#Ichijinsha Bunko Iris

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Hamefura 13

Author: Satoru Yamaguchi

Illustrator: Nami Hidaka

Label: Ichijinsha Bunko Iris

Release Date: 20 September 2023

My Score: 2/5

This volume sees the reintroduction of Caesar, the prince who first appeared in volume 8 and hasn't been seen since. I liked Caesar back when he was introduced. He had pretty good chemistry with Katarina, and to be honest, anyone is better than Jeord. I found him pretty boring here. He just feels like yet another character who's in love with Katarina but isn't going to do anything while she's engaged to Jeord. We already have several other characters like that and he doesn't bring anything new to the table.

Overall, I once again found most of this volume to be boring. I just was not interested in what was going on in most scenes and a lot of narration felt like it could have been cut. The best part of the volume was when Maria meets Caesar and is immediately protective of Katarina, and one thing that happens in the climax of the volume that made the volume feel worth it. But so much of this volume felt like fluff to extend the volume. I probably wouldn't mind it as much if that fluff was with the characters that I care about but it's not. Also, this volume mentions that Katarina had an older brother in her past life that she still holds dear and the volume tries to have some emotional content with that but it falls flat because I'm 95% sure that older brother has not been mentioned before this volume so I don't really buy that he was that important to her.

This volume might actually be my last Hamefura volume. I was bored more than I was interested and there was something that happened in the last chapter that reinforced Jeord's lack of interest in Katarina's consent and boundaries, and the likelihood that he is endgame. I feel like I'm not getting enough out of this series anymore to justify continuing it. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if I forgot all about my dissatisfaction with this volume by the time the next one comes out. We shall see.

#hamefura #satoru yamaguchi #nami hidaka #ichijinsha bunko iris #2 stars #2023 releases #october 2023

[newsintheshell]

THE MOST HERETICAL LAST BOSS QUEEN: FROM VILLAINESS TO SAVIOR, anime in cantiere per la fantasy romance novel di Tenichi

A luglio, Ai Fairouz si calerà nei panni della regina cattiva pronta a salvare in regno!

Ora credete anche voi al cestone delle news di cui vi parlavo ieri? Non sono pazzo (non del tutto, lo giuro :v). In neanche una settimana, siamo già a quota dieci annunci e vi anticipo che ne ho un altro in canna!

Dopo il grande successo di “My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!”, il sottogenere delle antagoniste come protagoniste, che non sono così cattive come la storia presumerebbe, sta prendendo sempre più piede (ma ricordiamoci che la vera capostipite è quella piccola perla di Maoyu Mao Yusha). 

Alla mischia, oggi si aggiunge “THE MOST HERETICAL LAST BOSS QUEEN: FROM VILLAINESS TO SAVIOR” (Higeki no Genkyo to naru Saikyo Gedo Last Boss Joo wa Min no tame ni Tsukushimasu), la cui serie animata, in produzione presso OLM TEAM YOSHIOKA (Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout), è appena stata annunciata per luglio 2023.

L’adattamento della fantasy romance novel di Tenichi è diretto da Norio Nitta (Kirakira Happy Hirake! Cocotama) e sceneggiato da Deko Akao (The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt, The Case Study of Vanitas), mente il character design è in mano a Hitomi Kono. 

La colonna sonora, invece, è realizzata da Hanae Nakamura, Tatsuhiko Saiki, Kanade Sakuma e Junko Nakajima, che non a caso hanno tutti lavorato alle musiche di serie come “My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!”, “I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss” e “Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte”.

Pride Royal Ivy ha solo otto anni quando si rende conto di essersi reincarnata, destinata a diventare la futura regina cattiva e il boss finale di un gioco otome. In questa nuova vita ha tutto: un'arguzia affilata come un rasoio, poteri da boss e grande influenza sul regno, in qualità di principessa ereditaria.

Determinata a seminare disperazione e distruzione in tutto il paese... Ma, aspetta un momento! Che razza di futuro marcio sarebbe?! La principessa Pride decide, invece, di abbandonare il piano da perfida maniaca e di proteggere i suoi potenziali futuri fidanzati, oltre a fare di tutto pur di salvare chiunque può! Riuscirà questo boss finale a guadagnarsi l'adorazione del regno?

