@Chervilious I was already thinking that maybe the author, Umikaze Minamino is focusing on the anime adaptation for Kunon The Sorcerer but I guess that make sense if it was on May 1st then that's at least minimum of 6 months until it's on JNovel

I really wanted another chickens POV.. I got the impression that this volume got over pretty soon.

Me at the start: Liliana's story? boo! I wanna read more about Fii and bread!
And then I proceeded to forget about it for months.
But I eventually returned to it, and I do like reading about this hopeless mess of a person. And unlike Fii, she's actually honest.

...or so I thought.

until part 7: "I've carried this despair with me for fifteen years"
whoa, hold up. 15 years? That means from the very start. I thought it was only recent! Has she been lying too? And the reason she was so hyperfocused on Seth and being happy was to distract herself from her perpetual sorrow?

And then basically confirmed near the start of part 9.
Oh so that's why she said she couldn't taste chocolate earlier. She couldn't taste anything.
Ah, and then explicitly confirmed at the end of part 9.

Also, what the heck? As an aside, this is the second LN I've read where the (isekai'd) protagonist seems to think that 3 hours of sleep is sufficient. Is this some kind of Japanese thing? Though unlike in the other instance, she does end up passing out from exhaustion. So it seems the author at least knows (hopefully) that 3 hours is absolutely nowhere near enough.

After Liliana's reincarnation incident was described, specifically the part where she tried to save a child from the truck, and then she approached Nana for the first time in the church and noted that she was childlike, I suspected that that child was Nana. And indeed revealed to be true later.

Makes me wonder, what if this whole place is some sort of purgatory, and everyone is reincarnated?

Though, from what I can tell, all the remaining unexplained strangeness is connected to Nana, so maybe it's just the three people.
There could be another volume, Nana's PoV, but it would have to be a very different story, and possibly even a different genre. So I doubt it'd get made. I would like to see the remaining loose ends tied up though. Maybe a few short stories or extra chapters would do it.

@Lex I'm for die an ignomious death.

@Paul-Nebeling Yeah, maybe. It's hard to say with different universes. In D&D, elves don't become adults until age 110, so 50 would still a pre-teen. In Frieren, adult elves start at around 100.

How long is it going to take to collapse this country?

@rgray9 said in By the Grace of the Gods Vol. 16 Discussion!:

Volume 17 out in JP on July 19, 2025; judging by how long it takes after that, maybe we'll get a translation around December 2025

I guess it's out now, as of June 19, 2025 according to
https://firecross.jp/hjnovels/product/2037

@SalmonJones Neither time Iris 'increased the family debt' was Iris' fault - her initial mauling wasn't a case of her being careless, the party she was with were attacked by a monster well above the area's usual difficulty level without any warning. And it wasn't even her that signed off on the crazy expensive potion use - that was Kate.

And the rescue, as I've said before, should have been charged to Shirtless McDumbMuscles in its entirety. It was his expedition, there's no good reason why his hired guards are accruing personal debts for its rescue!

@SalmonJones said in Management of a Novice Alchemist Vol. 5 Discussion!:

her boobs that not gonna lie seem about five times too big for an alleged 13 year old

If I wanted to, I could make the argument for why they're more unlikely than impossible. But I really don't have that kind of faith in this author anymore (their understanding of the topics they tackle has seemed lacking a time too many), so my actual theory about Lorea's build is that he just filed the serial numbers off of Lenny (i.e. the overly 'mature' and business focused 12-year-old daughter of the innkeepers the party usually stays with) from Didn't I Say To Make My Abilities Average In The Next Life?!, and gave her design little more thought than that.

@SalmonJones said in Management of a Novice Alchemist Vol. 5 Discussion!:

Also, jeez did Fuumi not get the memo that Iris was supposed to be "nothing special in terms of looks", that chick is a 10/10 supermodel.

I think its supposed to be showing a dissonance between how Iris perceives herself and how everyone else perceives her. Sarasa's narration does occasionally admit she's beautiful:

Iris-san was beautiful enough that I thought she'd find enough takers if she made her debut in polite society

@SalmonJones said in Management of a Novice Alchemist Vol. 5 Discussion!:

the story of five friends that don't really like each other at all getting summoned into another world

...Honestly, I would have described it as the story of three girls who only put up with Touya because his best friend is hot getting summoned into another world...

