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Hemisphere · 2013-03-29, 00:30

Unfortunately, I forgot to mention the comedy in that wall of text, heh. Except it's usually one of two things; Shizuno and Moroha making fun of Satsuki, or Shizuno playing around with Moroha and getting caught by Satsuki.

I really like the chemistry between Shizuno and Moroha. Not just because they're formerly husband and wife, but because they complement each other so well. Satsuki just doesn't compare to Shizuno's 天下無敵-level 大和撫子 skill, and that's without going into Satsuki's horrible character flaws.

EDIT:

Just remembered that 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団 is already out! Time to stalk some blogs and sites for reviews about it...

「おまえ、わたしのものになりなさい」「は?」お調子者の初級魔道士ダークは、無敵の傭兵騎士団“聖剣団” の若き女剣士フィーネによって、無理やり団員にさせられる。だがラグナの谷を守るその騎士団は、今や弱小の “二代目”となっていた!フィーネの下で聖剣団復活に付き合わされるダークだが、そんな矢先に禁断の黒魔術を操るカーラーン国の“魔軍”がラグナの谷に侵攻し―!?谷が危機を迎える中、ダークは思わぬ作戦に出る。

Those lines of dialogue make me think of Vanadis. Hahaha. If this turns out to be something like Kuro no Hiera Glaphicos meets Vanadis in terms of fantasy setting, focus on the duo lead, and several conspiratorial agendas clashing against one another, then I'll be trembling with excitement...(also PV is here for those interested)

Another additional edit, I apologize, but it seems that based on the official site for 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団, Volume 2 is going to be released two months right after Volume 1! This is perfect, since this means I can purchase both of them, along with 千の魔剣と盾の乙女 10, 魔弾の王と戦姫 7, and 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 6 all in one fell swoop.

Master Assassin · 2013-03-30, 03:22

On a fit of "buying for the sake of buying," my inventory sees two light novel titles as newest additions:

1. Ore ga Ojousama Gakkou ni "Shomin Sample" toshite Rachirareta-ken, a title I recall announcing at the New Releases thread a while back. I just got done with the prologue and the first chapter on my readthrough, and my reading speed is quite slow even when skipping some Kanji I cannot recognize

I figure something had to be in it that I'm seeing it already released up to the 5th volume in my local Kinokuniya (Malaysia), and there's already a manga adaptation.

2. Maou to Yuusha no Kyoudai Kankei - I don't even know why I even bought this, probably I was thinking of something among the lines of "MC gets incarnations of the Hero(ine?) and Demon King (Queen?) as his little sisters, what can go wrong?"

Anyone read this yet?

Hemisphere · 2013-03-31, 01:54

I thought that I might share my thoughts on some of the series that I'm reading, in case they might help as recommendations (in a manner of speaking). For now, I guess I'll talk about something that intrigued me with 黒鋼の魔紋修復士.

Spoiler:

I just realized that part of what draws me in to 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 is the characterization, not just of the hero and heroine (as it is this series' biggest lure), but also of the antagonists. They aren't depicted in the stereotypical villainous manner in that they are just baby-eating short of being heinous, but that they are characters merely putting their own self-interests ahead of everything else.

The lead pair (Dimitar and Valeria) act on behalf of their country's self-interest and well-being, and their "missions" are usually that of preserving their country's position of power compared to the other countries in their alliance. They also have their own self-interests to consider; Valeria wants to reclaim her family's nobility by serving as a Maiden, while Dimitar wishes to avoid disgracing the relatives who brought him in and treated him as family. In contrast, the antagonists also have their own agendas, and they are also in line with breaking the current status quo and gaining power and glory for their respective countries (Vol 1 had the disgraced general trying to show that he was still capable by leading a rebellion in the territory of their rival country, Vol 2 had a noble who was trying to lift up his country from near-insignificance due to the loss of their Maiden, Vol 3 had rebels resuming their civil war hostility as per their country's long history), but the way they go about it is different.

It strikes me that the only thing that makes them antagonists, really, is because of political and social circumstances, which is an interesting thing. They aren't portrayed as doing anything overtly villainous like other LNs do with their antagonists (and even Vanadis is guilty of depicting its villains in shades of black right off the bat, then flip-flopping so it presents the villain as somewhat sympathetic near the end of their character arc; though I get that the main reason Vanadis does so is because it's actually trying to show to the audiences how good intentions can end up wrong, and how Tigre might end up like them as a sort of parallel), they're just acting out of self-interest and are bound by the circumstances. They're not antagonists because they're serial murderers, or bad guys doing bad things, or just because they're horrible people - no, it's just that they're doing their thing, which might interfere with Di and Valeria's country's thing, so the two get dispatched in order to resolve it in a way that is beneficial to their country and to preserve the status quo.

It's an interesting thing to note, because 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 is really mostly character-driven (at least from how I perceive it) and this whole juxtaposition (or compare-and-contrast if you don't like pretentious vocabulary du jour) between the protagonists and the antagonists make for interesting food-for-thought. They really are antagonists, and not villains, and I find it quite a refreshing breath of fresh air.

There's more to 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 but I'd just end up rambling as to why I love it instead of coming out with something close to coherent and rational, so I should just end it on this note - that I like the way it handles characterization and its characters. They don't subscribe to archetypes and archetypal behavior as closely as you'd think, and most of the fun is seeing how Dimitar and Valeria handle each other as well as themselves from Volume 1 onwards.

That, and it's kind of a downer that you can't really judge the series from Vol 1 alone (if that's your thing), because Vol 2 does a pretty fine job of showing how capable Maidens and Magic Knights are (the exact terminologies the series uses for these characters escape me, nor do I know the proper romanization for them so I'm not using them at the moment - I know it's a European language but that's the extent of my lazy research; I have enough series on my list that are utter nightmares when it comes to finding out the right romanization for terminologies used).

n0m@n · 2013-03-31, 02:23

From your description, 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 sounds really interesting. I mainly follow LN from fujimi shobo and MF bunko, so I'm not that familiar with LN which isn't published by them.
I will check it out along with the upcoming 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団. Both of them sounds really interesting.

Hemisphere · 2013-03-31, 02:36

I see...黒鋼の魔紋修復士 is published by Famitsu Bunko, while 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団 is published by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko.

To add balance to my earlier post about 黒鋼の魔紋修復士, it has a lot of world-building details sneaked in between the pages - they help add to the setting, characters, roles, and history of world of 黒鋼の魔紋修復士. The author scatters them around, and they feel like jigsaw puzzles that add to the full picture of the world-building once you start collecting the pieces and putting them together. I'll upload some pictures of said pages as samples later so you can get an idea of what I mean. The author of 黒鋼の魔紋修復士, Akihisa Ureshino, also has this habit of junctioning scenes together in order to build up the developing story, and while it works out well for the most part, it can get a bit jarring and bothersome in some portions. To clarify: you could be reading about how Di and Valeria are about to get into this dangerous battle, only for the scene to cut away into a different scene between other characters discussing about circumstances and issues related to the said battle. It's nice for build-up, but depending on your tastes, it might get in the way sometimes, especially if you're already feeling the tension for the upcoming scene. But while the author does use world-building, and has political and social circumstances adding to his story's weight, they're not really discussed in full or close to Vanadis-level. The characters mention certain political, social and economic events and ramifications from time to time, but nothing extensive or difficult.

The author loves using a lot of terms like Hiera Glaphicos, Hierataker, etc. with matching kanji though so they're pretty understandable.

It also has no harem comedy antics, no ecchi fanservice - the comedy bits are mostly between Valeria and the other Maidens, or Dimitar and Valeria. The other heroines aren't there just for looks, nor are they there to exist as harem member #〇〇, but they are characters of their own with their own agendas, motives, and behavior. It's not peppered with love romance flags, or heroines making fools of and arguing with themselves just to attract the male's attention, or the male lead being stupidly good and being the generic goody-two-shoes protagonist, and it can be quite refreshing to behold. Di's sarcasm and tendency to piss off Valeria is hilarious and entertaining.

