Archive for the Light Novel Category


The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Volume 3

December 26th, 2022

Where do I even begin with The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Volume 3? It…was good! seems like the best place to start.

This novel took a trope I strongly dislike and gave it a genuine reason to exist, then resolved it beautifully. In almost every series where the plot hinges upon the fact that the main characters can’t, don’t or won’t have a conversation, my teeth begin to grind. Not so here, in a set-up that set Anis and Euphie at odds with one another in a way that could not be compromised, in order to protect the other. They really could not have it out in the usual way. So when they do, in a reasonably epic manner…it made actual sense!

Then, in the fallout of the epic scene, they do address the Yuri in the room and that, too, makes sense.

Then there is a ridiculous handwave, which was 1000% acceptable because this is an Isekai LN and even I am not so philistine as to require everything be practical. ^_^

When I reviewed Volume 1 of this series, I gave it a 7 and said that it “had a lot of room to grow.” I don’t appear to have reviewed Volume 2 of the manga, which wrapped up the first arc. I understand why I did not. It does resolve the plot, but to do so focuses more on Anisphia’s relationship to her brother and father, than to Euphyllia.

Here in Volume 3, Euphie and Anis are front and center, the entire plot wrapped around their feelings about their life goals versus life roles and about each other, in an immensely satisfying way. The story gets emotionally heavy in the most honest and useful way possible, that sets the stage for the next novel. The next two novels, in fact, notes Sr. YNN Correspondent Sean G, who pointed out that Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei (転生王女と天才令嬢の魔法革命) Volume 4 and Volume 5 are out in Japan. Volume 4 in English is slated for a June release from Yen Press…and, I find myself looking forward to it. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 5 As usual, rather irrelevant to the story
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 1 Hardly any this time
Yuri – 8 Euphyllia and Anisphia are now a great couple

Overall – 8 Satisfying conclusion and a great opening gambit for the rest of the series to continue

I want to know what Anis and Euphie will do with themselves now that all of …/flailing hands/ this…is out of the way. ^_^





Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou -Revolution-, Volume 2 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。-Revolution-)

November 10th, 2022

As we all wait breathlessly for the formal announcement of an anime for I’m in Love With the Villainess, today I am looking at the Japanese print edition of Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou -Revolution-, Volume 2 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。-Revolution-). As a reminder, this series came out in print in English before it made it to print in Japan. So the edition you have read is the English translation of the webnovel which was put out digitally by GL Bunko. The series was licensed for print by Ichijinsha. Volume 1 of the JP print edition was reviewed here on Okazu last spring.

This will make the third time I have read this volume, having read it in the GL Bunko novel and English language editions. Because this is a new, deluxe version, with extra stories that have been written since the webnovel was initially licensed, there was quite a bit of new material tucked in between things with which we are already familiar.

There are several key elements to this content, even aside from the new content.  Lily becomes a major player on the board and we eventually learn several secrets regarding the Royal Family and their advisors. Rae explains her former life and tragic first love to her friends. Claire’s class consciousness is awakened when they visit Rae’s hometown. Manaria arrives and forces Rae and Claire’s relationship to change during the Scales of Love arc, which coincidentally completed in the December issue of Comic Yuri Hime as grandly as I had hoped. ^_^

So while the Yuri goes up significantly, with the addition of Manaria and her boyish charm, as well as the Love Scales, the LGBTQ rating stays high with open discussion of complicated queer lives, once again.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Still portraits of the people rather than the scenes.
Story – 9
Characters – 10
Yuri – 10
LGBTQ –10
Service – Rae’s obsession about Claire shifts more to her moods than her body, but there’s still some body commentary, Let’s still say 2

Overall – 9

The board is set now for what is to come. In Volume 3, what is to come will be…revolution.





The Executioner and Her Way of Life, Volume 5: The Promised Land

October 26th, 2022

In Volume 4, we left everyone in this series rushing towards “The Holy Land,” about which we have been told very little. In The Executioner and Her Way of Life, Volume 5: The Promised Land, we are convinced that this is because there is very little to say about it.  It is small, white, has no hotels or restaurants, just some churches that may house pilgrims and is, in every sense of the word…a complete flim flam. The Holy Land is a distraction to hide the two secrets of this world.

Nonetheless, everyone in this story has arrived at the Holy Land. And, dull as it is, it is playing host to the prelude to the climax of this series. A climax that has not so much as been hinted as as, well, basically the narrative has giant pointing fingers, in case you didn’t pick up on things.

Menou has a first round against her master, Flare. More than one Human Error is involved in this volume and by the end, and in the middle of the hurley and burley, Momo’s scenes were the most interesting. Because this volume was mostly focused on reveals of things that were fairly obvious, the only thing I demanded of the story was that one of the priestesses, Hooseyard, be alive by the end. Killing her off would have been been like killing a dog – unacceptable collateral damage. The only spoiler I will give you is that Hooseyard lives. At least this time.

There are no more secrets now. The next volume will have to wrap this arc up, or it will be annoying. ^_^

As with previous volumes, Mato Sato spends a lot of time re-describing things already described and, as previously mentioned, the Holy Land is very dull, so details tend to sort of fade into the word count. I did very much like the extended scene in which Flare lit and smoked a cigarette merely to irritate herself. That’s some dedication to purgatorial description.

nilitsu’s art is much less mannerist in this volume, which is kind of nice. Jenny McKeon does her absolute best with the translation, props to her wading through a lot of simplistic declarative phrases.

