Only finished two volumes since my weekend was mostly occupied by PoE2.
Management of a Novice Alchemist: Volume 2 - More light hearted Alchemist shenanigans. Perfectly mediocre reading material to kill some time.
Cooking with Wild Game: Volume 26 - Kweeeeeeeeee! The romance is building some speed. And it’s only been 26 volumes! Still in my opinion the most loveable cast of all light novels, so I’m in constant bliss every time I read a new volume.
I have been continuing with my backlog of Trapped in a Dating Sim. If you remember, I was re-reading the first few books so I could remember all the bits I had forgotten before I got into the new books I haven’t read. At the end of last week I had just finished Volume 4 and I was surprised how much I had forgotten of the details. One story arc character’s resolution had completely slipped my mind prior to my re-read.
Volumes 1-3 are the Kingdom Arc, with the anime being Volumes 1 & 2. Volumes 4-7 are the Republic Arc and that is as far as I had ever gotten. Each main story arc is supposedly an installment of the titular Dating Sim/Otome Game.
Last week I read until the end of Volume 9, so I’m finally hitting new material I had never read before. What I found interesting was that Volume 8 was a respite. It had a much more relaxing pace, didn’t focus much on the MC, and wasn’t part of any main story arc. It was basically all fluff. I would liken it to the vacation episode of an anime. That’s not to say it was filler or plot events didn’t happen, but the pacing was definitely a lot slower with chill vibes.
Volume 9 is the start of the final otome game arc and it takes place back in the Kingdom. I’m looking forward to seeing how that plays out as it’s already completely off-script based on the events in the previous arcs. I feel like there was a minor retcon in this volume to add a plot device but it’s no so blatant as to ruin the enjoyment.
What is a little frustrating with this series is the character development. It’s not the worst character development I’ve seen, but it does feel one dimensional most of the time. The original love interests are little more than punching bags. The MC is always inept with dealings of romance. Etc. However there are a few characters, like the original antagonist, who do grow a lot and they shine all the brighter for it.
Anyway, the way the story is set up, the original Otome game had two sequels and this is their final year at the school. As such, this final story arc could definitely be the end of the series. However, there are also hints at some underlying world backstory that has yet to be resolved so I’m interested in seeing where the story goes.
Accomplishments of Duke’s Daughter vol 1&2 - This novel is really dated. It feels like the ideas ware taken from cold war era. The capitalism is the greatest invention and there is an enemy country that sends spies everywhere. I couldn’t imerse myself into it so I didn’t enjoy it.
EXP is Golden vol1 - standard power fantasy but the MC is a wet cat and doesn’t have any motivation to accomplish anything. She only does something if some random dude tells her to do it. Maybe it works in the games but not in the novel. Dull as ditch water.