The series' in-universe logic of magic tattoos needing to be exposed in order to use magic is followed faithfully, there are no shounen power-ups and the way magic is presented and used by the characters come off as organic (as in, natural and scaled with the characters, not arbitrary and prone to sudden shounen power-ups). Battles don't come off as shounen-inspired battles; for the most part they're realistically handled (as realistically as magic with limits can be, anyways), and they're always engaging to read especially when Dimitar starts pulling off dirty tricks.

Regarding 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団, I've seen on some sites that Vol. 1 was essentially a huge prologue though still entertaining and brimming with wit reminiscent of Rakuin no Monshou (from what others have said, as I have not read it on my own to provide context), and considering that Volume 2 is going to be released just two months after Volume 1 (June 1 release date), it's up to you whether to purchase it early on or wait for both volumes. I'll be going for the latter.

My apologies for constantly editing this post.

n0m@n · 2013-03-31, 03:03

Thanks for the explanations.
It certainly seems like it is an LN which is worth following. I might read it online first to see the feel of it. But I do like the character descriptions. Having a bit of a dark feel to it may seem more interesting after all.
I dont actually have that much LN I want to buy in April, so I would probably order them in late May or early June. That way I can also buy two volumes of 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団 at once.
Oh, it seems you can read the first several pages in their website. Might as well read them now to see the feel of it.

Hemisphere · 2013-03-31, 03:15

I also forgot to add that the other Maiden heroines serve as foils to Valeria herself, the main heroine lead, which is a really nice thing. The story isn't so much dark as it is more serious than your average LN title, but yes, I know what you mean.

Here's the sample pictures of the world-building pages I mentioned earlier: [1] [2] [3]

Those are from Vol. 1. Shakira Babel, one of the Maidens (mentioned in that second link), appears in Volume 5, but for her to be mentioned that early (as well as mentioned in Volume 3 in-character by Dimitar) shows just how much the author's planned out the world-building ahead.

I forgot to comment on this, but since some people do take note of it: illustration-wise, it's not bad at all. The illustrations really help breathe life into the story, and there are few, if none, conflicts between the text depicting the scene and the illustrations portraying said scene.

I'd recommend you read it online, yes. Helps to get a feel for things early on, like with the author's writing style, or previews of how the characters/world setting are handled.

I'm also planning to buy titles in bulk around June, so I can get Vanadis 7, Thousand and Aegis 10, Hiera Glaphicos 6, Ochitekita Naga no Kuni 1-3 and Aldebaran (聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団) 1 and 2 all at once. Probably some other titles too, but those are my priorities, and I think it's safe to say that I'll be satisfied with those for quite a while. I had the idea of buying Rakuin no Monshou 1-12 in one go days ago, but I'll postpone that idea for now.

EDIT:

This is definitely late news, but late is better than never. 千の魔剣と盾の乙女 (Thousand and Aegis) Vol. 10 has a limited edition with Drama CD included, and seiyuus have already been chosen for Phil and Elicia's roles! 川澄綾子 as Elicia and 壱智村小真 as Phil! The rest are still under development.

n0m@n · 2013-04-01, 05:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemisphere

I also forgot to add that the other Maiden heroines serve as foils to Valeria herself, the main heroine lead, which is a really nice thing. The story isn't so much dark as it is more serious than your average LN title, but yes, I know what you mean.

Here's the sample pictures of the world-building pages I mentioned earlier: [1] [2] [3]

Those are from Vol. 1. Shakira Babel, one of the Maidens (mentioned in that second link), appears in Volume 5, but for her to be mentioned that early (as well as mentioned in Volume 3 in-character by Dimitar) shows just how much the author's planned out the world-building ahead.

I forgot to comment on this, but since some people do take note of it: illustration-wise, it's not bad at all. The illustrations really help breathe life into the story, and there are few, if none, conflicts between the text depicting the scene and the illustrations portraying said scene.

I'd recommend you read it online, yes. Helps to get a feel for things early on, like with the author's writing style, or previews of how the characters/world setting are handled.

I'm also planning to buy titles in bulk around June, so I can get Vanadis 7, Thousand and Aegis 10, Hiera Glaphicos 6, Ochitekita Naga no Kuni 1-3 and Aldebaran (聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団) 1 and 2 all at once. Probably some other titles too, but those are my priorities, and I think it's safe to say that I'll be satisfied with those for quite a while. I had the idea of buying Rakuin no Monshou 1-12 in one go days ago, but I'll postpone that idea for now.

EDIT:

This is definitely late news, but late is better than never. 千の魔剣と盾の乙女 (Thousand and Aegis) Vol. 10 has a limited edition with Drama CD included, and seiyuus have already been chosen for Phil and Elicia's roles! 川澄綾子 as Elicia and 壱智村小真 as Phil! The rest are still under development.

Damn! Looks like I will be spending a lot in May and June.
Nice. Saber is going to voice Elicia.

Speaking about LN, I read the first few pages of 銀弾の銃剣姫 at the MF Bunko, but it didnt seem interesting as アルティーナ. It seems like Altina is the different approach the author took and Gindan is his original style. Not many good comments has been said about Gindan.

The LN called "Absolute Duo" from MF bunko seems like they will have a big annoucement soon. The LN is one of the good LN from MF Bunko that started in 2012.

Hemisphere · 2013-04-01, 05:34

I was surprised at the details myself, but I'm glad for Tsukasa Kawaguchi-sensei. I can't wait to imagine how Kawasumi Ayako is going to be voicing Elicia - she should be right at home considering it's a blonde tsundere swordswoman, haha (though Elicia is more like a shield + shortsword user). I definitely can't wait to hear Phil, though - I hope her deadpan boke comes off exactly the way I imagine it. Or Nagi!

Here's the teaser for Thousand and Aegis 10:

魔剣ホルプを完全復活させるため竜の墓場へと向かうロック。しかし、行く手を遮る遺跡の魔物たちに武器を持たないロックは歯が立たず、エリシアたちに助けられ己の無力さをかみしめる。その頃、ロックとの再戦を望む狂気の魔物アレンもまた竜の墓場へと向かう。ホルプは復活を果たすのか、そして完全復活の近い魔王をバルトゥータスらは倒すことができるのか。大人気魔剣ファンタジー、待望の10巻登場！

I'm betting that Horpe's going to come back in full just in time to save Rach, or something of the sort.

That's too bad about 銀弾の銃剣姫; I checked out some of the reviews beforehand and it seems like it's not a very interesting series. Though I guess if 覇剣の皇姫アルティーナ is doing better than his MF Bunko J series, then the author should focus on Altina instead.

I'm trying to look around for something of a synopsis of sorts for Vanadis 7 and 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 (Kuro no Hiera Glaphicos) 6, but still no luck...

Here's a fun trivia for 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団! Apparently the artist was asked to draw models for as many as 15 different characters; not all of whom appeared in Vol. 1 (I think, I forgot the exact words). This early on, and that many characters, spells interesting for me, so I'm keeping a sharp eye for 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団 Vol. 2's release.

---

Seeing as I talked about 聖剣使いの禁呪詠唱 before...while Vol. 1 had me interested, I'm currently in the middle of reading Vol. 2, and I have to get this off my chest. It's following exactly the same path that other 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ stories have taken before it (reluctant-to-fight hero but will cause hell if you harm his harem, protecting mankind vs ruling over them, power levels exponentially scaling up with each new threat, among other things) and while I initially picked this up because it's a "guilty pleasure" of sorts for me, these cookie-cutter trends are exactly why I abandoned reading 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ stories in the first place.

