By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian.
After spending a long time promising us that Tina would be playing a larger role in the narrative any day now, we finally get a book (well, arc, as I think she’ll be heavily featured in the next volume as well) where Tina plays a major role and gets to do things and be cool. And it sadly underlines the biggest fault of this series, which is that the title and premise promise that the series is about Tina, the Duke’s Daughter, but she’s the least interesting one in the cast. Now, this is not exactly a cast filled with depth – it’s a very McDonald’s sort of series that runs on harems and shonen battles. Despite that, the author continues to struggle to give Tina things to do beyond be jealous and childish and whip out her super ice powers. Heck, she can’t even have a “turn evil” arc, as both Lydia AND Stella have already covered that. (Still, better than Ellie, who was supposed to feature till Stella booted her out of the arc.) Weak heroine energy.
After the events of the last two books, you’d think that our heroes could catch a break. But the villains have been doing the “losing the battle but winning the war” thing for a number of volumes now, and it’s all coming to a head in the next country over, Lallanoy. This is where Felecia’s father was taken, and it’s where the villainous beastmen went, and basically it’s become the go-to place for anyone evil. And now Gondor is calling for aid, and Allen gets to go over there (because of course he’s the key to everything going on everywhere right now), along with Lily (as the diplomat), Tina and Stella (as the magical muscle), and… a random girl they met on the train, who seems to be young but is clearly hundreds of years old. Well, I guess we hadn’t broken out THAT cliche yet.
That summary covers only the first third of the book or so, but… look, much as I enjoy reading this series, and I do, I can usually sum it up by saying “a lot of fights happen, and things look bad for our heroes” as well as “all the girls fight over Allen while he ignores them”. Fans of The Apothecary Diaries anime adaptation who are frustrated at Maomao’s seeming obtuseness will find that she, like Allen, knows but chooses not to. That’s the trouble with being both the chosen one and someone that half the leaders of the country despise (the other half, of course, adore him) – he really can’t afford to notice any of this. That said, he’s in a bit of a pickle this time, though not a bad enough one that his living alarm clocks sets off in front of Girl #1. Yet. We see him having to use Tina as a living battery, and it still drains the hell out of him. Who can possibly come to the rescue?
The cover of the next book might hint. In the meantime, sorry, Tina. Your fights were pretty cool. Your heart is in the right place. But you’re still too damn young and childish to make me prefer you over the older girls.
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