―ダブル・エンゲージ) best exemplifies, in my opinion, the word “mediocre.” There was nothing wrong with it, although Princess Diana is a tad more clueless than I enjoy in my lead characters. And there was nothing stellar about it, although Diana and her female knight Effie kiss, several times, in a real kiss-like manner, not just chastely pressing their lips dryly onto the other’s.

And, despite the possible threat of men who don’t really care about Effie’s or Diana’s happiness, there’s really only one actually semi-threatening scene and that comes from the female brothel owner who puts Diana on the auction block (where she is, of course, rescued by a disguised Effie.)

There’s even a vaguely sort of semi-realistic conversation about what the two of them will do, since they can’t get married, really, that is thrown in just before they ride off together into the sunset without resolving the issue at all.

Nonetheless, there was no doubt as I read this book that we were just going through the motions.

Which kind of leads me to wonder – why is “entertainment for women” so gosh-darn dull? In “entertainment for men,” women wear very little, but they *do* alot. It seems to me in these Iris imprint novels, the women wear great big fluffy dresses covered in flowers and they get dressed and undressed a lot (something that to me always implies that, regardless of who the imprint *says* it’s for, they expect that audience to be at least in part male) they don’t *do* much. There’s a lot of talk of love and stuff, but what’s the point of a story about a knight and her princess in which the only fight the knight has is with a combat-knife wielding maid? (Well, actually, there is a point. That maid will show up in the other novel in the series, but you know what I mean.)

It’s not like there wasn’t a great set-up, Some years ago, Diana’s throne was taken over and she wants to regain it. Threatened with marriage to someone she does not love in the country to which she has been exiled, she runs away, accompanied only by her beloved Knight, Effie. The king that has taken Diana’s throne is none other than Effie’s father! Effie, renouncing her existence as Princess Euphemia to be Diana’s Knight Effie, swears to kill her father and her two brothers, if she has to, to regain Diana’s throne.

And, in retrospect, there were some really decent elements in the romance part, as well – Diana and Effie do say they love one another, they do kiss for real, they do discuss marriage. But it’s all kind of wasted, because…

The king dies when they get there and they decide to just, you know, leave. The end.

…

Really, this was not *bad* it just wasn’t *good.* Dear Ichijinsha. Please, no more princess stories. You just don’t know how to write them.

Overall – 5

It turns out that there’s a second Double Engage story, about Effie’s brother Arwain and the combat knife-wielding maid, written by the same author. My wife asked, “Would you read it?” and without hesitation I said, “No way.”





CANAAN Light Novel, Volume 1 (上)

June 17th, 2010

If you have watched the Canaan anime, you have read the Canaan Light Novel.

The Light Novel is very much a novelization of the anime series, written by a competent writer and enhanced with pleasing pencil art illustrations.

The LN series is in two parts. This first volume is, like the anime it shadows, a nice mix of exposition interspersed with action. We meet young photojournalist Ohzawa Maria and her mentor Mino, see a lot of Shanghai both above ground and below. We learn about the UA Virus,  and a bioterrorism threat by the terrorist group the Snakes, just as Shanghai hosts an International Conference on Terrorism. And we meet Canaan and Alphard, our foils that are the same in every way, except that they are not the same at all.

If you have not watched the anime, you will find no difficulty following the story – it is well told and well-executed. There is a lot of moral ambiguity – governments are terrorists, just as much as the terrorists are and the only truly innocent in the book is the title character, the assassin Canaan. Her synesthesia was one of the most visually striking qualities of the anime – I wasn’t sure it would translate well into text. I’m pleased to note that the author is competent enough to communicate it well. It works.

As I sat down to synopsize the plot, I find that it’s actually too complex for me to do it simply without losing much of its appeal. On the other hand, if you haven’t watched the anime and don’t really care about Canaan a priori, I’m also not sure I could convince you to pick this book up without it.