I guess I'll just finish reading Volume 2 in its entirety to see whether or not I'll still follow this, but for now it feels like the only hook that's still got me reeled into this series is Shizuno's character. I like her and all, especially her chemistry with Moroha, but I don't think she can maintain my interest for long if this keeps up.

EDIT:

Just finished reading Vol. 2 of 聖剣使いの禁呪詠唱. I'm not really in the mood to read Campione! Lite edition, so I'll just say that those who love 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ (stories with overpowered leads) and lovecom harem gags will feel right at home with Seikentsukai no Kinjueishou (Worldbreak). It has yet to reveal the other 5 members of the Six Heads, as well as the true nature of the Metaphysicals, and I suppose the next Volumes will discuss those mysteries gradually. For me, as much as I love Shizuno's character, reading too many shounen and harem tropes being played so painfully straight just isn't my thing, so I'll be dropping this one, sadly enough. I really wanted to like it, but it's too much a retread of the paths already taken by other 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ stories; at least the writing is enjoyable, I suppose.

I'll be rereading 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 from Volumes 1 to 3 for now, then go on to 4 and 5, hopefully finishing in time by Volume 6's release. By then I'll jump straight to Vanadis 7, and Aldebaran 1 and 2.

Hemisphere · 2013-04-05, 07:34

It's finally happened! I can't contain my joy over this.

千の魔剣と盾の乙女 Thousand and Aegis Volume 10 special site open! Site is here: http://www.ichijinsha.co.jp/special/novel/thousand/ and it's mostly there to advertise the upcoming Volume 10 with Drama CD included, but it's still 千の魔剣と盾の乙女 and it's still Kawaguchi Tsukasa so it's all good. The site has (very) brief character bios of the main cast (and none of its expanded roster like Fiona, Mana or Ferdia) as well as a really brief synopsis.

The Drama CD will have Elicia, Phil and Rach as well as Baltuetas and Nighu. No Nagi or Fiona, but it's understandable seeing as the skit is set even before Volume 1's events. Hearing tsuntsun Elicia and deadpan boke Phil voiced...it's like a dream come true (which it is).

Now, I just can't wait for May to come out so I can buy Volume 10 (and Vanadis 7 and etc.)!

VN-Angel · 2013-04-18, 07:36

Usotsuki Mii-kun to Kowareta Maa-chan

(Versus )

Bungaku shoujo

Which one should I buy ?(Of course, I'm talking about LN)

Both novels interest me so I'm planing to buy them, but for now, I have enough money for only one.

And now I'm being indecisive and thinking that maybe I can get some ideas from ppl here.

So if Hakomari(Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria) is my favorite LN, which one should I choose ?

I'm asking in this thread because it seems like a proper place. Correct me if I'm wrong.

apr · 2013-04-18, 12:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by VN-Angel

Usotsuki Mii-kun to Kowareta Maa-chan

(Versus )

Bungaku shoujo

Which one should I buy ?(Of course, I'm talking about LN)

I didn't think either was particularly good, if that's helpful.

larethian · 2013-04-18, 20:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by VN-Angel

Usotsuki Mii-kun to Kowareta Maa-chan

(Versus )

Bungaku shoujo

Which one should I buy ?(Of course, I'm talking about LN)

Both novels interest me so I'm planing to buy them, but for now, I have enough money for only one.

And now I'm being indecisive and thinking that maybe I can get some ideas for ppl here.

So if Hakomari(Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria) is my favorite LN, which one should I choose ?

I'm asking in this thread because it seems like a proper place. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I've never read the first one. But Bungaku Shoujo is highly recommended and you shouldn't even hesitate.

kuroishinigami · 2013-04-18, 21:20

Usotsuki mii-kun is closer to the nuance in Utsu Hako though.

Hemisphere · 2013-04-21, 01:32

Since someone mentioned 覇剣の皇姫アルティーナ before, I thought I'd mention that 覇剣の皇姫アルティーナ III is slated for a June 29 release date.

Still no open preorders for Hiera Glaphicos 6...

EDIT:

Is this Fujimi Shobou's attempt at a Fantasy Senki title? 253 pages is pretty short though, especially compared to other Senki titles like MF Bunko J's Vanadis and Naga, or Famitsu Bunko's Gabriella Senki and Altiina.

VN-Angel · 2013-04-25, 00:33

I decide to buy Bungaku shoujo after all.

Hemisphere · 2013-05-03, 21:03

Teaser cover of 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団 2 can be seen on its Amazon page. Holy crap whip sword, one of my biggest weapon fetishes ever. Also, the design reminds me of 黒鋼の魔紋修復士's cover designs.

Sadly, I won't be reading any May releases until the middle of June because of Vanadis' pushback to a June release due to the author (Kawaguchi Tsukasa)'s health and his inability to complete the manuscript in time (which affects my preorders as I had them to ship all together once completed). Thankfully he finished Thousand and Aegis 10 beforehand, haha.

Hemisphere · 2013-06-27, 14:58

Finally finished reading 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団/Tsurugi no Hime to Aldebaran. Published by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko, with 杉原智則 (Sugihara Tomonori) as the author and Nidy -2D- as the illustrator. Two volumes have been released so far.

As I don't want to get whatever romanizations wrong, I will be using the names and terms as they appeared in the books.

Spoiler:

The invincible mercenary group 聖剣団 (formerly known as 神盟騎士団) comprising of six highly skilled, widely reputed individuals all leading their own corps, bound together and led by グラジス・エストール (and accompanied by his daughter フィーネ・エストール as an apprentice following in her father's footsteps), has repeatedly repelled the military advances of the country of カーラーン for over a year now. They have settled in the valley of ラグナ thus far, which is also the mercenary group's leader's hometown, and defended it from カーラーン time and time again. But when an unprecedented disaster strikes, with the one thing holding this invincible mercenary group together being taken away from them in one brief moment, the group crumbles under the pressure of the situation and a falling out ensues; the members, convinced that they could bring an end to this problem on their own without the help of the others, split apart. It now falls on フィーネ・エストール and her captive prisoner, ダーク, to defend the now-vulnerable valley of ラグナ from the military might of カーラーン whose leaders are all but eager to take advantage of this opportunity as a way to repay the shame of eight continuous losses despite having superior numbers, demons and magic on their side.

Pardon the unflattering summary. Now on to the characters.

ダーク is a complete antithesis to protagonist found in contemporary fiction. He is far from overpowered; he is a bottom-ranked magician whose ability to manipulate creatures (think summoner class in RPGs, minus the summoning and more projection) holds great potential, but is just too lazy to make use of it. He is neither charismatic nor charming; the author goes to great pains to point out how his face naturally adopts a smirking, patronizing expression that people can naturally take to hating in a heartbeat. He is nowhere near brave; he prioritizes the mantra of self-survival and takes it to the fullest, even bragging that he was the only one who has survived an encounter with every member of the 聖剣団 - as in, he has faced each and every one of them in the battlefield, with the last one being フィーネ・エストール herself. Humility is not is strongest point; he thinks of himself as some grand figure whose legacy has yet to begin, when in reality he's more like a bumbling henchman in everyone's eyes. He also has a nasty habit of running his mouth off without thinking, especially when he's frightened or when emotions get the better of him (like when he's frightened).

He has a very sharp mind, however, and the strategies he can come up with out of his survival instincts are both unorthodox and ridiculously unfair, but quite effective. He is very much like Captain Jack Sparrow, minus the famous exploits but much of the scheming, self-interest to the gusto.