Svelati già anche i principali membri del cast:

Pride: Ai Fairouz (Power in Chainsaw Man)

Steyr: Maaya Uchida (Catarina Claes in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!)

Tiara: Haruka Tomatsu (Asuna Yuki in Sword Art Online: Progressive)

La light novel è stata lanciata online nell’aprile 2018 e da giugno 2019 è edita da Ichijinsha, sotto l’etichetta Iris Neo, che la pubblica corredata delle illustrazioni ad opera di Suzunosuke (Last Boss Majo wa Katabutsu Jusha to Tawamureru). 

La serie di romanzi conta attualmente 5 volumi, mentre la versione manga, disegnata da Bunko Matsura, è giunta al terzo volumetto, per ora.

* NON VUOI PERDERTI NEANCHE UN POST? ENTRA NEL CANALE TELEGRAM! *

Autore: SilenziO)))

blogger // anime enthusiast // twitch addict // unorthodox blackster - synthwave lover // penniless gamer

[FONTE]

#lastame #the most heretical last boss queen: from villainess to savior #the most heretical last boss queen #anime #serie tv #light novel #manga #giappone #animazione #cartoni animati #news in the shell

[recentanimenews]

Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home!, Vol. 1

By You Fuguruma and Nama. Released in Japan as “Kasei Madoushi no Isekai Seikatsu: Boukenchuu no Kasei Fugyou Uketamawarimasu!” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Elanor Sakamoto.

Sometimes, when you have a story you want to tell, you have to remember to tell it and not get distracted by other things. Indeed, sometimes the other things are completely unnecessary. You want to have an isekai with a love story between your heroine and a handsome adventurer, but urgh, isekai. That means you have to do the whole “why have you been summoned here/level up” stuff. But… do you NEED to have all that? As for your heroine, there’s a long sequence where she gets involved with the wrong party and is slowly ground down until she’s damn near suicidal. It’s needed setup for the romance to come… but do you NEED to have all that? Flashbacks are your friends! By jettisoning its tragic backstory to the very start of the book and keeping it in flashback, and by having the isekai be reduced to “it just happened, no reason”, the author of Housekeeping Mage is able to focus on telling the story they want. And that’s a good thing.

After a brief “I’m walking home from my grueling office lady job oh hey, isekai whooooosh” prologue, we meet our hero, Alec, an adventurer who’s just gotten back from a long job away from the capital. This means he has not met the capital’s new adventurer Shiori, whose magic power is minimal but who makes up for it in brilliant technique. No one is sure how she ended up there, at first unable to even speak their language. However, they know that when they take her on a multi-day quest, they get hot meals, hot baths, and reasonably soft beds, plus laundry service. Alec is, frankly, smitten pretty fast. There’s just one problem. Shiori was with a party previously who treated her like… well, like a maid, and drained her of her will to live… then abandoned her in a dungeon when forced to by greedy nobles. Frankly, Shiori has PTSD. But Alec, who has his own secret past and his own tragic backstory, wants to get to know her better anyway.

The book tries very hard to not have this be “Magical Maid”, to the point where her first party that does treat her like that are held up as the scum of the earth. (I was expecting to meet them towards the end of the book, but no, though they may show up later.) The rest of our main cast are quick to emphasize not only that what Shiori’s doing is a huge mental and physical help to adventurers, but also that it requires a fine technique that few mages possess – her mixing of different spells works for her because she DOESN’T have huge amounts of mana, those with more would likely be unable to do it. And later on she saves the day with both housekeeping knowledge AND knowledge from Japan. That said… Shiori is pretty broken in this first book. Alec realizes that, I think, and pursues her firmly but slowly, waiting for her to start to open up to him. Which she does, eventually.

There’s more of this in Japan, though as of this review the second book hasn’t begun on J-NC’s site. If you enjoy isekai written for women, or shoujo romance, this is a definite must read. It doesn’t skip the boring bits per se, but they’re shuffled to the side or left for dessert.

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[pkjd]

An anime adaptation for Satoru Yamaguchi's light novel series, "Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta..." (My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!), is currently in production. Details will be made on Ichijinsha Bunko Iris's website at a later date.

