Category: Sexiled

Konosuba Volume 10 and Sexiled Volume 2 Reviews

by macksamson, posted in Konosuba, Light Novels, Sexiled
Konosuba 10

Last time on Konosuba, the crew was dispatched to dispatch another Demon Lord General, this one being a dark goddess named Wolbach. Turns out that she is A) a goddess that Megumin and Yunyun accidentally freed, B) Megumin’s idol, from whom she learned Explosion, C) that woman from volume 4, and D) half of their cat, Chomusuke. This means Wolbach is the original Explosion user! But Megumin fries her no problem, and later gets some one-on-one time with Kazuma. After it all blows over, Kazuma receives a letter from Iris…

…about how she’s getting betrothed to this guy from the Casino Kingdom of Elroad so that her kingdom can get funding to fight the Demon King. So naturally, this volume is all about Kazuma trying to put a stop to it. Fortunately, Iris invites him and his party to be her bodyguards, so he doesn’t have to sneak in. It also helps that the actual prince doesn’t want to get married either.

So, was Iris always such an amazing person? I liked her when she was first introduced, obviously, but I don’t remember her being so powerful. She hits like a truck in battle, to the point where you question why she has bodyguards in the first place. Eris was a great surprise in volume 8, but man, Iris might have her put to shame.

With Elroad being casino-themed, Kazuma has a distinct advantage due to his high Luck. He kicks more butt than he ever did before, and that includes the poor prince’s butt as well. The other girls don’t get as much screentime in favor of Iris, but they’re still fun.

~~~~~

Verdict: 9/10

Even after ten volumes, Konosuba is a great, screwball comedy of an isekai. This volume has all the usual antics, despite how little the main girls’ involvement is. Let’s see how much longer it can hold this level of quality.

Sexiled 2

Last time on Sexiled, Tanya Artemiciov is kicked out of her group for being a woman. When she vents anger on some local sediment, she frees the powerful sorceress, Laplace. Laplace turns her into an OP Magi-Knight class and they agree to go get revenge against the guys… except that they’re party is too strong to enter the tournament. So, they recruit Level 3 Nadine Amaryllis and enter. Naturally, they kick butt; even Nadine, who is apparently some assassin chick (who also got crapped on for being a woman). But hey, they win the tournament, and that’s what matters. 

In classic power fantasy fashion, the main cast goes from unknown to superstars overnight. The group’s efforts in the tournament become an inspiration to women everywhere, and people start asking them for autographs and such. Life can’t get any easier for them.

But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for a new party member! Joining up in this volume is Katherine Foxxi, one of the exploited girls that they beat in the tournament. She’s got great offensive spells, and being a victim of sexism was holding her back all this time.

Laplace ends up being the big star this time. In this volume, we get her backstory with Maxwell, and some major developments happen on her part. Unfortunately, this also means that everyone else pretty much gets shafted in terms of character development. But who am I to complain? Laplace IS Best Girl after all.

~~~~~

Verdict: 8.65/10

This volume of Sexiled was a pleasure to read through. However, I wonder what else can be done moving forward. It seems a lot of stuff is brought to full closure in this volume, without any groundwork for a future arc. I wonder how long Sexiled will last before its ham-fisted feminism gets old.

Sexiled Volume 1 Review

by macksamson, posted in Light Novels, Sexiled
Cover of volume 1

Looking back on human history, I’d say that women’s rights have made some good headway over the years. Now that it’s the 21st Century, their universe is no longer the diameter of the kitchen! But as we close in on the second decade of this century, feminism has once again become a very controversial topic, especially in art, where creators get crap either for including any amount of men at all, or for including only women. Why am I bringing this up? Well, let me tell you. Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed up with a Mystical Sorceress!, published in English by J-Novel Club, is aaaaaaaaaaaaaaall about the infallible greatness of women! Men SUCK.

So, here’s what happens. Tanya Artemiciov is a young mage who is removed from her squad, which is led by the misogynistic Ryan Daars. Enraged, she fires off more Explosions than Megumin could ever hope to imagine, and frees Laplace, an all-powerful Sorceress who had been sealed for three hundred years. The two agree to extract their revenge on Ryan, and presumably, every man on the planet.

The elephant in the room is obviously the ham-fisted feminism, and that’s emphasized in the extremely biased cast of characters. As you’d expect, the female leads are the main selling point of the series thus far. Tanya is insane, perhaps even more so than a certain loli in the military. She doesn’t just pack a ton of powerful magic, but a powerful vocabulary as well. She curses her goddamn motherf***ing sh**ty ass off (like in this demonstration), and it’s f***ing hilarious for some reason. The writing is so tryhard and I love it!

Laplace is the Best Girl. With her being so powerful, she’s got a massive ego. She can’t stop reminding everyone that she’s an all-powerful Sorceress, even though she’s not supposed to reveal herself as one to begin with. Nadine is the weakest link. She’s a super-low level and is solely recruited because Tanya and Laplace’s average levels were too high for them to be allowed to enter a tournament. Laplace and Tanya are definitely the “Emilia or Rem” of this series (wow, what a comparison to make).

The guys are the actual scum of the Earth, especially the aforementioned Ryan Daars. Most guys in Sexiled don’t have names, and they all have the exact same personalities as Ryan himself; they’re all one dimensionally sexist and don’t think women are ever capable of anything. In fact, the explanation for Sexiled‘s use of the JRPG trope of skimpy female armor is literally because men designed it to be that way. The biggest source of catharsis in this series is seeing Tanya and Laplace continuously one-up the different men of this world and remind them that women are phenomenal and far better than men.

Along with all of that glorious feminism, there is also some lesbianism as well, a.k.a. yuuuuuuuuuuri. Well, at least according to the genre tags. Despite this being a yuri series, this volume of Sexiled only has three smooch scenes and nothing else. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if these girls form their own lesbian brothel and completely boycott men from existence, or better yet, start enslaving men (since that would be so controversial, the reaction would be priceless). But the thing is… this could be a case where the author has the characters vomit feminist dialogue ad nauseum, but use it as a red herring to get women to enjoy a series that will live entirely off of male titillation. I heard that was the whole marketing technique behind Wonder Woman (key word: ‘heard!’ I don’t actually know if it’s true, so don’t quote me on that), so it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise if it was the case for Sexiled as well.

The art for Sexiled seems to have more manga-y style despite being a light novel. It’s good, but since this IS yuri, it’s not gonna hold any water until they start illustrating some of said yuri.

~~~~~

Verdict: 8.75/10

Sexiled is shaping up to be a very controversial light novel series. Probably. Even though the actual writing and the setting aren’t too remarkable, the over-the-top feminism, Tanya’s putrid vocal chords, and Laplace’s narcissism make it hilarious just the same. I can’t tell if it’s by an actual feminist, or by someone who wanted to comment on society’s current state of affairs. Regardless, I whole-heartedly recommend Sexiled if you want to see some actual, legitimate girl power, and not YA’s pretend girl power.

PS: If they actually have Tanya and Laplace fall in love with guys later, I’m going to drop this series like a brick.