フィーネ is, as mentioned before, グラジス's daughter and an apprentice of the 聖剣団, until the falling out of the members involved pushed her to the frontlines. She is sincere and a lady of few words, who prefers training with the sword over pretty dresses and tea parties. The bearer of 聖剣ゼス, a sword that responds to its wielder's will and creates its blade out of magic (it's essentially a handle when not in use) and its blade responds accordingly to its bearer's skill and its enemy's composition. While very, very skilled in combat, she is not as well-versed when it comes to tactics and strategies, much less in reading behind the motivations and actions of those around her. She is straightforward and honest, she loves her father with a devotion close to worshipping him, but is also quite stoic and rarely lets her emotions show. フィーネ is essentially cut from the same cloth as Honda Futayo, to those who are familiar with Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon. But oh god is she adorable.

If you have a working familiarity with Wizardy or Wizardy-ish games, then most of the setting and terms used should be familiar. Volume 1 involved dungeon exploration, even, with some of the comedy involving dungeon mapping and other familiar conventional RPG tropes. The story makes use of some myths and legends as inspiration, which is inevitable given its nature - ラッセル's story about the origin behind his 竜殺し title should sound familiar to anyone familiar with Fafnir, for example.

This series has no harem, no sexy fanservice, no shounen battle training, nor powerlevels, which comes as a welcome relief from the oversaturation of those tropes in contemporary fiction. Whatever battles take place come off as practical and consistent, if a bit over-exaggerated in some regards (particularly, when the 聖剣団 member/s take to the field). The members of the 聖剣団 are portrayed as overpowered in their specializations, indeed, but they are just as flawed as everyone else which Volume 1 giddily points out. The comedy is either circumstantial (the author gleefully taking the piss out of Wizardy tropes in Vol. 1 for example) or due to said character flaws being pointed out and expounded on in some humorous manner. It was a welcome relief to find humor that didn't rely on something as cut-and-dried as fanservice gags, for example.

The story can be a bit inconsistent about its tone, however, and this is mostly why I would recommend the entirety of both Volumes 1 and 2 to be read before deciding whether or not to continue or drop this series. Volume 1 opens up with a light tone - somewhat too light, as the implications of the events that take place are just glossed over and hardly expounded on. The comedy in that volume also muddles up the mood the story was going for, making it lose its serious atmosphere a bit. Volume 2 is when the story takes a firmer stance on what tone the author seems to be going for, and expounds further on said implications as well as on the fundamental differences between the duo protagonists of the story. The second volume also further explores the underlying motives of certain characters involved, while providing the background behind some of the countries involved, particularly カーラーン's military expansions as well as on some of the magical elements involved. As an added complaint, I really don't see the purpose of ヤミー as a character aside being a narrative device. Her BL machinations also aren't that funny for me, but I'm thinking it's the author taking the piss at something I just can't put my finger on at the moment. I can only hope that she plays a more vital role in the future so as not to be a waste of a character.

ダーク's eccentric strategies playing out would probably be the main draw of this series, along with the interaction between ダーク and フィーネ mostly because of their fundamental character differences. For me, it's similar to what drew me to 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 because of its duo protagonists Dimitar and Valeria and their interactions despite their differences. Another one would be the lure of seeing the so-called invincible, 一騎当千聖剣団 member du jour having their flaws exposed, reading into their past and how グラジス reached out to him/her, and how ダーク essentially creates a new bond between him/her and フィーネ, with their experience with グラジス serving as a counterpoint to showcase フィーネ's growth (potential or otherwise). It comes off as rather formulaic, though, in the sense that it unfolds as follows; ダーク and フィーネ try to reach out to a 聖剣団 member; ダーク finds out about their past and how they made contact with グラジス; ダーク asks フィーネ for more details; ダーク comes up with ludicrous strategy and フィーネ reluctantly goes along with it; shit hits the fan and フィーネ starts kicking ass and shows why she is グラジス the Undefeated's daughter not just in name. However, this series being just two volumes in, it would be a stretch to say that this predictability will continue in future volumes.

It's a very unconventional series that stands out from the crowd with its take on humor, protagonists and witty strategy, but needs quite some buildup before it manages to mingle all those into one coherent mix. Those expecting something close to Rakuin no Monshou will no doubt be disappointed by both volumes out so far. Ultimately, I would recommend a "wait-and-see" attitude especially with the upcoming Volume 3; if you liked what you read from volumes 1 and 2, then it wouldn't hurt to follow it even futher, while those who didn't can drop it and spare themselves the trouble.

Personally, I liked it so far; there's a certain charm to it that I can't quite put my finger on. It grows on you, if you will pardon the expression.

Log · 2013-07-09, 09:41

Eh.

Might as well contribute something.

For harem fans and the likes.

I present you 魔技科の剣士と召唤魔王 (not nearly confident enough to translate it into English). It's pretty standard as a harem genre LN but lacks the annoying traits that a lot of harem LN's have. It's also translated into Chinese.

It's pretty new (only has one volume thus far) and given the recent uprising trend for harem LN I have a feeling that this one's going to be fairly popular. I would bet that it has a decent chance of being turned into a anime.

Spoiler for review:

To make a brief summary of the setting basically 15 years ago the world discovered magic as well as mythical beings (basically beings from various legends) in another dimension. Humankind learned to summon these dangerous mythical beings and use their power to great effect. 7 country's formed contracts with these "gods" and gained their alligence as a result. Gods will chose their summoners on their 14th birthday and give them a stigma. Schools have been set up to train summoners and magical swordsman (basically bodyguards that give the summoners time to cast their spell) as a result.

15 years latter after the finding of magic Kazuki Hayashizaki is chosen as a summoner and given a stigma to indicate that. This is surprising since males aren't chosen as summoners due to their low amount of mana compared to females. As the first male to be a summoner Kazuki is under a lot of scrutiny by almost everyone.

To complicate matters his sister (who's a magical swordsman) is against him going into summoner school to train there as a summoner. Because summoners and magical swordsman have a cat mouse thing going on where summoners look down on magical swordsman as inferior so his sister naturally is against him going there. She'll stop him even if it means going to war (bro complex is strong in this one).

Kazuki however is determined to thrive in summoner school and have already determined to give it his all. Even if he's the lowest ranked student (ranked E) and his fellow students intend to demean him he'll prove himself as the strongest summoner.

Does this sound like IS? It should.

However it lacks the annoying violence that Ichika recieves on a routine basis. Well there's some verbal insult going on here and there it's mostly free of female on male double standard violence which I know grates a lot of peoples nerves when it comes to harem LNs.

It's male lead is also decently OP which I know a lot of people enjoy. He's a magic swordsman training as a summoner. His summoning allows him to take and use other girls summoning spells as his own provided said girl has a high enough affection for him which as you can imagine has the potential to turn very, very OP. His own abilities as a magic swordsman is very high.

As for the characters personality, it's pretty standard for a harem LN. There's the bro con deredere not blood related sister, the tsundere childhood friend (which the main character conviently forgot about), the kind sempai with a dark edge behind her kind mask, the nagota yuki clone, and the tomboy girl.

Well these characters are hopelessly cliched they also aren't annoying. Even the tsundere (which I know a lot of people hate) is fairly harmless with her insults and quickly warms up.

It's fights are also decently written with some creative power usuage and the plot develops nicely (for the 1st volume a least).

All in all not a very exceptional LN but worth checking out for harem fans or action fans.

blackwhite67 · 2013-07-09, 12:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Log

Eh.

Might as well contribute something.

For harem fans and the likes.

I present you 魔技科の剣士と召唤魔王 (not nearly confident enough to translate it into English). It's pretty standard as a harem genre LN but lacks the annoying traits that a lot of harem LN's have. It's also translated into Chinese.

It's pretty new (only has one volume thus far) and given the recent uprising trend for harem LN I have a feeling that this one's going to be fairly popular. I would bet that it has a decent chance of being turned into a anime.

Spoiler for review:

To make a brief summary of the setting basically 15 years ago the world discovered magic as well as mythical beings (basically beings from various legends) in another dimension. Humankind learned to summon these dangerous mythical beings and use their power to great effect. 7 country's formed contracts with these "gods" and gained their alligence as a result. Gods will chose their summoners on their 14th birthday and give them a stigma. Schools have been set up to train summoners and magical swordsman (basically bodyguards that give the summoners time to cast their spell) as a result.

