#i refuse to be your enemy

[azebraslife]

A Zebra Reads: I Refuse to Be Your Enemy! (Kanata Satsuki)

Lately, I've been reading J-Novel Heart titles that are available in my library's collection, and it so happens that the vast majority of these titles are otome isekai and/or villainess reincarnation stories.

Rather than drawing from an otome game, I Refuse to Be Your Enemy! (Watashi wa Teki ni Narimasen!) draws from a tactical RPG game of the likes of Fire Emblem or Langrisser, which drew me to the book's premise considering I have more experience playing these types of games than otome. Of course, this does absolutely nothing to stop the novel from being a reverse harem (and on the flip side, the endgame pairing is extremely obvious by the covers).

For a 6-volume series, this was a very quick read (took me about 1 week to finish the whole thing, spending maybe 3.5 hours per book). An extra 10 short stories were published in the web novel version as an expansion of the light novel's ending, which aren't critical for the plot but made me wish there was more development.

Overall, while I'm not well versed in otome isekai whatsoever, the novel probably falls under "standard fare." It hooked me enough to get through all 6 volumes, but I can't really say the narrative craft was really outstanding or had anything particularly worth rereading like Ascendance of a Bookworm or Log Horizon, two other isekai I've found memorable. While the battle scenes are engaging enough, Satsuki's specialty is romance, and the story gets far enough to wrap up the immediate plotline and tell us how the two main leads get hitched before ending. In a way, I think this was for the best, even if there were several interesting ideas that I wish were fleshed out more.

[Spoilers for the entire series under the cut.]

The Reincarnation Time-Loop

One of the interesting ideas is only brought up in the last two volumes plus a web novel side story: The feedback loop going on between the Farzia world and ours (the past life of Kiara, the main character).

The web novel reveals that Cain, one of the love interests, was reincarnated into our world after dying in an alternate Farzia timeline. He reincarnated into our world and developed the tactical RPG Farzia: Kingdom at War based on his past life's memories. His cousin, Chisato, plays the game and carries memories of it into her new life as Kiara, which in turn gets read by the Thorn Princess, a spellcaster and character in the RPG who has the power to travel back into the past. In her attempts to save Reggie (the main love interest) for reasons of her own, the Thorn Princess awakens Kiara's past-life memories to change Farzia's fate, causing a stable feedback loop as reincarnated!Cain came from one of the timelines spawned from the Thorn Princess' meddling.

In more adept hands, I think this premise could have been used to greater effect than it was -- it ultimately exists largely to explain the Thorn Princess' enigmatic actions in Volume 1 as well as Kiara's dreams of alternate timelines. That said, a story which fleshes out this premise would also probably need to be much longer, and I don't think Satsuki has the writing chops for a longer story than what we got.

Speaking of a longer story, the novel's climax is the liberation of Farzia from the Kingdom of Llewyne, but it actually ends with a somewhat bizarre inverse in media res during Farzia's invasion of Llewyne. And by that I mean, we're offhandedly told that a) the invasion happens, and b) Reggie sends Kiara home halfway through the invasion because Kiara became pregnant. That's the third-to-last paragraph before the series ends, for that matter. We don't know the actual conclusion of that war, but given the kind of series it is, the reader can assume there's a happily-ever-after ending despite, y'know, all the wars they're getting into.

The Love Interests

Considering this is a reverse harem series, I suppose I should review the three love interests. We have:

Reggie (Reginald), the prince of Farzia and a posthumous character in the game. His early support and protection of Kiara, and their common past struggles with abusive families, leads the two to become close early on, and the vast majority of Kiara's actions and mindset throughout the series are in the interest of preventing Reggie's death at all costs. Despite this, and Reggie's blatant favoritism and affection towards her, Kiara fails to recognize their mutual affection for most of the series.

Cain Wentworth, a knight for House Evrard (from which the main character of game!Farzia, Alan, hails). Cain serves as an elder brother figure for Alan and Reggie, and becomes Kiara's protector after seeing her dedication towards becoming a spellcaster. As the sole survivor of his family following a previous Llewyne invasion, he holds a deep-rooted hatred towards Lleweynians and becomes darkly infatuated with Kiara not only as a person, but in her destructive potential as a spellcaster. He eventually gives up on his feelings after realizing that she's gone for Reggie, which I felt was kinda anticlimactic and deserved more development. (I always like these kinds of dark/ulterior-motive love interests in theory. In practice, they often bore or annoy me, so maybe Satsuki's judgement is better than mine.)

