reincarnation – Faceless One Blog

Revolutionary Reprise of the Blue Rose Princess Vol. 3 Review

Tags: Fantasy, Drama, Romance, Tragedy, Villainess

Sub-Tags: Reincarnation, Politics, Conspiracies

Synopsis:

The Romantic Finale For The Blue Rose Princess & Her Adviser!

After the eventful visit to Erdal, Princess Alicia finally confesses her feelings to Clovis. The two savor a short-lived period of bliss—but memories from Alicia’s previous life suddenly plague her, etching the fear of losing Clovis deep in her heart. Resolved to prevent his death, Alicia hatches a plan, only for it to create a rift between the new couple…?! How will Alicia’s revolutionary reprise end for her, Clovis, and everyone they’ve worked with throughout the years? (Source: Cross Infinite World)

The Princess’ Problems in Erdal!

Saving the best till last, the final outing of Revolutionary Reprise ramps up the pace as Alicia and Clovis close in on the tragic events that led Alicia to wake up in the past. Revolving around the relationship between the Kingdom of Heilland and the Empire of Erdal, it sees the series’ titular romantic duo trying to catch a traitor willing to start a war for the sake of unification between the two nations.

A True Future Queen

A step up from the author’s previous writings, the plot of the third volume makes for a tense read. Successfully employing numerous twists and turns, it proves to the very last page that Alicia and Clovis’ happy ending is a hard-fought affair.

With her citizens and even the Empress under threat from the unionists and their malicious schemes, facing off against members of the empire’s highest nobility forces Alicia to put all her previous training into practice and don the role of a future queen. In this plot, all of Alicia’s previous interactions and development over the past trilogy come into play here as she uses wit, cunning and intelligence to ensure a peaceful solution that doesn’t end in all-out war.

Alicia’s interactions with the Empress are particularly noteworthy. As conversations between a present leader and a future one, they show how far Alicia’s come to be able to gain approval about becoming a future queen.

Clovis also gets his own moments to shine throughout this volume. Whilst getting more in touch with his emotions makes for good progress, his best moments come as he proves himself every bit a match for the princess. By the end of the volume, it only takes a few words from Alicia for Clovis to know what to do.

A Usurper in the Empire

As for the usurper’s side, thanks to some quick thinking on behalf of the story’s heroes, it culminates as a trial. The Prince and Chancellor Yggdrasil are revealed to be behind the plot. A short-lived alliance, their different reasons for wanting reunification end up being their undoing.

The prince and Charlotte steal the show in these segments partly due to the final touches of development being added to make them complex and nuanced characters. In this volume, Charlotte moves away from the typical light novel Otome heroine archetype. Despite her lovesickness and admiration for her father, she’s still able to break away from their moments of folly and act alongside Alicia for what is right.

At the same time as Charlotte, the Prince finally reveals his full character. Long held under the shadow of his mother, his need to break free and accomplish something beyond the powers of the Empress is understandable and makes for a natural progression for his character. His eventual repentance also makes sense as a result.

Overall, the climax of the Revolutionary Reprise saga makes for a solid ending to this tragic romantic fantasy. Including a final plot filled with twists and turns and a set of nuanced, complex characters, it’s a series that is highly worth checking out.

Revolutionary Reprise Vol. 3

My Rating: 9/10

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You can read the third volume of this series digitally through the distributors listed on the Cross Infinite World website.

Stuck in a Time Loop: When All Else Fails, Be a Villainess Vol. 1 Review

Tags: Action, Fantasy, Romance, Mystery, Villainess, Isekai, Tragedy

Sub-Tags: Time-Loop, Reincarnation, Weak to Strong, Strong Lead

Synopsis:

Selene Vixent has died nine times. In every life, she’s been betrayed by her fiancé, abused by her noble family, and laid low by an untimely end all because she was unable to awaken the power of Sun, a so-called protective gift passed down in her family. Yet Selene is determined to escape this cursed time loop and, after her ninth demise, abandons any further attempts to be a good girl. She awakens to the power of Shadow—seen as an ominous portent of misfortune—and fully embraces her new life as a villainess. But Selene’s dark path is about to take another strange turn when Dier Veldt, the former crown prince, reveals that he knows all about her time loop. He even offers his help, but under one condition: she must kill him in exchange. With her newfound villainy, can Selene break free of this endless time loop once and for all? (Source: J-Novel Club)

A Reincarnated Villainess Wants Revenge!

