Secrets of the Silent Witch, Vol. 5

October 19, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Silent Witch” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

This volume definitely has the feel of the author realizing that they can take their time and add the subplots that they were going to skip if this ended up being just 5 volumes long. As a result, we get more ominous foreshadowing as to what Felix’s goal is, and how it ties into what Duke Clockford wants for him… or rather wants to do to him. This ends up being connected to Monica’s own past as well, in a very sinister way. I remains convinced, especially after this volume’s backstories, that this is gonna end with a Felix/Monica pairing, but man, at the moment it would be the worst thing ever and we’d hate it, and I think the author knows that as well. Felix is trying to maniplulate those trying to manipulate him, and the only thing that gives him happiness is his fanboyish obsession with the Silent Witch, who he’d dearly love to meet so he could gush.at her. And hey, good news, Felix!

It’s Winter Break at school, and Monica is hoping to go home, spend some time with her stepmom, spend some time with Isabelle, and dread the upcoming New Year’s event she’ll be forced to attend. Unfortunately, to her horror, she gets a new assignment. Felix is going to Farfolia for some diplomatic work, trying to convince the local lords to set up a military base that is there in case of dragon attack and definitely not in case they decide to go to war with the Empire. Felix needs bodyguards, but Louis is needed on dragon-watching duty, as there’s been prophecy of a dragon attack. So we get Glenn instead… as well as the Silent Witch, who is supposed to guard Felix. Monica is going to have to be extra silent, wear a hood and veil, and hide her identity as hard as possible, lest Felix discover all. Fortunately, she’s already used to wearing a hood and not speaking…

The main plot is excellent, and promises that future books are going to get even darker as Monica tries to redeem her father’s reputation and Felix tries… well, to survive as himself. That said, there’s lots of stuff on the fringes that’s just as interesting in terms of what’s going to happen. Cyril continues to be featured enough that I’m not 100% sold on Felix/Monica being endgame (just 90%), and the scene with him and his mother ended up being the most heartwarming moment in the book. The demise of this book’s bad guy was very reminiscent of the climax of the Sherlock Holmes story “The Speckled Band”, which was nicely gruesome. And we continue to get the threat that Bridget might one day be important, without that actually happening. At this point I wonder if she’s secretly the last boss. (Probably not, it looks more likely she’s just a more serious “jealous girl”.)

The sixth volume promises to follow up on the consequences of this one, and Monica’s identity looks less secure than ever. Can she survive attempts at killing her? Can she survive Felix trying to get her to annotate his thesis some more?

Filed Under: reviews, secrets of the silent witch

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 14

October 18, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t know when I say that this series entirely revolves around its star. Maple is why people read this series, and for the most part Maple is omnipresent throughout this series. Even the PVP events have been heavily Maple-centric, and several books have mostly just featured her and Sally taking over the narrative for 2/3 of the pages. So it was something of a surprise to see that this is easily the most balanced book in the entire series when it comes to the increasingly huge cast. Oh, don’t get me wrong, Maple is here throughout, and gets several things to do that cause people’s jaws to drop. But she’s hanging out with a bunch of other people who also have ridiculous moves, and not just the folks from Maple Tree. This is a book that spotlights its cast so much that even Frederica, who has made her entire name in this series by being second-best to Sally and whining, gets to be cool and powerful.

We’ve started the new PvP event. On one side: Maple Tree and the Order of the Holy Sword, plus a lot of other guilds who, honestly, are there to be cannon fodder. On the opposite side, we have Flame Empire, Rapid Fire, and Thunder Storm. Oddly, Maple is the one on the fire side, with all the monsters, while fire expert Mii is on the human side. What follows is a series of battles, usually featuring our main cast taking care of business pretty easily, followed by a back half of a big battle royale, where our main cast have a much harder time, and the correct answer may be “when is the correct time to run away without getting killed?”. And worst of all, this is a two-parter, so we don’t even get the closure of knowing who won in this book.

So yes, there’s less Maple in this book, but that’s not to say she doesn’t get her usual moments. For those who want “cool Maple”, the shot of her, with both white angel wins and black demon wings, wearing her halo and standing on a ledge looking like the wrath of God, is a treat. For those who love funny Maple, combining the Sheep Mode with Mai and Yui to give hapless players a rapid transit system is well worth the money. Speaking of Mai and Yui, it’s become pretty clear that after Maple and Sally, they’re the most dangerous ones in the party, and they too get “oh my GOD!” moments here that are both awesome and yet still kind of funny. (Every Mai and Yui joke is a variation on “when all you have is a hammer”.) This is a 100% game book, with not a Kaede or Risa to be found anywhere, and it moves at a fast pace. Even Pain manages to be interesting!… OK, that’s a lie. The author isn’t *that* good.

So yes, very Maple, much fight. Bring on the conclusion.

Filed Under: bofuri, reviews

Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden, Vol. 4

October 17, 2024 by Leave a Comment

By Umikaze Minamino and Katana Canata. Released in Japan as “Kyōran Reijō Nia Liston: Byōjaku Reijō ni Tenseishita Kami-goroshi no Bujin no Kareinaru Musō Roku” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by okaykei.

I will admit, as I was reading this new volume about a small little girl beating the absolute hell out of things she has no business beating, I could not help but think of Do-Over Damsel, which has an anime running this fall and also features lots of this sort of thing. They even have similar “this is vaguely creepy but doesn’t quite cross a line, but I’m watching you” characters. That said, whereas with Jill I tend to really enjoy it when she finally lets loose and lets violence be her answer for everything, with Nia there’s no question that the magivision has become more interesting to me. There’s simply not much about Nia murdering ancient giant crabs by punching them a few times that I can say anything about, beyond “nice punch”. But if she’s being manipulated by royalty (again) or trying to think of things to get ratings besides outrunning dogs, I’m intrigued. And, so far, those are the two plots – though that may change soon.

Nia is a bit grumpy at the start of this book. Relia has stolen Nia’s thunder with the paper play show, and everyone in the school is talking about it. That said, she’s not frustrated enough that she won’t help Hildetaura come up with her own popular show – even if the extent of Nia’s help is “let me ask my brother to be clever for me”. Her greater concern, though, is earning that one billion. Adventuring is earnin g tons of cash, but tons is not enough. As a result, she and Lynokis take a trip over the holidays to a different country filled with expensive monsters that Leeno – or rather, Leeno’s child assistant – can murder without destroying their value as a carcass/magic corpse. Unfortunately, doing feats no one has been able to do in a hundred years attracts the wrong kind of attention.

Possibly the most interesting part of this book was the occasional “had I but known” hint that implies things are going to go very badly for Nia at some point in the future, implying she may have to flee the kingdom. Certainly, while she can quickly take action when her future is definitely being threatened, she is otherwise completely uncaring about being manipulated by the two royal princes in order to get what they want – and, let’s face it, Nia’s best resource is her position as Nia Liston, not her secret super strength. She’s a celebrity, and outrunning dogs is all very well and good, but that’s just more important than punching crabs. Unfortunately, a lot more crab punching may be needed to get that tournament, so I suspect we’ll be getting more fighting next time, though it’s also possible that the politics that threatened in this book overflow at last.

This was a decent volume, but again, I’d like a bit less “Nia hits things”, please.

Filed Under: nia liston, reviews
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