Isaac, the King of Salekhard, who is helping Llewyne's invasion of Farzia as part of his scheme to shake off Llewyne's influence over his own nation. He initially befriends Kiara while under the guise of a merchant, hoping to kidnap her and weaken Farzia's forces, but falls in love with her because... it's a reverse harem series. There really wasn't any reason for it other than being a genre staple. He had more chemistry with Gina, a side character, via exposition (although it didn't work out because she's in love with his older brother instead). But at least "poor, unappreciated Isaac" (in his own words) helped push Kiara into realizing the nature of her own feelings for Reggie.

As mentioned towards the start of the review, despite having 3 love interests, Reggie is front-and-center of all 6 volume covers (Cain appears on the first 2, and Isaac only on the 5th). So there was really no guessing who would win out in the end, and more the question of how Kiara and Reggie would get hooked up.

The Side Characters

The side characters in this series were quite enjoyable. While fairly expansive, the characters were utilized evenly enough that I never lost track of who was whom. (Although it helped that the story often reintroduced characters with each volume, too. Is this a staple of romance light novels? Holmes of Kyoto did the same thing.)

Horace is the most prominent side character thanks to being connected to Kiara as her mentor-turned-clay-doll following his assassination. Despite often getting a laugh at Kiara's expense during her romantic escapades, the two end up in a genuine familial dynamic and Horace provides useful insight and musings in the field of magical tactics.

Alan is the another major side character, given that he's the main character of game!Farzia and technically has royal blood in him. After learning that Alan successfully takes his place in the alternate timeline, Reggie grows less concerned about his life, much to the consternation of the rest of the cast. While initially distrustful of Kiara's claims about having memories of her past life, he comes to believe her and becomes something of a brother to Kiara. While he's spared of the love interest treatment, that instead means he's subjected to his two closest friends (Reggie and Cain) becoming infatuated with Kiara instead. He's markedly unenthusiastic about this realization.

Gina, Girsch, and their three frostfoxes show up in Volume 2 as Salekhardian mercenaries who are fed up with Llewyne's mistreatment of Farzian civilians. After fighting against their supposed cause, the three lend their services to the Farzian military instead, dispensing a great deal of practical advice and emotional support for Kiara. Gina turns out to have a closer link to Isaac than her mercenary life might suggest, and the frostfoxes are honestly some of the MVPs of the Farzia-Llewyne war. Despite being unable to talk, the three frostfoxes are given plenty of character of their own, which was a nice touch.

Emmeline appears in Volume 3 and, while playing a lesser role compared to other side characters, stood out in her accomplishments. Inspired by Kiara's courage, Emmeline shed her destiny as a docile future wife to become an action girl in her own right, masterminding the House of Delphion's strategy for coming out of the war intact regardless of which side won, a feat which earns her Reggie's respect. Like Gina, Emmeline provides emotional support for Kiara and helps her get back in touch with her original motivations. The web novel side stories reveal that Alan and Emmeline decide to get engaged for political reasons shortly before the war's end, which apparently turns out pretty well for them.

The Thorn Princess appears in one scene in Volume 1, then doesn't make any major appearances until Volume 5, and finally becomes a major supporting character in Volume 6. Her history wraps up many of the loose ends from the earlier volumes and explains why the story changed from the game version in the ways that it did. That said, the cascade of reveals felt somewhat rushed, especially when the antagonists (almost all of whom have some ties to the Thorn Princess) were barely fleshed out themselves.

Lord Enister, AKA Grandpa Cane, is a goat-riding old general equipping a cane as his weapon. Yes, you heard me right. He was rather OP in game!Farzia and had his own fanbase, which leads Kiara to recognize him instantly when he appears to bolster Farzia's forces. Despite receiving little focus over the course of the story, he is a vital ally on the battlefield and makes it all the way to the end, even serving as the usher for Reggie and Kiara's wedding. (Yes, he rode his goat for that, too.)

The Villains and Worldbuilding

There are three major villains (Viscount Credias, Earl Patriciel, Queen Marianne) and none of them are particularly fleshed out. While each of their motivations and desires are elaborated on in some degrees, there is no attempt to make any of them likeable or sympathetic. I would say that the story is weaker for it, but I'm well aware that a story like this is all about the developing relationships between the main character and her love interests, not the villains.

Isaac and his entourage, despite being antagonists for the first 5 volumes, are given a more sympathetic plight and end up joining Farzia after throwing their fight to free themselves from Llewyne's control. However, it's clear that they're going to have some internal troubles after the war, and the narrative kinda shrugs at it and goes "It'll work itself out, hopefully" at the end.

The worldbuilding is rather weak as well. While we get enough to serve the story's purposes (namely, knowing who's going where during the war), we're in a world of magical creatures and we learn of all of four different monsters. Heck, I don't even think Queen Marianne's bird gets a name of its own. There are a few other surrounding nations mentioned, some of which help Farzia, but they're barely given any elaboration. Magic and its properties are also left an enigma and exist as little more than a plot device.