A Revenge Served in Shadows

Killed time and time again, the beginning of Stuck in a Time Loop’s opening volume finds its protagonist, Selene, at a changing point in her life. Sick of every time loop inevitably ending terribly, she’s decided to stop playing the good daughter, aiming to crush those who’ve wronged her.

The story immediately acts on this statement of intent by showcasing that this new version of Selene can get things done. Now as ruthless as the world she lives in, she spends little time getting her revenge started. After emotionlessly getting through a breaking of an engagement, she turns to start her reign of terror by taking over her family’s house.

Coming face to face with her abusive father and the servants that joined in, there’s no need to wonder why her methods to take over are so merciless. Using her newly awakened shadow powers, she resorts to ultimately humiliating her father. Showing her complete control over the family lineage by proving both the servant’s and military’s allegiance are completely for her and only her.

The Purpose of the Gifts

Whilst revenge and anger dominate the first third of the volume, the story for the rest of the volume changes itself to focus more on the mystery behind the guardian’s powers. While not necessarily meaning that the revenge plan is stopped, it is halted after Selene has a chance encounter with a man nobody remembers, the eldest prince of the Kingdom, Dier.

Dier is described in not too dissimilar fashion to that of an immortal vampire. Searching for a way to die, with his fight against Selene ending in failure, it puts the two on a fateful path. With both searching for a way to end their misery, either at the hands of immortality or time loops, they eventually find a key to their problems hidden deep within the palace walls.

Said key requires the powers of all guardians to activate and thus starts a quest to collect them. Whilst this quest can vary in quality, the mystery aspect is at its best when adding new twists and turns. On that front, the guardian of the forest’s story makes for great intrigue – posing questions over the limits of the central powers and what happens when they aren’t inherited.

The volume ends in an action and cliffhanger-heavy manner. Defeating a world-ending monster reveals that the relationship between the royal brothers is not estranged but loving. As a result, the three of them aim to solve the key behind the world powers, a solution that sees them back in a time loop.

Overall, Stuck in a Time Loop’s first volume is a tale of two halves. The first is purely revenge based, featuring a ruthless protagonist set on stopping her tragic future. The second is a mystery, weaving its way through the heart of what makes the world tick.

Whilst both stand up well, the latter leads to an eventual softening of the protagonist’s character. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is played into the story a tad too quickly to the point where her past nine lives are almost forgotten. On a more positive note, this softening leads to some wonderful interactions between the two leads as they clumsily navigate a more intimate future.

Stuck in a Time Loop Vol. 1

My Rating: 7/10

I hope you enjoyed my review and would love to see what you thought of the volume in the comments! If you like what I do and want to see more, consider supporting me by buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi.

You can read the first volume of this series digitally on the J-Novel Club website.

The 100th Time’s the Charm: She Was Executed 99 Times, So How Did She Unlock “Super Love” Mode?! Vol. 2 Review

Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, Villainess

Sub-Tags: Reincarnation, Time Loop, Otome

Synopsis:

After finally shaking those pesky princes, Alphina was able to enjoy a year of adventure at sea. Now, she’s managed to sneak back to the Amazone Forest to restart her liberated life with Scarlet and Carl. There’s only one problem: Carl needs to continue his education in order to inherit House Sylvana, which means the siblings must part ways. Unless Alphina has a plan, that is! Out of concern for her reserved brother, Alphina disguises herself as a temporary teacher and infiltrates Carl’s school. But wait, what’s Prince Lionett doing here?! Worse yet, His Highness’s inner voice still won’t stop gushing about her! Can’t he PLEASE just calm down? Alphina is going to have to think on her feet, because all this attention will definitely throw a wrench in her gears! (Source: J-Novel Club)

Alphina and an Educators Duty!