-Synopsis-

“I recovered my past memories when I was hit on the head by a rock. I am Katarina Claes, the eight year old daughter of a duke. In a feverish nightmare, in which the prince's fiancee was determined, I have realized that this is the otome game from the previous life. I have turned into a villain that interferes with the romance of capture targets... If the heroine got a happy end, I would be exiled, but if she got a bad end, I would be killed. Have I no happy end!? Why is it only bad!? Somehow I have to avoid destruction and reach old age peacefully!!“

Website: http://www.ichijinsha.co.jp/special/iris/otomegame/

#otome game no hametsu flag shika nai akuyaku reijou ni tensei shiteshimatta #anime

[365mangablog]

The Dragon Knight's Beloved

About The Dragon Knight's Beloved Manga On her 16th birthday, Melissa, apprentice of the royal castle, decided to work outside the castle's limits. After becoming an official priest of the royal castle, she got to work with her beloved dragons, and well as the Dragon Knight captain, Hubbard, and his favored dragons. But all of a sudden, the captain quit! A popular "ichijinsha bunko iris" work, the fantasy love story of a tough Knight and a dragon lover. Read the full article

[justusrstone]

Review of the light novel My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom Volume 2 by Satoru Yamaguchi.

Review is of the official English release from J-Novel Club (J-Novel Heart). Check it out on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2yk6TaR

Or...

Get it from Book Depository: http://tidd.ly/2345f432

Get it from RightStuf: http://shrsl.com/11gf6-1eu6-hq2lo4_1-1

LIGHT NOVEL INFORMATION

Japanese Title: 乙女ゲームの破滅フラグしかない悪役令嬢に転生してしまった… -- "Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shite shimatta..." -- "Bakarina"

Author: Satoru Yamaguchi -- 山口 悟

Illustrator: Nami Hidaka -- ひだかなみ

Publisher (English): J-Novel Club (J-Novel Heart)

Translator: Shirley Yeung

Release Date (English): February 8, 2019

Publisher (Japan): Ichijinsha Bunko Iris (Ichijinsha)

Release Date (Japan): September 19, 2015

Volumes Released (Japan to Date): 9

Anime Series: Yes. Covered Volumes 1-2 with additional material from short story volumes

Manga: Yes. Released in English by Seven Seas https://tidd.ly/3i5u0Xw

#my next life as a villainess #my next life as a villianess all routes lead to doom #bakarina #light novel #light novels #lightnovel #book review

[mangabookshelf]

Manga the Week of 3/18/20

SEAN: It’s the week of St. Patrick’s Day, and yet the amount of Irish manga is thin on the ground.

Dark Horse has Mob Psycho 100 4, which I remain convinced must be 2000% better animated.

ASH: I’ve been enjoying the manga, but it sounds like I should check out the anime, too!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has two debuts. Bibliophile Princess (Mushikaburi-hime) is from Ichijinsha’s Iris Bunko line, and…

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[shazzeaslightnovels]

Hamefura 12

Author: Satoru Yamaguchi

Illustrator: Nami Hidaka

Label: Ichijinsha Bunko Iris

Release Date: 20 October 2022

My Score: 3/5

This book features Frey and Ginger, Katarina’s juniors from the academy. They’ve been tending to Katarina’s garden after she graduated and invite her to the academy to see it in her day off. I was pretty fond of these two back when they first appeared all those volumes ago so I was happy to see them again. The plot really begins when it’s revealed that the Randall family, which Frey belongs to, has been kicking up a fuss about how long it’s taking for Jeord and Katarina to get married and are trying to force Frey into a marriage with Jeord instead. So Frey gets kidnapped by them and it’s up to Katarina and the gang to save her.

This wasn’t a bad a volume but it was a volume that made me question why I’m still reading this series and desperately want the series to be put out of it’s misery already. This series has been out of ideas for a while now and each volume just ends up feeling like filler. This volume barely advances the main plot and, while I was glad to see Frey and Ginger again, so many scenes in this volume just felt unnecessary and I had to skim through a lot of them to get through it. This could have been a short story; it didn’t need to be a full volume. The one positive thing I have to say about the writing in this volume is that the POV switches didn’t feel as unnecessary as they usually do. I felt like they usually revealed something about the characters that we wouldn’t know from Katarina’s POV so I liked that. I also liked the detail that one of Mary’s sisters is trying to patch things up with Mary after bullying her so much in her childhood and that Mary has become an aunt. That cute detail was my favourite part of the volume.

