Gacha Girls Corps, Vol. 1 Gacha Girl Corps imagines that a gacha addict—in this case, series protagonist Heihachi—is isekai’d into his mobile game and discovers that his rolls might lead to collecting real characters in the form of cute but fierce young women. Based on a light novel, the premise is a simple but fun… Read More Reader’s Corner: An Angry Royal Highness, Babysitting Yakuza, and Mysterious Maid
Long-time followers of Beneath the Tangles or my own blog Curiously Dead Cat may know that I have a thing for isekai. I will watch all but the trashiest and most offensive new releases if they include a poor(?) Japanese sap who gets whisked off to a fantasy setting and—oh, the horror!—finds himself or herself… Read More First Impression: Drug Store in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist
College student and aspiring bureaucrat Souma Kazuya is alone after the death of his last relative, his grandfather. Some of said grandfather’s advice to Souma was to start a family so he wouldn’t be alone. Change of scene: a fantasy world imperiled by monsters. The kingdom of Elfrieden resorts to a centuries-old hero summoning ritual,… Read More First Impression: How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom
We’re excited to announce that all month long, voice actors will be joining us as guest hosts for Doki Doki News, our weekly 90-second newscast about the major happenings in the world of manga, anime, light novels, and gaming! First up is a VA we know very well—Akudama Drive and Show by Rock’s Macy Anne… Read More Doki Doki News Month Kicks Off with Guest Host and VA, Macy Anne Johnson!
I don’t quite remember when I discovered the light novel for Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! (maybe last year?), but I have wanted to read it for a longggggg time. When I saw that a manga edition had released yesterday, I was shocked, and snatched a sample up ASAP, and dove head first into the… Read More Review: Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! (Manga)
About a year ago, our own stardf29 ranked the light novels he’d read. I thought that sounded fun, but felt it would be for kind of lame to just write a copycat post immediately after his. So here we are. I call this a taxonomy of light novels because although it involves some rankings, I’ve… Read More A Light Novel Taxonomy
The Emperor’s Lady-in-Waiting Is Wanted as a Bride, Vol. 1 Imperial culture had no issue with Lyse being a female knight in her first life, but she then reincarnates as a minor noblewoman in the neighboring kingdom of Olwen, where residents disdain her proficiency with a sword and mock her as the “boar girl” for… Read More Reader’s Corner: World Piece, SAO Progressive Vol. 2, and My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong Vol. 11
I came across an interesting scene at the end of the sixth episode of Combatants Will Be Dispatched. The situation is dire: not only have the hordes of the demon army overrun the capital, but the “hero” has no desire to save the kingdom in the first place. Lady Snow then offers Agent Six her… Read More Lust Will Be Dispatched
How do you make the concept of an OP isekai protagonist fresh again? How about by removing the modern element entirely, building up an impressive fantasy setting, and appealing to a wide audience by expertly incorporating elements from the shonen and shoujo genres? Her Royal Highness Seems to Be Angry is focused on just those… Read More Review: Her Royal Highness Seems to Be Angry, Vol. 1
An evil organization is on the verge of conquering the entire world. Only one hero can stop them now, and his chances are slim— No, sorry, wrong anime. Let me try that again. An evil organization is on the verge of conquering the entire world. Once they succeed, they won’t need so many agents of… Read More First Impression: Combatants Will Be Dispatched!