Alphina Plays Teacher

All adventures must come to an end. After escaping the princes and journeying off on an adventure with Scarlett and Carl, Alphina’s trip is cut short when Carl needs to go back to school.

Coming back to her homeland under the auspices of protecting Carl, the empire she returns to is a far cry from the one she remembered under the saint. Upon discovering Alphina’s heroic deeds, the nation has gone out of its way to venerate her. People praise her as the greatest vermillion, a saint in absentia, statues bearing her visage have been erected, and even her parents have gotten in on the show creating souvenir foods for the populous.

However, Alphina has little time to ponder the situation as it isn’t long before she’s back to her old ways – disguising herself to investigate strange movements by remaining members of the Xenos Church.

Disguising herself as a teacher at Carl’s school, her new mission is fraught with danger. Not only could the church’s agents be anywhere, but the prince and his advisor have also arrived at the school to investigate.

Alphina is the first to get a lead on the case as she discovers the church trying to indoctrinate a Havenrose citizen, Hipper, into their ranks. Befriending the lonely child, Alphina’s a little too late to stop the events set in motion by the church. Revealing her true identity in a typical airheaded fashion, she saves Hipper from being sacrificed, only to find herself in a spot of hot water.

The 101st Loop

The second half of the volume gets to the crux of the people, especially the prince’s love for Alphina. Realising that their redheaded hero will escape the first chance she gets, they make the drastic decision to lock her away, doomed to live a life of a caged bird.

A married life with little adventure would be akin to a suffocating and agonising death for Alphina, and her choice to trigger another loop at the height of her wedding is well within character. Even whilst people love her in the 100th loop, apart from Scarlett and Carl, their love for her is for innately selfish reasons, never thinking of her feelings, making it understandable why Alphina would want to start again.

Her latest loop-around allows the author to truly stretch their comedy muscles. A world of complete opposites, characters such as the prince and Kithling are either full-on playboys or just straight-up idiots.

Deciding that this world is even more of a nightmare than the hundredth loop, Alphina’s saving grace this time around comes from a very unlikely source. The saint, true to her hedonistic nature, changes very little, a grounding that helps Alphina restore the two loops.

Alphina ventures deep within the saint’s piggy mind, revealing a vivid world filled with fluff, pigs, and a subservient Alphina used as a chair!

The end of the second volume follows much in the way of the first. A deadly battle against the saint sees Alphina back in the world of the 100th loop with an unresolved wedding to sort out.

To conclude, the sequel in this looped saga manages to keep the light-hearted tone of the first and resolve the leftover plot threads. Whilst this volume finally kills off the remaining vestiges of the church, the more important moments are drawn from the second half as the author deals with the populous’ undying love for Alphina.

Amongst the vivid dreamworlds and slapstick comedy, the 101st loop reveals the rather sad reality that as much as Alphina fights, save for a chosen few, those around will treat her like a doll forcing her into a life no better than that of a caged beast.

Whether the series will resolve its latest cliffhanger or has the legs to move through a third volume remains unclear, but I personally hope so, as the end of this volume leaves much unsaid.

The 100th Time’s the Charm Vol. 2

My Rating: 8.5/10

I hope you enjoyed my review and would love to see what you thought of the volume in the comments! If you like what I do and want to see more, consider supporting me by buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi.

You can read the second volume of this series digitally on the J-Novel Club website.

The 100th Time’s the Charm: She Was Executed 99 Times, So How Did She Unlock “Super Love” Mode?! Vol. 1 Review

Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, Villainess

Sub-Tags: Reincarnation, Time Loop, Otome

Synopsis:

Alphina is falsely accused of plotting to assassinate Saint Debonaire. Time rewinds every time she’s executed for a crime she didn’t commit, but with the cruel Saint Debonaire against her, the same fate awaits Alphina ninety-nine times in a row: death by decapitation. But something different happens the hundredth time around. Just as Alphina is preparing herself for yet another execution, she discovers that she can hear people’s true feelings—and that everyone secretly loves her! Can Alphina take advantage of her newfound ability and sidestep her fate at the guillotine? (Source: J-Novel Club)

Alphina and the Inner Voice Issue!