Otherwise, this volume just felt devoid of the charm that exuded from this series at it’s beginning. It felt like a poor attempt to extend the life of a series that should have ended long ago. And with the one or two more hints toward a Jeord ending in this volume, I’m not sure I’ll be reading the next one. I want to follow this series to it’s ending but I’m losing motivation at this point and that’s a shame. Maybe I’ll feel differently when the next volume comes out but I’m so tired of this series at this point.

#Hamefura #Satoru Yamaguchi #Nami Hidaka #ichijinsha bunko iris #February 2023 #2022 releases

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Hamefura 11

Author: Satoru Yamaguchi

Illustrator: Nami Hidaka

Label: Ichijinsha Bunko Iris

Release Date: 20 August 2021

My Score: 3/5

English Release: J-Novel Club is currently releasing this series in English under the title of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!.

!Spoiler warning!: I ended up summarising the events of the first 100 pages so be warned if you prefer to go into these volumes mostly blind.

The first 100 pages of this volume is just romance developments. Katarina’s dad tells her that she needs to start thinking about her engagement to Jeord, saying that he doesn’t mind if she breaks it off but that he wants her to be able to have a fulfilling marriage with someone. He also says that he thinks she would be a good Queen if she got serious about it, citing her ability with people as evidence which I thought was nice, since she’s usually told that she would be unsuitable for the role. I do think that Katarina could be a good Queen but I don’t think she’d be happy as a Queen, given the restricted freedom that would come with the role. Anyway, Katarina resolves to think about romance and consider if there’s anyone she’s in love with and she realises that she has always been afraid to properly consider falling in love with anyone because of the doom flags. She tells this to Jeord and Keith, thanking them for their confessions but not being able to give a proper answer yet. Side note: she has this conversation with Jeord first and then has it with Keith in the same chapter with almost the exact same lines so it reads like the author just copy-and-pasted it and Keith was an afterthought. Sorry for your life Keith. She then asks Sora, Alan, and Nicol about their own experiences with romance so it was nice to see them again and Nicol tries to confess again and Katarina faints again so no progress there. While we do see Sophia in this part, we sadly don’t get to see her ask Sophia, Mary, or Maria about their experiences but I guess she did that a few volumes ago during the slumber party side story so maybe that’s why it wasn’t included here (that or the author is not even going to tease a yuri route at this point).

The volume changes gears after this and becomes about Dewey and his family drama. It feels like it comes out of nowhere and isn’t all that interesting but at least it leads to a somewhat interesting development with Maria at the very end, even if that development also felt like it came out of nowhere.

So yeah, sadly, I didn’t enjoy this volume very much. The first third was a little bit interesting, with Katarina’s revelations about her fear of romance, but it became quite boring once it moved onto Dewey’s plot. At this point, I find myself hoping that the series will end soon. I still have enough fun with it to continue but the author has been out of ideas for a long time now and I don’t know how much longer I’ll last.

#Bakarina #Hamefura #Satoru Yamaguchi #Nami Hidaka #ichijinsha bunko iris #2021 volumes #October 2021 #3 stars

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Hamefura 10

Author: Satoru Yamaguchi

Illustrator: Nami Hidaka

Label: Ichijinsha Bunko Iris

Release Date: 20 February 2021

My Score: 3/5

English Release: J-Novel Club is currently releasing this series in English under the title of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!.

There are two major plots in this volume, the first one being Katarina learning how to use dark magic from Raphael, and the other being Silas letting Katarina accompany him as he donates some vegetable to an orphanage, and of course her harem follows her, and she forms a bond with a kid named Liam. Also, we learn that there are two secret routes in the Fortune Lover II (one is Ceaser, the character from volume 8, the other remains unknown), Katarina appears to be the villian for all five routes (in the original, she was only the villain for Keith and Jeord routes), and she knows magic and named her version of Pochi “Cerberus” (our Katarina heavily disapproves of this naming sense). And, Katarina’s dad tells Keith that he’s going to support Katarina, regardless of who she ends up marrying, and that her breaking off her engagement with Jeord, if she wishes to, isn’t that big of a deal. Between this and the spin-off manga, I’m really starting to want to see more of Katarina’s dad as he seems like such a sweet and supportive guy.