So I’ll do what I always do and focus on the Yuri. ^_^

Maria and Canaan’s relationship is a difficult one to nail down simply. They love each other – so much so and so obviously so that crazy villianess Liang Qi comments on it. But, then, Liang Qi herself is obsessed with the love of Alphard, the apparent villain of the series. And Alphard is obsessed to the point of monomania with Canaan, someone who she believes stole everything she had, even her name. (I’m still not convinced she’s entirely wrong.)

Canaan is, as I said, an innocent. She absolutely, unreservedly loves Maria and there’s a sense that, were she actually aware of things like “love” in the adult sense, she might actually be “in love” with Maria. But…she is not. Her love is like a child’s, or a puppy’s. Not because she is stupid or childish, but because Canaan does not yet know desire – and there’s no real way to know if she ever will at this point.

Maria’s love for Canaan is less perfect/more human, but is also, at the beginning at least, more admiration. She sees Canaan as something unearthly, like a superheroine. Yes, they are friends, but until she sees what she considers to be a flaw in Canaan, Maria is unable to regard her as an actual human. She is very much a Lois Lane to Canaan’s Superman and ultimately, Maria’s desire to bring them both onto an equal footing is what will drive the plot in the second volume – and change them both forever.

I was very, very vexed with the anime for bringing both of them right up to the moment of recognizing that they love each other, then providing what I saw as a rather lame excuse for “not that way, though.” As the novel has been, so far, an exact duplicate of the anime, I expect no less in the second volume. But, for the moment, Maria and Canaan yearn for each other more as the series puts them through increasingly dangerous situations.

This novel ends with the Snakes’ takeover of the Terrorism conference and Alphard’s plan to infect all of the world representatives with the UA Virus. The final scene in the book is Alphard fighting Canaan in the tunnels below the building.

So, basically, if you liked the Canaan anime and want to re-experience it through a text format, this is a good, compelling action story. If you like action flicks, and want to practice your Japanese reading skills, this book is an excellent choice – it has a fair amount of furigana and even the technical/scientific stuff is not impossible to understand.

I think this novel would have a chance to sell reasonably well, were it to be brought over here in English, as long as the translation was competent. (I don’t know if Seven Seas has a Kadokawa contact, but this would not be a bad match for them. A little Yuri, high gaming interest on account of it being Type-Moon, moe, action. I think they could make it work, since they have decent translators and adapters.)

Ratings:

Art – 8 (the pencil art mitigates what is otherwise typical moe)
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – ??? You could pretty much put any number on it, from 0 to 10 and be right. Let’s split it down the middle and say 5
Service – 4, but like 85% of that is Liang Qi

Overall – 8

It’s a good read and I’m glad I took a chance on it. Nice mix of character and plot, action and emotion, comedy and tragedy. Kind of the best of all possible worlds for a Light Novel and one of the best of breed I’ve seen in a blatant franchise extender.





Light Novel: Samurai Age – Koiseyo Ikusa Otome-tachi~!

May 25th, 2010

Pickings for Yuri Light Novels are surprisingly thin this year. I’m not quite done with the Light Novel, Samurai Age – Koiseyo Ikusa Otome-tachi~!, (サムライエイジ―恋せよ戦乙女たちっ!) but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. It’s not great literature or anything.

To synopsize, this Light Novel is about the week of summer vacation at Suou Academy, a school in which the students fight with live swords. We are never told why, nor are we told anything about any of the students’ backgrounds, their families, anything. They all manifest at this school in the middle of summer break and will presumably disappear again into oblivion the moment I stop reading.

The heroine is Mitsuki Yayo, who wields a family heirloom (about which we learn nothing) and whose roommate, the ethereal beauty Jougasaki Sen, is deeply and passionately in love with Yayo. They, and their friend Kisaragi Natsu are part of the dorm/group/association “Juumonji” (about which we learn nothing.) The other dorm/association we learn nothing about is “Kurenai,” headed up by the hyper masculine and hirsute Yama Tadashi-sempai. Juumonji is headed by the princely Teikokuji Hijiri-sempai and the banana-curled beauty Sarashina Souju (on whom Natsu has a crush.)