Loop No. 100

An endless cycle of death. For Alphina, looping around the same set of events culminating in her death has become second nature. Forgoing the psychological trauma, she’s come to accept her fate and inevitable tragedy until the 100th loop changes things.

The hundredth loop has given Alphina something to fight back against the injustice – a heap load of magical power and the ability to hear everyone’s inner voice. As it turns out, she’s been misreading the situation the whole time. With the ability to hear the inner voices of others, she finds out that not only does everyone love her, but they’ve come under the control of the saint’s evil, ancient magic!

Inner voices are a great information source for Alphina and, more often than not, a source of comedy for the reader. Other than the saint’s voice, most of the voices Alphina hears profess their undying affection for her. Of particular note are the inner voices of Alphina’s former fiancé, Prince Lionett, and the philandering prince, Avenlock. Whilst some interesting moments include deciphering the difference between public Lionett and his lovey-dovey private inner thoughts, Avenlock has the most unique voice in the series. All of his thoughts towards Alphina are done through the medium of song. It is clear that the translators at JNC had fun with these parts.

A World Without Alphina

Alphina’s newly found strong magic powers are the key to stopping the saint’s dastardly deeds. Unfortunately, stopping her requires the world to carry on without Alphina – making everyone believe in her death is what Alphina believes is best.

Whilst Alphina is living the slow life as Alph, her death has caused a chain of unfortunate events. These unfortunate events are a strong point in the series, given that they showcase decisions have consequences within the world. Without Alphina to smooth things over, the people who loved her’s actions can no longer be controlled.

Rival princes, Lionett and Avenlock’s actions have put their respective countries on the brink of war. Furthermore, Lionett’s advisor and Alphina’s brother, Carl, have joined a terrorist group hoping to kill the saint.

Unable to stand back for long, she reveals her identity once more. Teaming up with the princes and her brother, she’s returned to settle disagreements and kill the saint for good this time. Although, now that she’s revealed herself, it’ll take a hilarious amount of effort for her to avoid the obsessive advances of Lionett and Avenlock.

Overall, 100th Time’s the Charm is another strong entry within the J-Novel Heart label. Sometimes gut-bustingly hilarious, sometimes the right amount of serious, there isn’t a moment where this series fails to entertain and engage.

The 100th Time’s the Charm Vol. 1

My Rating: 8.5/10

I hope you enjoyed my review and would love to see what you thought of the volume in the comments! If you like what I do and want to see more, consider supporting me by buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi.

You can read the first volume of this series digitally on the J-Novel Club website.

Revolutionary Reprise of the Blue Rose Princess Vol. 1 Review

Tags: Fantasy, Drama, Romance, Tragedy, Villainess

Sub-Tags: Reincarnation, Politics

Synopsis:

Changing Fate By Changing Loyalties!

On the night of the Star Festival, an event to celebrate the founding of the proud, illustrious Kingdom of Heilland, Queen Alicia was stabbed through the chest and killed by revolutionary soldiers storming the castle… Or so she thought. Princess Alicia wakes on the morning of her 10th birthday, memories of the “Night of the Revolution” fresh in her mind, and realizes that she has been given a chance to redo her life. It’s not long before she comes face to face with the handsome and mysterious young man who killed her last time… Granted a chance at redemption by the whims of fate, Alicia works to change the disastrous future, this time with revolutionary mastermind turned princess aide Clovis by her side! (Source: Cross Infinite World)

The Destiny to Change Fates!

A Shake of the Kaleidoscope

Killed in the flames of revolution, Alicia is given a second chance at life to change the future and ensure the continued prosperity of Heilland. Given this second chance, Alicia will need to be careful in the decisions she takes to change the future as, much like shaking a kaleidoscope, you never know what outcome you’re gonna get.

Alicia’s first major decision upon reincarnation is hiring the man who killed her in a previous life, Clovis Cromwell, as her advisor. Having her former killer as an advisor makes for an interesting dynamic as it raises the stakes and tension with Alicia, never quite knowing where she stands with him.