This was an average Hamefura volume. It was pretty fun and I always enjoy spending time with these characters but the plot wasn’t all that interesting for the most part. There were some brighter parts, like the scene where all the girls share a carriage and are very cute, every time Silas blushes because he’s adorable, a cute scene where Katarina and Allan play with kids together, and, as usual, every scene that Katarina and Maria fawn over each other in. But, overall, while I did have a fun time reading it, it didn’t leave a huge impression on me.

I will definitely be reading volume 11 when it comes out. Other thing: for a moment there I wondered if season 2 of the anime was going to be fully anime original because I just did not recognise the characters in the new key visual... until I remembered that Allan and Jeord have brothers.

#hamefura #bakarina #Satoru Yamaguchi #Nami Hidaka #ichijinsha bunko iris #2021 volumes #3 stars #March 2021

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Bakarina 8

Author: Satoru Yamaguchi

Illustrator: Nami Hidaka

Label: Ichijinsha Bunko Iris

Release Date: 20 July 2019

English Release: J-Novel Club is currently releasing this series in English under the title of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

Art Notes: I do like Nami Hidaka’s art a lot but I think it’s hilarious that Katarina is around 18-20 now and she’s still wearing the same goddamn dress. Like, it suits her but lol.

#givemaryagirlfriend2k20

Okay, so, I have been anxious about reading this volume ever since I first saw the cover because I don’t trust Yamaguchi and I am constantly worried that Mary will be given a male love interest and that would truly suck so seeing Mary on the cover with a guy made me quite anxious. But I am pleased to say that Mary never interracts with that guy so all is well.

The plot of this volume is that some members from foreign countries are coming to the castle and, as the prince’s fiancee, Katarina has to stay in the castle for a while and learn some etiquette and make some appearances at events. This leads to some amusing scenes with each member of the original cast and it feels like it’s been so long since we’ve seen Nicol, Alan or Mary interact with Katarina in this way so it was great fun to read. And Katarina meets Cesar, a prince of one of the other countries and the guy on the cover, but she doesn’t know that he’s a prince and he doesn’t know that she’s Jeord’s fiancee. This leads to some surprisingly interesting and fun interactions with the two of them and I liked Cesar a lot and I hope that we see him again. As much as I like Cesar, I wish the series would stop introducing new characters in each volume and focus on developing the characters that we’ve known since the first couple of volumes instead. We barely spent any time this volume with the characters that were introduced in volume 6 and honestly? I can’t say that I missed them.

Also, this volume was very funny, as usual and there was one scene in particular that took place in Katarina’s mind that made me laugh my ass off.

I believe that the next volume is coming out next month and I plan to read it then. The anime is also going to start airing next month and I’m excited and I hope that it can reignite that initial love I had for this series. And, yes, I absolutely loved that key visual of Katarina with her ladies.

#Bakarina #Hamehura #Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta #death flag otome #Satoru Yamaguchi #Nami Hidaka #ichijinsha bunko iris #March 2020 #Positive review

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Bakarina 7

Author: Satoru Yamaguchi

Illustrator: Nami Hidaka

Label: Ichijinsha Bunko Iris

Release Date: 20 October 2018

English Release:

J-Novel Club is currently releasing this series in English under the title of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

(Note: with the anime series coming, it would appear that the official shortened title is Hamehura. I suppose I’ll continue to use Bakarina for now since it appears to be the more popular short-hand for Western fans but I may change my mind later and start using Hamehura if it gets popular enough)

Like most of the volumes in this series, I have mixed opinions on this one. One part was really interesting and made me laugh but then it went to back to try to focus on the main plot which wasn’t very interesting. I kind of just wish that this series would forget about the main plot and just focus on the characters and how silly they are because this series is delight when it chooses to focus on those sillier elements.