15 years latter after the finding of magic Kazuki Hayashizaki is chosen as a summoner and given a stigma to indicate that. This is surprising since males aren't chosen as summoners due to their low amount of mana compared to females. As the first male to be a summoner Kazuki is under a lot of scrutiny by almost everyone.

To complicate matters his sister (who's a magical swordsman) is against him going into summoner school to train there as a summoner. Because summoners and magical swordsman have a cat mouse thing going on where summoners look down on magical swordsman as inferior so his sister naturally is against him going there. She'll stop him even if it means going to war (bro complex is strong in this one).

Kazuki however is determined to thrive in summoner school and have already determined to give it his all. Even if he's the lowest ranked student (ranked E) and his fellow students intend to demean him he'll prove himself as the strongest summoner.

Does this sound like IS? It should.

However it lacks the annoying violence that Ichika recieves on a routine basis. Well there's some verbal insult going on here and there it's mostly free of female on male double standard violence which I know grates a lot of peoples nerves when it comes to harem LNs.

It's male lead is also decently OP which I know a lot of people enjoy. He's a magic swordsman training as a summoner. His summoning allows him to take and use other girls summoning spells as his own provided said girl has a high enough affection for him which as you can imagine has the potential to turn very, very OP. His own abilities as a magic swordsman is very high.

As for the characters personality, it's pretty standard for a harem LN. There's the bro con deredere not blood related sister, the tsundere childhood friend (which the main character conviently forgot about), the kind sempai with a dark edge behind her kind mask, the nagota yuki clone, and the tomboy girl.

Well these characters are hopelessly cliched they also aren't annoying. Even the tsundere (which I know a lot of people hate) is fairly harmless with her insults and quickly warms up.

It's fights are also decently written with some creative power usuage and the plot develops nicely (for the 1st volume a least).

All in all not a very exceptional LN but worth checking out for harem fans or action fans.

I can't thank you enough Log. Ever since IS went downhill, I've grown a lttle disilllusioned about the world. This looks like a potential substitute.

2013-03-29, 00:30	Link #801
Hemisphere 見習い魔剣使い Join Date: May 2006 Location: 大陸の片隅	Unfortunately, I forgot to mention the comedy in that wall of text, heh. Except it's usually one of two things; Shizuno and Moroha making fun of Satsuki, or Shizuno playing around with Moroha and getting caught by Satsuki. I really like the chemistry between Shizuno and Moroha. Not just because they're formerly husband and wife, but because they complement each other so well. Satsuki just doesn't compare to Shizuno's 天下無敵-level 大和撫子 skill, and that's without going into Satsuki's horrible character flaws. EDIT: Just remembered that 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団 is already out! Time to stalk some blogs and sites for reviews about it... 「おまえ、わたしのものになりなさい」「は?」お調子者の初級魔道士ダークは、無敵の傭兵騎士団“聖剣団” の若き女剣士フィーネによって、無理やり団員にさせられる。だがラグナの谷を守るその騎士団は、今や弱小の “二代目”となっていた!フィーネの下で聖剣団復活に付き合わされるダークだが、そんな矢先に禁断の黒魔術を操るカーラーン国の“魔軍”がラグナの谷に侵攻し―!?谷が危機を迎える中、ダークは思わぬ作戦に出る。 Those lines of dialogue make me think of Vanadis. Hahaha. If this turns out to be something like Kuro no Hiera Glaphicos meets Vanadis in terms of fantasy setting, focus on the duo lead, and several conspiratorial agendas clashing against one another, then I'll be trembling with excitement...(also PV is here for those interested) Another additional edit, I apologize, but it seems that based on the official site for 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団, Volume 2 is going to be released two months right after Volume 1! This is perfect, since this means I can purchase both of them, along with 千の魔剣と盾の乙女 10, 魔弾の王と戦姫 7, and 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 6 all in one fell swoop. __________________ Last edited by Hemisphere; 2013-03-29 at 11:23. Reason: Added some more info on 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団 after digging around

2013-03-30, 03:22	Link #802
Master Assassin Portable Dude Mk. II Artist Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: All ghillied up spying on someone ~2,000 yards away using telescope sights. Age: 35	On a fit of "buying for the sake of buying," my inventory sees two light novel titles as newest additions: 1. Ore ga Ojousama Gakkou ni "Shomin Sample" toshite Rachirareta-ken, a title I recall announcing at the New Releases thread a while back. I just got done with the prologue and the first chapter on my readthrough, and my reading speed is quite slow even when skipping some Kanji I cannot recognize I figure something had to be in it that I'm seeing it already released up to the 5th volume in my local Kinokuniya (Malaysia), and there's already a manga adaptation. 2. Maou to Yuusha no Kyoudai Kankei - I don't even know why I even bought this, probably I was thinking of something among the lines of "MC gets incarnations of the Hero(ine?) and Demon King (Queen?) as his little sisters, what can go wrong?" Anyone read this yet? __________________ I like to run portable on my dude, so I ran while running runs in my portably portable, dude-like dude. --- This line over here is a placeholder. ----

2013-03-31, 01:54	Link #803
Hemisphere 見習い魔剣使い Join Date: May 2006 Location: 大陸の片隅	I thought that I might share my thoughts on some of the series that I'm reading, in case they might help as recommendations (in a manner of speaking). For now, I guess I'll talk about something that intrigued me with 黒鋼の魔紋修復士. Spoiler: I just realized that part of what draws me in to 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 is the characterization, not just of the hero and heroine (as it is this series' biggest lure), but also of the antagonists. They aren't depicted in the stereotypical villainous manner in that they are just baby-eating short of being heinous, but that they are characters merely putting their own self-interests ahead of everything else. The lead pair (Dimitar and Valeria) act on behalf of their country's self-interest and well-being, and their "missions" are usually that of preserving their country's position of power compared to the other countries in their alliance. They also have their own self-interests to consider; Valeria wants to reclaim her family's nobility by serving as a Maiden, while Dimitar wishes to avoid disgracing the relatives who brought him in and treated him as family. In contrast, the antagonists also have their own agendas, and they are also in line with breaking the current status quo and gaining power and glory for their respective countries (Vol 1 had the disgraced general trying to show that he was still capable by leading a rebellion in the territory of their rival country, Vol 2 had a noble who was trying to lift up his country from near-insignificance due to the loss of their Maiden, Vol 3 had rebels resuming their civil war hostility as per their country's long history), but the way they go about it is different. It strikes me that the only thing that makes them antagonists, really, is because of political and social circumstances, which is an interesting thing. They aren't portrayed as doing anything overtly villainous like other LNs do with their antagonists (and even Vanadis is guilty of depicting its villains in shades of black right off the bat, then flip-flopping so it presents the villain as somewhat sympathetic near the end of their character arc; though I get that the main reason Vanadis does so is because it's actually trying to show to the audiences how good intentions can end up wrong, and how Tigre might end up like them as a sort of parallel), they're just acting out of self-interest and are bound by the circumstances. They're not antagonists because they're serial murderers, or bad guys doing bad things, or just because they're horrible people - no, it's just that they're doing their thing, which might interfere with Di and Valeria's country's thing, so the two get dispatched in order to resolve it in a way that is beneficial to their country and to preserve the status quo. It's an interesting thing to note, because 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 is really mostly character-driven (at least from how I perceive it) and this whole juxtaposition (or compare-and-contrast if you don't like pretentious vocabulary du jour) between the protagonists and the antagonists make for interesting food-for-thought. They really are antagonists, and not villains, and I find it quite a refreshing breath of fresh air. There's more to 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 but I'd just end up rambling as to why I love it instead of coming out with something close to coherent and rational, so I should just end it on this note - that I like the way it handles characterization and its characters. They don't subscribe to archetypes and archetypal behavior as closely as you'd think, and most of the fun is seeing how Dimitar and Valeria handle each other as well as themselves from Volume 1 onwards. That, and it's kind of a downer that you can't really judge the series from Vol 1 alone (if that's your thing), because Vol 2 does a pretty fine job of showing how capable Maidens and Magic Knights are (the exact terminologies the series uses for these characters escape me, nor do I know the proper romanization for them so I'm not using them at the moment - I know it's a European language but that's the extent of my lazy research; I have enough series on my list that are utter nightmares when it comes to finding out the right romanization for terminologies used). __________________

