By Takibi Amamori and Imigimuru. Released in Japan as “Make Heroine ga Ōsugiru!” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Hayame.
So yeah, Seven Seas has decided to put off the short story collection till the end of the year, so we are in fact getting the 8th book. Which feels like a pivotal one in many ways, ways which I should not talk about till after the picture to avoid too many spoilers. So what can I talk about? Well, Basori is on the cover, so as you may have guessed this is her focus book. She’s painfully earnest, somewhat painfully naive, and wears her heart on her sleeve so much it can be seen from space. This makes her a good match not only with Nukumizu, who despite his veneer of ‘loser guy’ will help any girl who reaches out to him, but also Shikiya, who wants to support Basori as much as she can but, well, also wants to tease and grope her, so it doesn’t go as well. Naturally, there’s one place that Basori seems almost destined to be, and she’s already there: student council.
It’s time to elect a new student council president, and Basori wants Nukumizu’s help. Nukumizu, who has read light novels and knows this will end with him being vice president, which he doesn’t want, tries to refuse at first, but Basori is a cute girl, and also has a bribe he can’t resist, so he’ll try to help as much as he can without committing to anything. Elsewhere, it’s sports festival time coming up. Lemon is running, of course, and we also get to see if she will quality for Nationals. (Since this isn’t a Lemon-focused book and therefore has no drama around her, you can guess the answer.) Chika shows off what a good sister she is while also getting really angry at Nukumizu’s continued obliviousness. Riko is still far too crafty. Kaju is still far too into her brother. And Anna’s eating. Situation normal.
This is a very good book. Basori is a likeable girl, so of course we have to dress her up in sexy cosplay for her big speech. The speeches themselves are well done in a romcom sort of way, though I was surprised at the result of the election. The title “Losing Heroines” refers only to their romantic life, for the most part, and doesn’t necessarily apply to everything in their life. (Likewise, winning heroines may not be all sunshine and roses – the more we see of Chihaya the more like a horror movie villain she becomes.) But the highlight is absolutely the end of the book, where Basori works up the courage to confess to Nukumizu in a way that he cannot misunderstand or brush off. And naturally he has a complete nervous breakdown, and has to resort to “give me time to think about it” and “can’t we just be friends for now?”. When you see him screaming at himself for not saying yes and getting a girlfriend, it’s like he’s starting to get why all the girls call him “enemy of women” and say “that right there, Nukumizu”, with the “is why you’ll never get a girlfriend” implied.
I will be very interested to see if this goes anywhere or if we just reset to default. Houkobaru is the cover girl for Book 9… but first, for real this time, short story volume. And a .5 volume. Which aren’t the same thing? Ah well, gonna be a while, then.
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