Some light spoilers (up until around page 150) under the cut.

To be honest, I’m still a bit annoyed that the decision was taken to have Katarina work at the magic ministry since it was not built up at all in previous volumes and it doesn’t make much sense to have her work there, character-wise. She should have been a farmer! *shakes fist*

Like I predicted, I don’t really remember any of the new characters that were introduced last volume, aside from Dewey. The other new character who was capturable in Lovers Fortune II, Silas, didn’t make any impression on me last volume but he grew on me very quickly in this volume as it’s revealed that he is also a farmer and he gets really excited when Katarina recognizes the superior quality of the vegetables that he has grown and then they work on a farm together and it’s the best part of the volume! See, this is the kind of thing that I wish the series would focus on! Anyway, Silas comes off as a jerk at first but it’s revealed that he’s just really bad at talking to young women, as he was surrounded by elderly people as he was growing up. He’s actually kind of cute and is my favorite addition to the cast since Maria was introduced in volume 2.

And then the volume goes back to focusing on the main plot and it’s not very interesting. The original cast members don’t show up much in this volume. If you’re into Jeord, he gets a pretty good scene near the start of the volume and I was almost starting to like him... until he went back to treating Katarina like his property. Otherwise, there’s not much of note there.

Judging by the cover, I’m guessing the next volume will focus on Mary and I really, really hope that it doesn’t give her a male love interest as this is something that has had me worried since I first saw that cover. I’m staying optimistic and will be trying to read it before the anime comes out.

Speaking of the anime, some hopes and wishes: I really hope that Mary, Sophia and Maria don’t get shafted so that the series can focus on the reverse harem aspect. The PVs have me a bit worried about this but the light novel itself didn’t have any non-Katarina ladies on the cover until volume 5 so I really do hope that it’s just a marketing thing. I also hope that they only adapt the first two volumes since I found that the story went downhill after the end of the first arc. It makes for a better ending as well, though I wouldn’t mind them adapting the cultural festival part of volume 3 since that could make a good stand-alone epilouge episode. Not sure how I feel about the decision to cast Maaya Uchida as Katarina. She’s a good voice actress and I’m sure that she’ll do fantastic in the role but I’m not convinced that she can do a good villain voice and I was hoping that Katarina would get one, since her voice and appearance are meant to be villainess-like, even if her personality isn’t. I was hoping that they would choose a voice actor who has a history with voicing otome game villainesses and Maaya Uchida doesn’t. I’m sure I’ll get used to it but it’s not what I wanted. Regardless, I’m looking forward to the anime and I hope it manages to reignite my interest in this series.

#bakarina #Hamehura #Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta #my next life as a villainess: all routes lead to doom #Satoru Yamaguchi #Nami Hidaka #ichijinsha bunko iris #January 2020 #Positive review

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Bakarina 9

Author: Satoru Yamaguchi

Illustrator: Nami Hidaka

Label: Ichijinsha Bunko Iris

Release Date: 20 April 2020

English Release: J-Novel Club is currently releasing this series in English under the title of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

Art Notes: That is one cute cat and the full version of the cover image also has adorable chibis of all the main characters with fruits, except for Katarina, who is shown with her garden vegetables because of course she is.

This volume has Katarina, Maria, Sora and Lana go on a trip to investigate the disappearance of a noble girl who may have gotten caught up in some human trafficking. In case you don’t think that this series has enough characters for now, two new ones are introduced: Arno and Regina. Arno is a man who Katarina meets when she finds a stray cat. He appears rather late in the volume so it’s hard to talk about him without spoiling things but he does have a connection to Sora. Regina is Lana’s old friend and she’s a silly character but quite fun. She’s also providing the group with accommodation so the gang is working at a restaurant for her and it’s fun. The pure joy that Maria gets from people enjoying her sweets makes me want the series to go in a direction where she opens up her own cafe.

Sora is focused on quite a bit in this volume and I was surprised by how much I’ve grown to like him since his introduction. Still, the highlight of this volume is definitely Maria who goes on a date with Katarina and it’s the cutest thing and it made me ridiculously happy. There are some other great Maria scenes too and even Sora has to admit that she’s the strongest rival for Katarina’s heart.