2013-03-31, 02:23	Link #804
n0m@n C-Z Join Date: Jan 2011	From your description, 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 sounds really interesting. I mainly follow LN from fujimi shobo and MF bunko, so I'm not that familiar with LN which isn't published by them. I will check it out along with the upcoming 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団. Both of them sounds really interesting. __________________

2013-03-31, 02:36	Link #805
Hemisphere 見習い魔剣使い Join Date: May 2006 Location: 大陸の片隅	I see...黒鋼の魔紋修復士 is published by Famitsu Bunko, while 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団 is published by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. To add balance to my earlier post about 黒鋼の魔紋修復士, it has a lot of world-building details sneaked in between the pages - they help add to the setting, characters, roles, and history of world of 黒鋼の魔紋修復士. The author scatters them around, and they feel like jigsaw puzzles that add to the full picture of the world-building once you start collecting the pieces and putting them together. I'll upload some pictures of said pages as samples later so you can get an idea of what I mean. The author of 黒鋼の魔紋修復士, Akihisa Ureshino, also has this habit of junctioning scenes together in order to build up the developing story, and while it works out well for the most part, it can get a bit jarring and bothersome in some portions. To clarify: you could be reading about how Di and Valeria are about to get into this dangerous battle, only for the scene to cut away into a different scene between other characters discussing about circumstances and issues related to the said battle. It's nice for build-up, but depending on your tastes, it might get in the way sometimes, especially if you're already feeling the tension for the upcoming scene. But while the author does use world-building, and has political and social circumstances adding to his story's weight, they're not really discussed in full or close to Vanadis-level. The characters mention certain political, social and economic events and ramifications from time to time, but nothing extensive or difficult. The author loves using a lot of terms like Hiera Glaphicos, Hierataker, etc. with matching kanji though so they're pretty understandable. It also has no harem comedy antics, no ecchi fanservice - the comedy bits are mostly between Valeria and the other Maidens, or Dimitar and Valeria. The other heroines aren't there just for looks, nor are they there to exist as harem member #〇〇, but they are characters of their own with their own agendas, motives, and behavior. It's not peppered with love romance flags, or heroines making fools of and arguing with themselves just to attract the male's attention, or the male lead being stupidly good and being the generic goody-two-shoes protagonist, and it can be quite refreshing to behold. Di's sarcasm and tendency to piss off Valeria is hilarious and entertaining. The series' in-universe logic of magic tattoos needing to be exposed in order to use magic is followed faithfully, there are no shounen power-ups and the way magic is presented and used by the characters come off as organic (as in, natural and scaled with the characters, not arbitrary and prone to sudden shounen power-ups). Battles don't come off as shounen-inspired battles; for the most part they're realistically handled (as realistically as magic with limits can be, anyways), and they're always engaging to read especially when Dimitar starts pulling off dirty tricks. Regarding 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団, I've seen on some sites that Vol. 1 was essentially a huge prologue though still entertaining and brimming with wit reminiscent of Rakuin no Monshou (from what others have said, as I have not read it on my own to provide context), and considering that Volume 2 is going to be released just two months after Volume 1 (June 1 release date), it's up to you whether to purchase it early on or wait for both volumes. I'll be going for the latter. My apologies for constantly editing this post. __________________ Last edited by Hemisphere; 2013-03-31 at 02:52.

2013-03-31, 03:03	Link #806
n0m@n C-Z Join Date: Jan 2011	Thanks for the explanations. It certainly seems like it is an LN which is worth following. I might read it online first to see the feel of it. But I do like the character descriptions. Having a bit of a dark feel to it may seem more interesting after all. I dont actually have that much LN I want to buy in April, so I would probably order them in late May or early June. That way I can also buy two volumes of 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団 at once. Oh, it seems you can read the first several pages in their website. Might as well read them now to see the feel of it. __________________

2013-03-31, 03:15	Link #807
Hemisphere 見習い魔剣使い Join Date: May 2006 Location: 大陸の片隅	I also forgot to add that the other Maiden heroines serve as foils to Valeria herself, the main heroine lead, which is a really nice thing. The story isn't so much dark as it is more serious than your average LN title, but yes, I know what you mean. Here's the sample pictures of the world-building pages I mentioned earlier: [1] [2] [3] Those are from Vol. 1. Shakira Babel, one of the Maidens (mentioned in that second link), appears in Volume 5, but for her to be mentioned that early (as well as mentioned in Volume 3 in-character by Dimitar) shows just how much the author's planned out the world-building ahead. I forgot to comment on this, but since some people do take note of it: illustration-wise, it's not bad at all. The illustrations really help breathe life into the story, and there are few, if none, conflicts between the text depicting the scene and the illustrations portraying said scene. I'd recommend you read it online, yes. Helps to get a feel for things early on, like with the author's writing style, or previews of how the characters/world setting are handled. I'm also planning to buy titles in bulk around June, so I can get Vanadis 7, Thousand and Aegis 10, Hiera Glaphicos 6, Ochitekita Naga no Kuni 1-3 and Aldebaran (聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団) 1 and 2 all at once. Probably some other titles too, but those are my priorities, and I think it's safe to say that I'll be satisfied with those for quite a while. I had the idea of buying Rakuin no Monshou 1-12 in one go days ago, but I'll postpone that idea for now. EDIT: This is definitely late news, but late is better than never. 千の魔剣と盾の乙女 (Thousand and Aegis) Vol. 10 has a limited edition with Drama CD included, and seiyuus have already been chosen for Phil and Elicia's roles! 川澄綾子 as Elicia and 壱智村小真 as Phil! The rest are still under development. __________________ Last edited by Hemisphere; 2013-03-31 at 10:57.