So far, they have all gone to the pool, had a barbecue, drunk, smoked, danced and even fought a few times. A fine summer vacation, in my opinion. They also talk a lot. About stuff. Yayo talks about the things she wants to do but feels she can’t, although she’s not sure what they are. It’s riveting, I assure you.

This story is from Yayo’s point of view, so for us Yuri fans it’s a tad frustrating. Sen, whose childlike personality does not preclude her from a raging passion for Yayo, is completely honest about her desire for her roommate, and she tries many times to get what she wants, but in a non-invasive way. She tells Yayo she loves her before kissing her; tells her she wants her before embracing her. Unfortunately, Yayo, although she feels flattered – and a little doki-doki when Sen is holding her – is really quite straight and has the hots for Yama-sempai. She feels bad for not returning Sen’s feelings but, she can’t help that, really. In effect, this is a story from the point of view of the straight friend the girl is in love with. It’s a little painful for us, but Yayo isn’t a jerk or anything about it. There is unlikely to be a girl-gets-the-girl end, because that’s not where the story is going.

Natsu also contributes to the Yuri factor. The first time we see her at the pool, she is suddenly referring to Sarashina-sempai as onee-sama and looks her over with obvious desire. Sarashina-sempai, blowing the curve for all banana curled-hair characters is nice, smart, and sensitive to Natsu’s needs, as she provides the poor girl with a little service. Sadly, Sarashina-sempai is also straight and in love with Teikokuiji-sempai.

Will Juumonji defeat Kurenai in the great battle? Who cares…? In the end, Yayo will get Yama-sempai and if Sen was smart she’d nab Natsu on the rebound. But, she probably won’t. (Update: Finished it – not such a bad end as I anticipated. Yayo is named the new dorm/group/association leader by Yama-sempai and Teikokuji-sempai and she, Sen, Natsu and Sarashina head out for parfaits. Oh and the loser in the battle was the teacher who brought a gun to a swordfight and was killed for her efforts.)

Ratings:

Art – 6 Yama-sempai’s eyebrows worry me.
Story – 5
Characters – 6 If we knew anything about them, I’d probably like them more.
Yuri – 5 It’s all service, but it’s not too bad
Service – 7

Overall – 5

If this is a franchise-extender for a game or something I wouldn’t be surprised. It very much seems as if I’m supposed to know all the “why”s already.





Maria-sama ga Miteru Light Novel: Watashi no Su

May 21st, 2010

Have you ever considered how difficult writing a story without conflict must be? I mean, think about it – no screaming matches, no tears, no throwing things, no hand of god tragic events…what is there to care about?

Would it even be possible to write a story in which everyone was just…nice?

Watashi no Su is that story.

Because the Yumi/Sachiko/Touko era of the novels is over, we now turn our eyes to other characters around Lillian. We are introduced to Momo, a first-year whom we ultimately learn is in Touko, Noriko and Kanako’s first-year Tsubaki class. One day, just as she’s leaving class, she passes out. Eiko-sensei, the school doctor has her escorted home by a second-year, Tamaki. Tamaki is instantly likable and a little goofy-whimsical, reminiscent of Sei. When asked what to call her, Tamaki suggests Tama-chan or Tama-Tama. Momo declines politely and sticks with Tamaki-sama. Tamaki suggests that Momo call her “onee-sama” but when Momo asks don’t they have to be soeur for that, Tamaki’s reply is, “well…why not do that then?”

That night Momo learns that her mother is marrying the younger man she’s been dating for a while. It’s a second marriage for Kaya, Momo’s father died while she was still young. Momoko likes Shuu-chan and is fine with that, and fine that they’ll be moving into his family house.

When they get to meet the family, it turns out that Shuu-chan’s grandfather also has a second marriage – a much younger woman named Tsubaki. And they have a daughter, Momo’s age. You see this coming, right? Yes, it’s Tamaki.