Fortunately, making Clovis her advisor is a good one. He’s a capable and intelligent man able to see things in a way Alicia never could. In line with this, it’s Clovis’ analytical thinking that discovers a potential plan that could strengthen the kingdom against their neighbour’s eventual attack.

One of the main points of history that led to the revolution is Heilland’s loss to the empire. The proposal forwarded by the Marquis of Rozen will allow the nation a chance to avoid defeat through the development of merchant free movement.

Whilst the marquis can be difficult to deal with, Alicia and Clovis’ newfound partnership is more than enough to convince him to join their scheme.

The Princess and the Mastermind

Taking a closer look at the characters, this is where the main interest of the series lies. Unlike most second-chance series, Revolutionary Reprise puts great emphasis on Alicia’s first death and the trauma she experiences as a result. These traumas drive her decision-making to improve the nation, albeit for selfish motives.

By extension, Clovis is also driven by his experiences in trauma. For all of his life, the reputation of his family and the actions of his grandfather has followed him, causing nothing but pain and suffering. That ended the moment Alicia commanded him to become her advisor.

The two work well together as they help each other overcome their respective traumas, and whilst I’m not sure about the romantic angle the author’s going for, they nevertheless make for a good partnership.

Overall, Revolutionary Reprise is a strong entry into the villainess genre. Taking a mature focus on trauma and an in-depth venture into politics and noble society, the series staves off the genre’s more wish-fulfilment aspects for a grounded look at a second-chance story.

Revolutionary Reprise of the Blue Rose Princess Vol. 1

My Rating: 8/10

I hope you enjoyed my review and would love to see what you thought of the volume in the comments! If you like what I do and want to see more, consider supporting me by buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi.

You can buy the first volume of this series digitally through the list of distributors on the Cross Infinite World website.

Reincarnated Mage with Inferior Eyes Vol. 1 Review

Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Harem, School Life

Sub-Tags: Banishment, Reincarnation, OP, Strong Lead

Synopsis:

Good grief. After spending years traveling across the world, saving towns, defeating demons, and then finally killing the demon king, my party—the people I considered comrades—decided to kick me out. I’d honestly thought that they’d be different. They wouldn’t be like the rest of the world, who irrationally hate people like me, with Amber Eyes. But…I was wrong. In the end, it’s not their fault, though. It’s just how the world was back then. I was sure that with more time and understanding, the world would shed their preconceived notions about those with Amber Eyes and treat us as they would anyone else. I held on to this hope as I used my unique magecraft to reincarnate myself two hundred years into the future. Now, it’s time to find out if my guess was right! (Source: J-Novel Club)

A Mage That’s Anything but Inferior!

The first of JNC’s new license pre-pubs to finish, the best way to describe the first volume of this series would be short but sweet.

Following on well-trodden ground, the premise revolves around Abel, a mage with amber eyes, who, upon helping the hero’s party defeat the demon lord is kicked out. Sick of the treatment those with amber eyes get, he reincarnates 200 years in the future, only to find that magic has become scarce and those with amber eyes outcast for completely different reasons.

The series isn’t anything you haven’t read before and stacks every trope under the sun in one of the shortest light novel series going. Ultimately, I think this is why the series is so hard to review; even though I enjoyed the story, I can’t exactly praise it for its original story developments.

In the Company of Nobles

The first half of the volume gets the majority of tropes leaning on the more annoying side of the line. Featuring a newly reincarnated Abel alongside Lilith, a demon child he once saved, now turned maid. The two hole up in a residence belonging to a local noble. These make for Abel’s first interactions in the new, modern world, and it’s fair to say he strikes up a fair few controversies.

On the slightly more negative side, the trope of duelling a stubborn, pig-headed noble raises its ugly head as the climax of this half of the story. Beyond making an enemy for later volumes, it provides little else other than catharsis for his actions.

However, there are plenty of positives to be found in this half, mainly in the actions of the local noble’s younger son, Ted. He’s a well-thought-out character using the evidence he sees to not judge Abel by the colour of his eyes but instead see him for his true abilities. As a result, he becomes Abel’s first friend in the modern world (even if Abel doesn’t agree).