2013-04-01, 05:34	Link #809
Hemisphere 見習い魔剣使い Join Date: May 2006 Location: 大陸の片隅	I was surprised at the details myself, but I'm glad for Tsukasa Kawaguchi-sensei. I can't wait to imagine how Kawasumi Ayako is going to be voicing Elicia - she should be right at home considering it's a blonde tsundere swordswoman, haha (though Elicia is more like a shield + shortsword user). I definitely can't wait to hear Phil, though - I hope her deadpan boke comes off exactly the way I imagine it. Or Nagi! Here's the teaser for Thousand and Aegis 10: 魔剣ホルプを完全復活させるため竜の墓場へと向かうロック。しかし、行く手を遮る遺跡の魔物たちに武器を持たないロックは歯が立たず、エリシアたちに助けられ己の無力さをかみしめる。その頃、ロックとの再戦を望む狂気の魔物アレンもまた竜の墓場へと向かう。ホルプは復活を果たすのか、そして完全復活の近い魔王をバルトゥータスらは倒すことができるのか。大人気魔剣ファンタジー、待望の10巻登場！ I'm betting that Horpe's going to come back in full just in time to save Rach, or something of the sort. That's too bad about 銀弾の銃剣姫; I checked out some of the reviews beforehand and it seems like it's not a very interesting series. Though I guess if 覇剣の皇姫アルティーナ is doing better than his MF Bunko J series, then the author should focus on Altina instead. I'm trying to look around for something of a synopsis of sorts for Vanadis 7 and 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 (Kuro no Hiera Glaphicos) 6, but still no luck... Here's a fun trivia for 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団! Apparently the artist was asked to draw models for as many as 15 different characters; not all of whom appeared in Vol. 1 (I think, I forgot the exact words). This early on, and that many characters, spells interesting for me, so I'm keeping a sharp eye for 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団 Vol. 2's release. --- Seeing as I talked about 聖剣使いの禁呪詠唱 before...while Vol. 1 had me interested, I'm currently in the middle of reading Vol. 2, and I have to get this off my chest. It's following exactly the same path that other 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ stories have taken before it (reluctant-to-fight hero but will cause hell if you harm his harem, protecting mankind vs ruling over them, power levels exponentially scaling up with each new threat, among other things) and while I initially picked this up because it's a "guilty pleasure" of sorts for me, these cookie-cutter trends are exactly why I abandoned reading 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ stories in the first place. I guess I'll just finish reading Volume 2 in its entirety to see whether or not I'll still follow this, but for now it feels like the only hook that's still got me reeled into this series is Shizuno's character. I like her and all, especially her chemistry with Moroha, but I don't think she can maintain my interest for long if this keeps up. EDIT: Just finished reading Vol. 2 of 聖剣使いの禁呪詠唱. I'm not really in the mood to read Campione! Lite edition, so I'll just say that those who love 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ (stories with overpowered leads) and lovecom harem gags will feel right at home with Seikentsukai no Kinjueishou (Worldbreak). It has yet to reveal the other 5 members of the Six Heads, as well as the true nature of the Metaphysicals, and I suppose the next Volumes will discuss those mysteries gradually. For me, as much as I love Shizuno's character, reading too many shounen and harem tropes being played so painfully straight just isn't my thing, so I'll be dropping this one, sadly enough. I really wanted to like it, but it's too much a retread of the paths already taken by other 俺ＴＵＥＥＥＥ stories; at least the writing is enjoyable, I suppose. I'll be rereading 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 from Volumes 1 to 3 for now, then go on to 4 and 5, hopefully finishing in time by Volume 6's release. By then I'll jump straight to Vanadis 7, and Aldebaran 1 and 2. __________________ Last edited by Hemisphere; 2013-04-02 at 03:19.

2013-04-05, 07:34	Link #810
Hemisphere 見習い魔剣使い Join Date: May 2006 Location: 大陸の片隅	It's finally happened! I can't contain my joy over this. 千の魔剣と盾の乙女 Thousand and Aegis Volume 10 special site open! Site is here: http://www.ichijinsha.co.jp/special/novel/thousand/ and it's mostly there to advertise the upcoming Volume 10 with Drama CD included, but it's still 千の魔剣と盾の乙女 and it's still Kawaguchi Tsukasa so it's all good. The site has (very) brief character bios of the main cast (and none of its expanded roster like Fiona, Mana or Ferdia) as well as a really brief synopsis. The Drama CD will have Elicia, Phil and Rach as well as Baltuetas and Nighu. No Nagi or Fiona, but it's understandable seeing as the skit is set even before Volume 1's events. Hearing tsuntsun Elicia and deadpan boke Phil voiced...it's like a dream come true (which it is). Now, I just can't wait for May to come out so I can buy Volume 10 (and Vanadis 7 and etc.)! __________________

2013-04-18, 07:36	Link #811
VN-Angel Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2013	Usotsuki Mii-kun to Kowareta Maa-chan (Versus ) Bungaku shoujo Which one should I buy ?(Of course, I'm talking about LN) Both novels interest me so I'm planing to buy them, but for now, I have enough money for only one. And now I'm being indecisive and thinking that maybe I can get some ideas from ppl here. So if Hakomari(Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria) is my favorite LN, which one should I choose ? I'm asking in this thread because it seems like a proper place. Correct me if I'm wrong. Last edited by VN-Angel; 2013-04-18 at 21:03.

2013-04-18, 21:20	Link #814
kuroishinigami Ava courtesy of patchy Join Date: Jan 2009	Usotsuki mii-kun is closer to the nuance in Utsu Hako though.

2013-04-21, 01:32	Link #815
Hemisphere 見習い魔剣使い Join Date: May 2006 Location: 大陸の片隅	Since someone mentioned 覇剣の皇姫アルティーナ before, I thought I'd mention that 覇剣の皇姫アルティーナ III is slated for a June 29 release date. Still no open preorders for Hiera Glaphicos 6... EDIT: Is this Fujimi Shobou's attempt at a Fantasy Senki title? 253 pages is pretty short though, especially compared to other Senki titles like MF Bunko J's Vanadis and Naga, or Famitsu Bunko's Gabriella Senki and Altiina. __________________ Last edited by Hemisphere; 2013-04-21 at 03:26.

2013-04-25, 00:33	Link #816
VN-Angel Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2013	I decide to buy Bungaku shoujo after all.

2013-05-03, 21:03	Link #817
Hemisphere 見習い魔剣使い Join Date: May 2006 Location: 大陸の片隅	Teaser cover of 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団 2 can be seen on its Amazon page. Holy crap whip sword, one of my biggest weapon fetishes ever. Also, the design reminds me of 黒鋼の魔紋修復士's cover designs. Sadly, I won't be reading any May releases until the middle of June because of Vanadis' pushback to a June release due to the author (Kawaguchi Tsukasa)'s health and his inability to complete the manuscript in time (which affects my preorders as I had them to ship all together once completed). Thankfully he finished Thousand and Aegis 10 beforehand, haha. __________________