The dynamic of a party scapegoat that gets the worst of every exchange and gets dumped on by the rest of the main cast seems to just be how the author thinks friend groups work; Iris here, like Touya there, gets flak for basically everything bad that happens, no matter how stupid it is for them to take the blame.

Wow. The plot moved a lot in this volume and since we are talking about Grimgar, everything became worse. I spent the entire volume expecting Haruhiro to become the new No life King, and I guess in the end I was close.
The positive is that there might still be a chance for Haruhiro and Merry to be together, but I wouldn't put past the author to let us build some hope just to crush them later.
Looks like the series will keep going for a while, but between the almost all new cast and the possibility of long wait between volumes, I'm not sure how long I'll sta interested. Which is shame, because there are still a lot of answers I'm looking forward to...but there is only so much despair I can bear to read.

Again that sounds like the series is ending.

“In a terribly unmannerly manner, Sophie tossed her cookies …” I’m glad that that phrasing wasn’t actually there when I read the opening line a second time. It’s too sweet a story for that, although I’ve seen anime characters vomiting sugar when seeing something as sweet as these two leads occurring. ^^;

I look forward to the next book, and I hope that the author can keep writing as well in the next round. :)

@elkensteyin Volume 13 (this being 12) came out in Japan last month.

No indication, as far as I can see, that it would be the final one either.

What is with this dude's obsession with Elizabeth Pink? He's not only fine with poisoning his workers but his customers, and the only reason he wanted more power was so he could spread the color even further? It'd be a hell of a twist if it was revealed that it was like in Color Out Of Space or Elden Ring or something where the color is a conduit to an outer god and that's where his otherwise inexplicable, insane obsession comes from.

If the third volume (if there's a third volume) turns into a cosmic horror that'd be pretty intriguing.

So now the cat is out of the bag regarding Seika's identity as the demon lord. Looking forward to see how he's going to handle the situation in the next volume.

I've been so busy lately that I'm chronically behind on EVERYTHING it seems, and obviously couldn't really comment until I'd read the whole volume...

And now that I have caught up and read it all... well, in a word: daaaamn

Marc's plans are like a bag of cats, but kudos to him for giving himself the perfect way to rescue Ashy. After all, having a strong tie to Azz is needed to replace her as a pillar and he just gave himself the strongest tie possible. 🤔

@Geezer-Weasalopes said in Elf Bride Vol. 19 Discussion!:

If the author uses a cookie cutter, it was designed by Escher.

I am absolutely gonna appropriate this. That's such a glorious way to put it.

@Kotenmaru said in Elf Bride Vol. 19 Discussion!:

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the author skipping both the events following the stabbing and the defense of the castle

I'm betting we get a detailed retelling of the castle defense next episode. SOMEONE is gonna need to tell Zag, after all.

@Lex said in Heavenly Swords of the Twin Stars Vol. 6 Discussion!:

We got a romantic resolution with the main heroine winning. I don't know if we should take this as a hint for how Private Tutor might end, but I'm going to adjust my expectations accordingly.

This author seems to like his pseudoharems to include a clear monogamous winner, which I find a bit baffling. The setup in private tutor is even sillier than here, since there isn't even a way for a harem ending, considering the girls include ducal daughters from opposite sides of the country and a princess. And in that series, the protagonist has shown pretty clear signs of returning the "main heroine's" affection.

As far as I can tell, the author likes having a bunch of girls fight over a guy, but also wants there to be a clear winner.

So, the author's answer to the Haibara-Hikari-Miori love triangle is to have Hilari develop a fetish for NTR? That's not what I was expecting...

Hey at least this cliffhanger isn’t as bad as the one at the end of volume 1 lol (and I thought the previous break between these volumes was more like 3-4 weeks)

@Travis-Butler Good. I'm not seeing things. I'll give Kizuna ½ a point for not being clueless and asking himself if he should do something romantic. His inexperience with women is showing a bit because he didn't realize the answer was most likely "Yes!...

He grew up with two sisters and hasn't figured out that yes they do expect you to read their minds.

Liked it. It seems to have the right combination of the protagonist being ruthless with people who wronged him but, kind with people on his side and willi g to help those in needs. He's not a paragon of virtue but doesn't seem shitty as the one from Overpowered and oversummoned.
I wonder if the mage and priest will end up in the harem. The elf did, but since the beginning she was portrayed differently frkm the other two so might be a special case.