By Asagi and Shino. Released in Japan as “Zenryaku, Yama Kurashi wo Hajimemashita” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by N. Marquetti.
So I am here to tell you that the “slow life” part of this series is back in this volume and bigger than ever. You will see lots and lots of food preparation. You will see shopping. You will see vaccinating your animals and the importance thereof. The big dramatic plot point in the middle of the book is a village-wide effort to pick up the litter on the mountain. It’s Slow Life with a capital Slow. The good news is that the other half of the series is also present and correct, and it’s also bigger than ever. Fortunately, Katsuragi’s past catching up with her seems to be dealt with by the end of this book, though it may not stop all her problems. But Aikawa’s fear of women remains, even if he tries to push past it when it’s an emergency. As for Sano… honestly, he is still dealing with not only depression but some serious anger issues. Fortunately, he has his emotional support chickens.
Sano continues to live on his mountains with his beloved chickens, who honestly seem to be monitoring him as much as he is raising them. They’re also getting bigger. Sometimes he goes to visit the villagers he’s gotten to know. He also goes to visit his platonic friend Aikawa, who have a very strong bromance. But he’s not gay. So he says. He gets the village to organize a litter-picking-up event over the course of three non-consecutive days, because these mountains are a tourist trap in the worst sense. And he attends a festival, which everyone tries to get him to attend with Katsuragi, even though he has no interest in her. Speaking of Katsuragi, there’s a mystery man who’s driving around the area looking for her, and he may be related to her abusive ex.
The best part of this book remains the interpersonal drama, which manages to interest me enough that I can put up with the slow life, which is frankly boring. The anti-romance between Sano and Katsuragi is possibly the funniest part of the series. Everyone is trying to ship them, she seems up for it, even as she’s clearly not emotionally ready. But he’s DEFINITELY not emotionally ready, as it’s been six months and even thinking of his ex-fiancee sends him into such a rage he loses track of time. Frankly, he’s more romantically involved with one of the chickens. (I’m kidding, this is not that kind of book.) I also really liked the end of the book. Katsuragi has been tormented not only by her ex, but by her ex’s friend, who it turns out is also in love with her. In the middle of the book she’s basically hiding in her house. Which the village and Sano are definitely justified in getting rid of this loser, she musters her courage, goes out, and confronts him (it helps to have a massive lizard at her side). Hopefully she can be the first of these mountain owners to heal. (But don’t hook up with Sano.)
So yeah, good trauma recovery series, less good “let’s watch everyone make egg dishes” series. But it’s both of those at once.
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