Like always, this volume was really readable and I enjoyed it a lot. The original cast do show up a bit which was nice too. I believe that this series tends to have one or two volumes come out in a year so hopefully we’ll get volume 10 later in the year.

The anime is currently airing and I’m really enjoying it so far and I’m glad that it has been a success. Hopefully, it leads to seeing more anime adaptations based on light novels for ladies. I do have to grind my teeth at Crunchyroll’s romanization decisions every time I watch an episode though... Speaking of the anime, there are voice dramas that adapt the parts of light novels not narrated from Katarina’s POV. They can be found on YouTube or on the official website for the anime here. As far as I know, there are no English translations yet but they’re still worth a listen if you like the voice actors (and they basically adapt the light novels exactly so you’re not missing out on much).

#Bakarina #Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta #Hamefura #Satoru Yamaguchi #Nami Hidaka #ichijinsha bunko iris #2020 releases #May 2020 #Positive review #light novels for girls

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Bakarina 6

Author: Satoru Yamaguchi

Illustrator: Nami Hidaka

Label: Ichijinsha Bunko Iris

Release Date: 20 March 2018

This volume surprised me a lot with how the story went but it was pretty fun and it had a lot of focus on Maria and her relationship with Katarina which I loved. I always enjoy my time with Katarina when I read this series.

English Release:

J-Novel Club is currently releasing this series in English under the title of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

Story:

The start of this volume has Katarina graduating from the magic school. I was really surprised by this because I couldn’t remember what year she was supposed to be in volume 4 and it just feels too soon, from a story perspective. Anyhow, Katarina then has some dreams about her past life that reveals that there was a Fortune Love 2, where Katarina is still the villain and then she goes to work at the Ministry of Magic. I’m not really sure why the author made the decision to change the setting because not a whole lot that really changes. The previous characters still show up and there were plenty of ways to introduce new characters in the school setting and a Fortune Love 2 plot would have worked in the school setting anyway so *shrugs*. My best guess is that the author wanted to give Sora more screen-time. I think I’m probably just bitter because I had this image of Katarina working in a farm or partnering with Maria to run a bakery/sweets shop. Well, it did give Katarina that cool new cape so it’s fine, I guess. 

Anyhow, there is some interesting stuff regarding the Ministry of Magic that works well but the real star of this volume is Maria and her character development. She gets a lot of good stuff in this volume that was great to see. This volume feels more story-focused than the last few volumes and brings back some of the elements that made the first two volumes so much fun to read. I still don’t think it’s as good as those two volumes but it’s a start and I always enjoy this series, even if I have my dissatisfactions with it.

Character:

Maria! I was ready to give up on the idea of a Katarina x Maria ending but this volume teases them so much that it has to be intentional at this point. Well, even if they’re not endgame, I’m still going to enjoy their relationship a lot. Anyhow, Maria is great in this volume and Katarina even starts to get a bit of character development. I still really love how Katarina’s strength is her empathy and how she’s always complimenting the other characters in her narration. It just makes me happy. Due to the change in settings, there a lot of new characters and most of them aren’t very memorable but I did like Huey, a boy who works with Katarina and Maria at the Ministry of Magic and who grew up in the same village as Maria with a similar background and he was pretty interesting. The other characters do show up every now and again but don’t get much screen-time in this volume, except for Sora who works in the Ministry.

I don’t know when I’ll be reading volume 7 but it should be sometime in the next few months. I’ll try to catch up to the light novel before the anime comes out. Next up is Usotsuki Senki, Meikyuu o Yuku 1

#Bakarina #Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta #death flag otome #December 2019 #Satoru Yamaguchi #Nami Hidaka #ichijinsha bunko iris #light novels for girls #light novel #light novel review

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta 5 Review

Author: Satoru Yamaguchi

Illustrator: Nami Hidaka

Label: Ichijinsha Bunko Iris

Release Date: 9 June 2017

An improvement over the past two volumes but still not quite as good as the first two volumes. This one is pretty much a collection of short stories featuring the characters from the series and there are some short manga chapters illustrated by Nami Hidaka to promote the manga included in the volume. While I enjoyed it, it seem like it’s easily skippable if you just want to follow the main story.

