@Exkalamity Honestly, the biggest giveaway for me is that, in Volume 1, the chapter in which Sue is introduced goes out of its way to remind us that the country in which Arcus lives is a kingdom. Even though the general societal structure and the fact that Arcus lives in a kingdom is already very well-known and clear to us by this point, the author took the time to remind us of it... only for it to have no (obvious) payoff in the context of Arcus's jaunt outside that ultimately led to him meeting Sue (and Cazzy). The rest of the story is well-written enough that it doesn't seem like the author just soapboxing about the world, and it's (IMO) too subtle to be a red herring.

There are other minor things as well, like Sue promising to fix up Arcus's arm as though it's her responsibility to do so (which makes perfect sense when considering that Arcus ruined his arm protecting Ceylan), or the prince and Sue having very similar personalities when it comes to learning about new magics (Sue's reaction to Dwarf Star/Scrapped Arms compared to Ceylan's reaction to Magnetic Butterfly/Volley/Zarach Ohr), or the fact that Ceylan knew about Cazzy's kidnapping background and responded in a flustered way when asked how/why they knew about that.

But ultimately, it's not conclusively proven.

And that's it for volume 3. The extra (short story) chapter at the end of the volume ended up being the longest one. 😅

@saidahgilbert yeah author is certainly taking his time with Katou, we might get only the confession between her and Majima before the series goes into hiatus.

@Alfaerin said in Safe & Sound Vol. 1 Discussion!:

@Pieta Thank you very much for your kind words! It's a really long story (literally), but trauma is one of the main underlying themes. The primary antagonist has a grudge against the protagonists, and is very savvy in the way she acts on it. She's out to inflict as much emotional harm as she can while simultaneously avoiding any action that would result in a direct confrontation or retaliation against her. A large part of the story is exploring how all the characters are affected by traumatic experiences, including most of the antagonists. In the scene where that quote is from, the main character is responding to someone saying "time heals all wounds" by asserting that no, there are some things that time just doesn't fix.

Cool, cool! I love stories that deal with trauma properly, not just make it something you should grit your teeth and power through.

It was a fun first volume, i hope we got more but after reading some of the coments here its seems to not be the case 😢

Based on how it ended, it looks like Kurt (?) is the culprit. 🤔

Another 4 volumes before we catch up to JP.

@Terabyte said in A Royal Rebound Vol. 2 Discussion!:

Leaving aside the glaring issue with Alois's treatment compared to Reese's, we've caught up to JP.

It's time, yet again, to wait for the next volume to come out.

I read the afterward. It looks like this may be the final volume. Unless I misread the afterward.

Believe the japanese curry with apples and honey is Vermont Curry.

@Leon_97

I've read some of the bonus stories. I don't recall major plot points from them, or flashbacks of them later. If they are mentioned it is a sentence or two, like background information that doesn't have a short story. They are more like character moments, a chance to see the characters doing things outside the main plot. Occasionally worldbuilding or magic system details.

I enjoy them. I don't think you miss much plotwise if you skip them. Most of them have a quieter feel to them than the main story.

@jpwong update, I got an email reply; the gender swap was a mistake and will eventually be corrected.
Thank you for your suggestion.

Volume 23 (Premium Edition): A Bonus Short Story Thinking of Home

Volume 3 (Premium Edition): 2 Bonus Short Stories Sightseeing on a Rickshaw Grabbing Lunch during Our Trip

Oh, and Rimi never got to do the otherworldly presence while serving food this time, or even do much of situation solving by food. There was only the candy, which wasn't even entirely Rimi's doing, and which Tama appropriated for some goals of hers that nobody understood.

@irioth Yeah man I found it much easier to get sucked into the story if I just mentally read "five" as "fifteen".

And stopped trying to make sense of whatever's going on with his mom and the whole dryad thing with them or whatever. I mean I guess since it would seem like she reproduced by like, budding, or something, it isn't incest? Or wait, does that make it more incest. I think? I don't know man. I just don't know.

But again, not many books make me react like that so for that alone recommended. I think.

@retailed said in Supernatural Battles Vol. 6 Discussion!:

The most “meta” volume so far

Oh boy, am I ever excited for a certain scene that's coming up in volume seven!
(You'll know it when you see it)

@Shaun__
Definitely a possibility

@Pieta sleazy uncle remains the most side of side characters in the latest volumes you can almost forget he exists

@WaterDweller Fixed that.

I really really liked this one. It was sweet. There wasn't maybe a ton going on, but the characters all felt realistic and the whole thing left me feeling happy. I particularly "liked" Reece, I've met Reeces before. Complete scumbag morons that are utterly confident in their moronic sumbaggery well after it's obvious to everyone else their plans have no future. And I've met a lot of Sarges, too. Hell, I probably AM a Sarge.

Relatable characters, cute story, didn't do the dumb "people well old enough to know they're in love with each other acting like they don't know what love is" trope (at all, they confess to each other shockingly quickly in, which is to the story's credit) and was well written/translated. Glad there's more. I always think it's more interesting what happens after the love confession than before, I guess. These two are a cute couple and I'm looking forwards to seeing what they get up to next.

I guess my only complaint is that "Sarge" is a really weird name. It makes me think of like, a tough burly military guy, which Sarge... isn't. One of those "probably sounds better in japanese" things.

@BookManiaReader said in The Ideal Sponger Life Vol. 12 Discussion!:

Anyone have the link to volume 13 discussion?

https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/6972/the-ideal-sponger-life-vol-13-discussion