2013-06-27, 14:58	Link #818
Hemisphere 見習い魔剣使い Join Date: May 2006 Location: 大陸の片隅	Finally finished reading 聖剣の姫と神盟騎士団/Tsurugi no Hime to Aldebaran. Published by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko, with 杉原智則 (Sugihara Tomonori) as the author and Nidy -2D- as the illustrator. Two volumes have been released so far. As I don't want to get whatever romanizations wrong, I will be using the names and terms as they appeared in the books. Spoiler: The invincible mercenary group 聖剣団 (formerly known as 神盟騎士団) comprising of six highly skilled, widely reputed individuals all leading their own corps, bound together and led by グラジス・エストール (and accompanied by his daughter フィーネ・エストール as an apprentice following in her father's footsteps), has repeatedly repelled the military advances of the country of カーラーン for over a year now. They have settled in the valley of ラグナ thus far, which is also the mercenary group's leader's hometown, and defended it from カーラーン time and time again. But when an unprecedented disaster strikes, with the one thing holding this invincible mercenary group together being taken away from them in one brief moment, the group crumbles under the pressure of the situation and a falling out ensues; the members, convinced that they could bring an end to this problem on their own without the help of the others, split apart. It now falls on フィーネ・エストール and her captive prisoner, ダーク, to defend the now-vulnerable valley of ラグナ from the military might of カーラーン whose leaders are all but eager to take advantage of this opportunity as a way to repay the shame of eight continuous losses despite having superior numbers, demons and magic on their side. Pardon the unflattering summary. Now on to the characters. ダーク is a complete antithesis to protagonist found in contemporary fiction. He is far from overpowered; he is a bottom-ranked magician whose ability to manipulate creatures (think summoner class in RPGs, minus the summoning and more projection) holds great potential, but is just too lazy to make use of it. He is neither charismatic nor charming; the author goes to great pains to point out how his face naturally adopts a smirking, patronizing expression that people can naturally take to hating in a heartbeat. He is nowhere near brave; he prioritizes the mantra of self-survival and takes it to the fullest, even bragging that he was the only one who has survived an encounter with every member of the 聖剣団 - as in, he has faced each and every one of them in the battlefield, with the last one being フィーネ・エストール herself. Humility is not is strongest point; he thinks of himself as some grand figure whose legacy has yet to begin, when in reality he's more like a bumbling henchman in everyone's eyes. He also has a nasty habit of running his mouth off without thinking, especially when he's frightened or when emotions get the better of him (like when he's frightened). He has a very sharp mind, however, and the strategies he can come up with out of his survival instincts are both unorthodox and ridiculously unfair, but quite effective. He is very much like Captain Jack Sparrow, minus the famous exploits but much of the scheming, self-interest to the gusto. フィーネ is, as mentioned before, グラジス's daughter and an apprentice of the 聖剣団, until the falling out of the members involved pushed her to the frontlines. She is sincere and a lady of few words, who prefers training with the sword over pretty dresses and tea parties. The bearer of 聖剣ゼス, a sword that responds to its wielder's will and creates its blade out of magic (it's essentially a handle when not in use) and its blade responds accordingly to its bearer's skill and its enemy's composition. While very, very skilled in combat, she is not as well-versed when it comes to tactics and strategies, much less in reading behind the motivations and actions of those around her. She is straightforward and honest, she loves her father with a devotion close to worshipping him, but is also quite stoic and rarely lets her emotions show. フィーネ is essentially cut from the same cloth as Honda Futayo, to those who are familiar with Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon. But oh god is she adorable. If you have a working familiarity with Wizardy or Wizardy-ish games, then most of the setting and terms used should be familiar. Volume 1 involved dungeon exploration, even, with some of the comedy involving dungeon mapping and other familiar conventional RPG tropes. The story makes use of some myths and legends as inspiration, which is inevitable given its nature - ラッセル's story about the origin behind his 竜殺し title should sound familiar to anyone familiar with Fafnir, for example. This series has no harem, no sexy fanservice, no shounen battle training, nor powerlevels, which comes as a welcome relief from the oversaturation of those tropes in contemporary fiction. Whatever battles take place come off as practical and consistent, if a bit over-exaggerated in some regards (particularly, when the 聖剣団 member/s take to the field). The members of the 聖剣団 are portrayed as overpowered in their specializations, indeed, but they are just as flawed as everyone else which Volume 1 giddily points out. The comedy is either circumstantial (the author gleefully taking the piss out of Wizardy tropes in Vol. 1 for example) or due to said character flaws being pointed out and expounded on in some humorous manner. It was a welcome relief to find humor that didn't rely on something as cut-and-dried as fanservice gags, for example. The story can be a bit inconsistent about its tone, however, and this is mostly why I would recommend the entirety of both Volumes 1 and 2 to be read before deciding whether or not to continue or drop this series. Volume 1 opens up with a light tone - somewhat too light, as the implications of the events that take place are just glossed over and hardly expounded on. The comedy in that volume also muddles up the mood the story was going for, making it lose its serious atmosphere a bit. Volume 2 is when the story takes a firmer stance on what tone the author seems to be going for, and expounds further on said implications as well as on the fundamental differences between the duo protagonists of the story. The second volume also further explores the underlying motives of certain characters involved, while providing the background behind some of the countries involved, particularly カーラーン's military expansions as well as on some of the magical elements involved. As an added complaint, I really don't see the purpose of ヤミー as a character aside being a narrative device. Her BL machinations also aren't that funny for me, but I'm thinking it's the author taking the piss at something I just can't put my finger on at the moment. I can only hope that she plays a more vital role in the future so as not to be a waste of a character. ダーク's eccentric strategies playing out would probably be the main draw of this series, along with the interaction between ダーク and フィーネ mostly because of their fundamental character differences. For me, it's similar to what drew me to 黒鋼の魔紋修復士 because of its duo protagonists Dimitar and Valeria and their interactions despite their differences. Another one would be the lure of seeing the so-called invincible, 一騎当千聖剣団 member du jour having their flaws exposed, reading into their past and how グラジス reached out to him/her, and how ダーク essentially creates a new bond between him/her and フィーネ, with their experience with グラジス serving as a counterpoint to showcase フィーネ's growth (potential or otherwise). It comes off as rather formulaic, though, in the sense that it unfolds as follows; ダーク and フィーネ try to reach out to a 聖剣団 member; ダーク finds out about their past and how they made contact with グラジス; ダーク asks フィーネ for more details; ダーク comes up with ludicrous strategy and フィーネ reluctantly goes along with it; shit hits the fan and フィーネ starts kicking ass and shows why she is グラジス the Undefeated's daughter not just in name. However, this series being just two volumes in, it would be a stretch to say that this predictability will continue in future volumes. It's a very unconventional series that stands out from the crowd with its take on humor, protagonists and witty strategy, but needs quite some buildup before it manages to mingle all those into one coherent mix. Those expecting something close to Rakuin no Monshou will no doubt be disappointed by both volumes out so far. Ultimately, I would recommend a "wait-and-see" attitude especially with the upcoming Volume 3; if you liked what you read from volumes 1 and 2, then it wouldn't hurt to follow it even futher, while those who didn't can drop it and spare themselves the trouble. Personally, I liked it so far; there's a certain charm to it that I can't quite put my finger on. It grows on you, if you will pardon the expression. __________________

2013-07-09, 09:41	Link #819
Log ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Join Date: Apr 2012	Eh. Might as well contribute something. For harem fans and the likes. I present you 魔技科の剣士と召唤魔王 (not nearly confident enough to translate it into English). It's pretty standard as a harem genre LN but lacks the annoying traits that a lot of harem LN's have. It's also translated into Chinese. It's pretty new (only has one volume thus far) and given the recent uprising trend for harem LN I have a feeling that this one's going to be fairly popular. I would bet that it has a decent chance of being turned into a anime. Spoiler for review: To make a brief summary of the setting basically 15 years ago the world discovered magic as well as mythical beings (basically beings from various legends) in another dimension. Humankind learned to summon these dangerous mythical beings and use their power to great effect. 7 country's formed contracts with these "gods" and gained their alligence as a result. Gods will chose their summoners on their 14th birthday and give them a stigma. Schools have been set up to train summoners and magical swordsman (basically bodyguards that give the summoners time to cast their spell) as a result. 15 years latter after the finding of magic Kazuki Hayashizaki is chosen as a summoner and given a stigma to indicate that. This is surprising since males aren't chosen as summoners due to their low amount of mana compared to females. As the first male to be a summoner Kazuki is under a lot of scrutiny by almost everyone. To complicate matters his sister (who's a magical swordsman) is against him going into summoner school to train there as a summoner. Because summoners and magical swordsman have a cat mouse thing going on where summoners look down on magical swordsman as inferior so his sister naturally is against him going there. She'll stop him even if it means going to war (bro complex is strong in this one). Kazuki however is determined to thrive in summoner school and have already determined to give it his all. Even if he's the lowest ranked student (ranked E) and his fellow students intend to demean him he'll prove himself as the strongest summoner. Does this sound like IS? It should. However it lacks the annoying violence that Ichika recieves on a routine basis. Well there's some verbal insult going on here and there it's mostly free of female on male double standard violence which I know grates a lot of peoples nerves when it comes to harem LNs. It's male lead is also decently OP which I know a lot of people enjoy. He's a magic swordsman training as a summoner. His summoning allows him to take and use other girls summoning spells as his own provided said girl has a high enough affection for him which as you can imagine has the potential to turn very, very OP. His own abilities as a magic swordsman is very high. As for the characters personality, it's pretty standard for a harem LN. There's the bro con deredere not blood related sister, the tsundere childhood friend (which the main character conviently forgot about), the kind sempai with a dark edge behind her kind mask, the nagota yuki clone, and the tomboy girl. Well these characters are hopelessly cliched they also aren't annoying. Even the tsundere (which I know a lot of people hate) is fairly harmless with her insults and quickly warms up. It's fights are also decently written with some creative power usuage and the plot develops nicely (for the 1st volume a least). All in all not a very exceptional LN but worth checking out for harem fans or action fans.