By Kazuki Amamiya and Gin. Released in Japan as “Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Esther Sun.
First of all, go back and read the last half of my review of Book 9, and then come back here and point and laugh at me. I haven’t been THAT wrong in a while. Secondly, it’s worth noting that while this is a high school romcom taking place in modern-day Japan, it is in many ways a typical “Cheat Skill” book. After all, our hero is looping back in time, just as several other heroes and heroines do. And he has a cheat skill – his memories of the first time he did this, what he did wrong, and the maturity of a 28-year-old that allows him to fix it. This has led to a confident, popular young man, who has the girl of his dreams (quiet, you), some very good friends, and a band he loves playing in. He’s all set for a career in engineering. It’s just, well, he is technically cheating. And you know what happens to cheaters. Eventually, it all comes crashing down.
As with the previous volume, we go back and forth between the world Natsuki went back in time to, and the adult world where he didn’t. In that adult world, things are going very well. And and Miori date, lose their virginity to each other, he proposes, and they marry. Hikari, who he hasn’t seen since high school, even comes to the ceremony, and he apologizes to her for his high school awfulness. In the high school world, everything’s great. He and Hikari get closer, getting to third base. Everyone goes to a festival and watches the fireworks. Hikari’s novel wins an award. And they’re planning for the trip to Okinawa. Only… Natsuki’s been having these dreams of the future. A future with him and Miori. And when Hikari asks to go all the way with him, and his mind is still filled with alternate futures… things get very bad very fast.
Despite my words from the last review, I was pretty sure, given the “main” series ends in Book 11 and we get a short stories epilogue, that we’d see a breakup arc here. After all, things have just been going too well for Natsuki, due in large part to the above cheating. That said, I’m pretty sure the God talking to him in his mind at the end is more a guilty conscience than a God. I did appreciate how Hikari actually proved to be a damn good detective, and has been slowly accumulating evidence to figure out that Natsuki is from the future. It’s well-reasoned. Unfortunately, emotionally she’s a wreck, and I don’t blame for for breaking it off as she can no longer trust him. And while I appreciate Miori being there to pick up Natsuki’s shattered remains, I also thought “oh my God, your timing is AWFUL”. I bet Hikari saw them.
So, while I do think this will work out eventually, and no I don’t mean going back to the original timeline, let’s all prepare for the worst class trip ever. Start Over Yes/No?
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