Ratings:

Art – 5
Story – 5
Characters – 7
Service – Implied more than actual, but lingering on the edges
Yuri – Akari loves Menou, Momo loves Menou…

Overall – 7

All the pieces are on the board, all of us know who is where, and what they can do. It remains to be seen what the author envisions as the grand finale. I know what *I* envision it as, we’ll see if there is any overlap. ^_^ And whether, in the end, this is indeed, Yuri.

 





I’m in Love With the Villainess, Volume 5

August 4th, 2022

“What if you had the chance to remake the entire world in order to save the person you love…and learned that the world was never what it seemed?” is what I said when I reviewed Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. Volume 5 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) in Japanese. And, now, you have had the chance to read I’m in Love With the Villainess, Volume 5 and can, I hope, understand what I meant. ^_^ I’m still trying to avoid spoilers, as best I can. ^_^

The Nur arc comes to a crashing, sword-waving, magic-using, epic ending, that has shockingly little to do with Nur and Bauer at all. Because Volume 5 is about the Demon Queen and the truth of the world. Basically, if you primarily read isekai, you are probably mostly unprepared for just about anything here, until it all settles down.

As I re-read this volume I am fascinated by the scope of this story, which has implications far beyond this narrative. Will future volumes of the upcoming She’s So Cheeky For A Commoner (which I have reviewed in Japanese, as Heimin no Kuse ni Namaika, Volume 1)  – and any series will come after –  let these petals fall and be dispersed, or will they float around reminded us over and over of what, exactly, is going on? I look forward to finding out. There was a great deal of territory covered in this volume and repeated visits in future volumes might help to reify it.

Even more broadly, this series does all sorts of interesting things with the concept of “another world.” Like the Locked Tomb series, it is simultaneously both fantasy and science fiction and some new hybrid child of those genres and isekai. AND it contains that single important question that fills so much classic science fiction anime – what does it mean to be human?

Despite all this, this novel never pretends to be be meaningful in that pretentious literary way of very serious men writing about humanity. It is a human look at the power of community. Once again, I must quote myself here, when I wrote, “If you are familiar with Doctor Who, you will entirely understand how everything in this book works…and how it must work. ^_^ This leads to the only criticism, if you can even call it that, I have. Because of that specific narrative structure, there was no way to give it a punchy ending, which was perfectly okay. It ended as it had to…and then didn’t end for a few more post-epilogue shorts. When you like your characters, it’s hard to let go, I understand completely. ^_^ ”

What I mean to say here is that this ending was the right ending for this book. ^_^ This series ends where it must, with home and family. I have said this about a dozen times recently, but I’ll repeat it – this is what I am looking for these days in the books I read. Future-building with hope…hopepunk, as Ada Palmer calls, it. Stories in which communities come together to build a better tomorrow. The fact that the leaders of this particular community are queer women is delicious icing on this sweet and satisfying narrative cake.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 10
Service – Very little, for perfectly good reasons.
Yuri – 10
Queer – 10

Overall – 10

This…was a very good book. I hope you’ll all read it. If you have read it, do let me know what you think in the comments!

 





Otherside Picnic, Volume 7

June 13th, 2022

Otherside Picnic, Volume 7 is an excellent read on every level. In fact, please feel free to stop reading right here and just go read the 7th novel in Miyazawa Iori’s scifi-horror series. It’ll be worth the time and you’ll probably get more out of it than reading me talking about the book.That said, I have quite a lot to say about this volume. ^_^

When the cover was released, you could hear the cries of fandom Internet-side. This cover presaged an intense volume. It wasn’t lying.

Volume 6 set up a newish conundrum for Sorawo and Toriko. Having established that they both have reciprocal feelings does not actually help Sorawo at all to sort out how she’ll deal with her partner.

As the curtain opens on Volume 7, important things have shifted. Sorawo still isn’t really able to human quite yet, but she’s…different. Her ideas are better formed, her goals are clearer, and in this volume she steps into a leadership role that suits her well. Toriko is struggling with the idea that she’s been one of many women for Satsuki Uruma, and, for the first time, Kozakura joins the adventure as an adult, and equal. Up to now, she’s acted much more like the child she resembles, rather than the adult woman she claims to be. In essence, our team has begun to find themselves in the middle of the chaos of the Otherside.

As a thriller, this volume was super solid. The main plot, the way the Otherside in general and Satsuki in specific, responded to Sorawo’s tactics were fantastic. This volume successfully rehabilitated several previous characters, while never losing site of humanity’s weaknesses.  The climax was excellent. Well-conceived and executed…this was a genuinely outstanding volume.

shirakaba’s art is back to illustrating the people but there’s been visible improvement in the art, so it feels less like a sop to the concept of a “light novel” than it used to.

While the series does feel a bit like it must be winding down at this point, there’s still some cleaning up remaining. Or…I certainly hope so. This has been a wild and creative ride – I’m reluctant for it to end. We need more Yuri scifi. I need more Yuri scifi. This volume had some outstanding horror beats and even more excellent emotional beats.

For a series built around unspoken fears and emotions, Otherside Picnic has done a fantastic job of expressing the unspoken fears and emotions of humanity at large and the individuals it features. As a result, I’ve been able to learn about myself, as well. If you’ve been hesitating picking up this series, I think it holds up under scrutiny. Give it a try.

Ratings:

Story – 9
Character – 9
Service – 1
Yuri – 8

Overall – 9

I’ve managed to review this without spoiling it at all. If you’ve already read it, I’d love to hear what you think in a spoiler-free manner in the comments!

My only spoiler – I was so glad to see Kokkuri-san in this volume, I applauded. ^_^