Lilith is also set up as an intriguing character for the series. Throughout her 200 years of solitude, she has made quite the name for herself and has put a fair few important people into her debt – these are likely to become more apparent as the series progresses.

A Mage’s Connections

It’s Abel’s prospective academy life, the second half of the story, that has the most positive aspects to focus on.

Abel can be considered a rather cold personality and can be seen being indifferent to many characters throughout the volume. So, what’s great about this storyline is the attempted softening of this persona.

During the academy entrance exams, Abel has the opportunity to become closer friends with Ted and open the possibility of friendship with one of the hero’s descendants, and classic tsundere, Eliza. Invaluable connections if he’s to open up to the modern world experience.

Overall, whilst Inferior Eyes contains many of the genre’s overwhelming tropes, the series, nonetheless, remains enjoyable. With the series ending with Abel gaining new connections in the modern world, I remain hopeful that something good can develop from this.

Reincarnated Mage with Inferior Eyes Vol. 1

My Rating: 7/10

I hope you enjoyed my review and would love to see what you thought of the volume in the comments! If you like what I do and want to see more, consider supporting me by buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi.

You can read the first volume of this series digitally on the J-Novel Club website.

Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World Vol. 2 Review

Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Harem, Isekai

Sub-Tags: Ruthless Protagonist, Reincarnation

Synopsis:

Three years have passed since Tenma Otori lost his parents in the devastating attack on Kukuri Village. He’s now trying to make a name for himself as an adventurer in Gunjo City, and things are going great. He’s joined the local guild and teamed up with a trio of identical catgirl triplets. In fact, his incredible skill and his knack for magic continue to draw attention—but not always the good kind. A group of jealous adventurers has their eye on him, and Tenma soon finds himself at the centre of a battle involving knights, nobles, and even more monsters! Can he shake all this trouble and get back to adventuring? (Source: J-Novel Club)

Tenma Becomes an Adventurer!

Straight off from another review comes yet another second volume finished pre-pub, Isekai Tensei.

Catching back up with Tenma three years after the destruction of his village, the series finds him settled in Gunjo City as an adventurer. Alongside catgirl triplets, Tenma’s adventuring quests will find him in all sorts of new danger, from battling bandits and guards to duelling a noble. Tenma’s new life will be anything but easy!

Changing up the vibe of the previous volume, Tenma’s adventuring plot seems quite a departure from the feel of the first. With all remnants of volume one all but gone, the series introduces a whole host of new characters and problems for Tenma to face. Volume two follows a more generic harem-style fantasy series complete with several villainous characters portrayed with varying degrees of success.

Tenma falls into the category of a “ruthless protagonist”, which is solidified by his actions throughout the second volume. Some of the better villainous encounters do their best to portray this with the guard interactions doing well to call back to his bad memories of their actions in the village, leaving them with nothing as a Zombie Dragon struck.

Otherwise, most of the other battles within this volume felt a little one-note and sometimes a little unnecessary. It often comes over as Tenma looking for a fight and being a lot crueller than necessary.

Perhaps a little unfairly, most of the characters introduced in this volume get a bad run-around development-wise, especially compared to how characters were handled in the first volume. Most only fit within their isekai archetype and it seems only Primera escapes this. It probably isn’t helped by the fact that none of these characters will appear in the next volume.

Primera seems a lot more open-minded than most in this universe. Willing to listen to both sides makes her popular with both Tenma and the people. She is likely the main reason that Tenma got such a good run at things even after he angered another noble.

To conclude, Isekai Tensei’s departure from its original volume causes it to take quite a step down, and it’s a shame considering how the first volume showed so much potential. Given how the characters and villainous acts were written, I’m at an impasse with this series, unsure as to continue it or not. Hopefully, the third volume sees a return to form.

Isekai Tensei Vol. 2

My Rating: 6/10

I hope you enjoyed my review and would love to see what you thought of the volume in the comments!

You can read the second volume of this series in pre-pub format on the J-Novel Club website.

One more pre-pub review to go. I was going to also review Making Magic but I didn’t have anything particularly interesting to say about the series. Not that it’s bad, it just didn’t resonate with me. I’ll leave my rating for it here since I did finish it – 7/10.