So, when Momo works out the relationships, Tamaki would be her step-great-aunt. Tamaki declines to be called this, so they stick with Tamaki-sama. :)

The rest of the story is just…stuff. Stories from both sides of the family, parties, who’s going to do the laundry when, the stuff I call “playing house.” There is no conflict, except in very small ways, when people share lives.

It’s really nice. Nice to have Momo and her family welcomed by Shuuto’s parents and grandparents, nice to have Shuuto and Momo get along. It’s just…nice. Every chapter is a pleasure to read and the final ‘crisis’ is obvious, small and…my god, it’s nice.

I went into this book wondering if Konno-sensei could make me fall in love again. I mean, let’s face it, Yumi and the gang were charming and lovable and it’s really hard to just set them aside. You keep wondering how they are. :-) Cleverly, Konno places this story in a time and place that the story has already covered, so you *know* where and how they are, which frees you to just enjoy Momo’s story. And by god, what a nice story it is.

Ratings:

Overall – Nice

The Oshaka-sama mo Miteru series is continuing as well. I find I also like Yuuki and his friends and am looking forward to bits that we don’t already know about from the previous novels. Basically, Konno-sensei can write characters that are really likable – which is, in itself, incredibly difficult to do.





Light Novel: R.O.D., Volume 4

May 14th, 2010

There are some inevitable things in the universe. If a conversation covers used books, then one of these inevitable things must surely be the town of Hay-on-Wye. It’s a lovely town, by the way. (Yes, of *course* I’ve been. Do you not know anything about me yet? I’ve been a bibliophile for many years more than I’ve been an otaku)

And indeed, the inevitable happens at the beginning of the fourth Read or Die Light Novel. Yomiko is let loose by her caretaker Wendy for two hours in Hay-on-Wye. And of all the books Yomiko wants most, the only copy is in the hands of someone else. He’s a nice-looking Chinese man, perhaps a little older than Yomiko. He genially suggests that they play rock-paper-scissors for it…and they do. Minutes pass into hours as they keep tying on “paper.” When Yomiko wins by suddenly switching to “scissors” he asks her flat out if she is a Paper User. They discuss her love of books, but she doesn’t tell him why she wants this particular book – one especially beloved by her mentor and lover, Donny.

Upon returning to London, a thin plot about a piece of the original paper that the Guttenberg bible was printed on is wrapped thinly around three things: 1) The guy Yomiko met in Hay-on-Wye is a member of the nefarious “Dokusensha,” an evil organization that is trying to do the exact same things the British Library is trying to do – but for the bad guys, which is to say, not us. 2) Dokusensha has a Paper User too, and this allows us to have wonking great battles on the North Sea and then over London (in which references were made to H.G. Wells) and 3) Nenene.

Oh, yes, although this entire novel takes place in the UK, Nenene decides to arrive just as Dokusensha invades the British Library and take her hostage. This gives Yomiko the opportunity to not just have a wonking cool battle over London – she on her paper airplane, Dokusensha with their paper dragon that comes up the Thames – but to rescue Nenene and be her hero. Nenene’s hero. With hugs, and tears, and protestations of “don’t scare me like that” and “I don’t ever want to be apart from you,” and “I want to be with you forever.”

A new character is introduced by the way…and no, it’s not Nancy. Not yet, hold your horses. She comes in the next novel. This time it’s Faust. Like Mr. Gentleman (a name that makes me think of Lewis Carroll every time I read it,) Faust is very old. 400 years of very old. Unlike Mr. Gentleman, he’s lived every one of those years in a 10-year old boy’s body. He looks, honestly, like Junior with his hair cut short and a “I know something you don’t” smile. He was a nice addition to the team, because while his abilities are strictly in the not-dying capacity, he’s a good strategist and a fast thinker. That leaves Yomiko and Drake to carry out the tactics, which works well.

I definitely like it best when Nenene and Yomiko are together and I’m very much hoping that that will be pretty much the rest of the series.They make a very cute couple, whatever they think they think about one another.

Ratings:

Art – 5
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Service – 2

Overall – 7

Nenene and Yomiko are together for less than 10 pages and every last one of them filled me to satisfaction.