English Release:

J-Novel Club is currently releasing this series in English under the title of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

Story:

Unlike the previous volumes, this volume is more like a collection of short stories rather than a linear story. It feels closer to volume 1 in that way. Not only are there written chapters, there are also some manga chapters illustrated by Nami Hidaka to promote the release of the manga! Those were only 2-5 pages long but they were fun. The first written story “A Rival Appears” is the longest and, unfortunately, the worst of the volume. It introduces a new character who is in love with Jeord and hates Katarina as a result and the parts of the chapter that were from her POV were so pointless. It was really a drag to read. There were a couple of part that made me smile but it’s ultimately a pretty pointless chapter. Admittedly, I might like it more if I liked Jeord more. After that, there are chapters focusing on Keith, Alan, Nicole and Raphael. They’re fun and fans of theirs should enjoy their chapters. In particular, I really enjoyed Nicole’s chapter. After that, there’s a chapter entitled “The Girls Love Talk”. It’s pretty disappointing, to be honest, but Mary’s POV was a delight. The final part is a bunch of short stories from the POV of various side characters that were originally published online with the web novel. Some of them are cute but none of them are particularly memorable.

I do think that this volume is easily skippable for those who just want to follow the main story. I wouldn’t be surprised if the new character who’s into Jeord shows up in a later volume but she’s such a bland character that I don’t think reading her introduction will be neccessary. If you like the characters, though, this is a good volume for that.

Character:

Katarina’s narration is amusing as usual. All the characters introduced so far in the series do show up here and are a delight. In particular, Mary had a lot of great stuff this volume and I really liked Nicole in this one. Actually, all of the characters get some good stuff and I think that most fans will get something out of this volume.

Some pretty good stuff this volume and I will be reading volume 6 at some point.

Next up is the first volume of Suiren Graffiti

#bakarina #Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta #my next life as a villainess: all routes lead to doom #light novel #Light novel review #Satoru Yamaguchi #Nami Hidaka #ichijinsha bunko iris #August 2019

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei Shiteshimatta... 4 Review

Author: Satoru Yamaguchi

Illustrator: Nami Hidaka

Label: Ichijinsha Bunko Iris

Release Date: 20 August 2016

English Release:

J-Novel Club is currently releasing this series in English as My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

Story:

The majority of the volume is spent with Katarina and co. trying to find Keith, who has mysteriously vanished.

Honestly, this volume wasn’t very interesting or funny. I liked getting to know more of Keith’s past but the majority of the volume felt pointless and I think that’s the issue with the story now: the primary goal was completed in volume 2 and now it just feels so directionless. Even comedy series need to have some kind of a goal to work towards and this series no longer does. I checked and the web novel actually did end at the end of volume 2 which explains why that felt like such a proper ending.

All that being said, I really enjoyed the last ~50 pages of the volume which contains little side stories on what the characters who didn’t go to find Keith did while Katarina was away. I really liked it and it made it clear that Mary’s feelings for Katarina are entirely romantic, in case there was ever any doubt.

Characters:

A bit too much Jeord in this volume for my tastes. I just think he’s the most flat character, has the least interesting relationship with Katarina and he tends to think of her as his possession instead of her own person. On the bright side, Maria was as delightful as usual in this volume! Lana, who was introduced last volume also got some moments to shine and she’s pretty cool. Sora was also more enjoyable this volume than he was last one, though he barely had any lines. Even though this volume is meant to be Keith’s volume, he’s not really in it that much but I enjoyed seeing just how much he and Katarina care for each other. Speaking of Katarina, her lack of romantic interest in any of the guys, especially Jeord, is hilarious at this point and I hope it stays that way.

I do plan to read volume 5 eventually but it is low priority due to just how disappointing the past 2 volumes have been. I still have hope for this series but they really do feel like a needless continuation. I like Mary a lot so I hope that volume 5 focuses on her instead of merging her volume with Alan or not giving her a volume at all.

#Bakarina #Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei Shiteshimatta #my next life as a villainess: all routes lead to doom #light novels #light novels for girls #light novel reviews #Satoru Yamaguchi #Nami Hidaka #ichijinsha bunko iris #May 2019