As someone who loves worldbuilding, this was something of a disappointment, but again -- not the kind of story which usually gets into the nitty-gritty details. It would have to be something along the scope of Ascendance of a Bookworm to get that much detail, and that is a much longer series than this one.

Zebra's Final Impressions: Enjoyable for what it's meant to be, which is a reverse harem isekai. It's not a terribly deep story rife with foreshadowing, plot twists, and scheming, but the ride itself is enjoyable as a comfy read. (Well, as comfy as a war story with blood and gore can be.)

[ghost-bxrd]

Two birds of a different feather 🪶

[hawnks]

Unfortunately I'm having a breakdown over Rafayel now

[bumblingbabooshka]

While everyone else thinks Workforce's wasted potential is that Chakotay and Janeway didn't have a brainwashed what-could-have-been-romance *I* know that Workforce's wasted potential is that Tuvok wasn't there as a much more vocal irritant/unintentional cockblock to Jaffen. Who hates him the whole time but is trying to act like he doesn't because Janeway REALLY likes him.

[dark-side-blog3]

not really a request! just saw ur tf2 post and uhhh about went a lil feral at the mention that u may consider writing for the characters? 👉👈 love ur content so much pls pls if u choose to write for tf2 i will be in ur debt- 🙏

no pressure tho pls write what u wanna! love ur blog!!!

I really like the idea of the power imbalance that could come from a victim who can't use the respawn machine; especially if everyone else on the base can. The isolation that comes with being a new member of the team that already has years of chemistry, knowing that assassins don't exactly get an HR for interpersonal conflicts on the job site, anyway. You're more vulnerable, socially and physically. If a Pyro decides to light you up, you're permanently dead. Even if you manage to kill someone, they'll just come back a few minutes later.

Maybe Medic or Engineer saying it will only take a week or two until your respawn is available (and "delaying" it more and more, simply because it's funny to watch). Pauling calling you and saying they're not planning to give you respawn until you manage a higher killstreak.

Everyone in the base is a sadist. They probably don't even like you, let alone feel deeper emotions when they all nearly kill you during off hours.

It's probably only after months of constant near misses that one of the members starts to think of just how far they could take your desire to stay alive. Your respawns still not up, so you're not in a position to say no...

OR, for your consideration: someone on the other team realizing you don't have a respawn because there isn't a version of you on their team. Spy is probably the first to pick up on this (maybe Medic is a close second) since keeping a level head and multitasking is his job description. He knows you're vulnerable. And then it just becomes fun to try to single you out every round.

[lilaccatholic]

Never fails that when I see a blog full of the most misanthropic, pompous, taking-the-fun-out-of-everything stuff I'll scroll down and see a "Why am I so miserable?" post from that user

[attractthecrows]

damn it. now i need to design a Rook so i can actually do something with this mental image of the collective look on Rook and Solas's face when Nessie refers to Solas as "that old fart"

[cto10121]

“They could have handled it better—” how????????Juliet was going to be a victim of child marriage to an older man and Romeo was on the run for manslaughter. They could not go to their parents (see: feud), they could not go to the authorities (see: Romeo at large for killing Tybalt), they literally just had the Friar and Nurse. Literally how could they have handled it better?????????

[inkperch]

I really, really wish you could recruit Seteth in a Crimson Flowers route-

Like. At the point where you spare him, when the writing on the wall is clear, he strikes a deal (assuming Flayn is still alive) that he'll fight by your side as long as you let Flayn get as far away as possible from the fighting. (Maybe even have 'sparing Claude' as a requirement, you call on his favour to send her to Almyra under the protection of their prince.)

Meanwhile Seteth has the ulterior motive of trying to negotiate a terms of surrender for Rhea... Only to slowly come to terms with the fact that, in Crimson Flowers, his sister has Absolutely Lost It(tm), and won't take any 'surrender' short of tearing out Byleth's heart, and El's head-

Give him some unique, CF only varients on his Supports, let someone who genuinely cares for Rhea side against her and challenge El's stances, let him call out Hubie on not standing up to El and just quietly cleaning up after her from the shadows (in a way that is definitely not him projecting as he watches his sister go insane to a degree that seals her own fate from him similarly not challenging her as much as he should've), give him an angsty ass unique interaction where he pleads with Rhea to see that she can't win against El and Byleth, but she can survive, but she doesn't even care about her own survival at this point she just wants those two dead-

I just think it would be neat.

[blueberry-obsessed]

Experiencing pain in the back of my knees all the way down to my ankles what if i kill a man. what if i self destruct.

[enbyboiwonder]

If this title that doesn’t even technically describe you if you look at the actual connotations of it because the one who created the title made assumptions about what happened and your role in it displeases you, then know that you must make another title

Shut uppppp and stop calling me by that fucking misnomer. I have an actual name, y’know.

[archersgoon]

even with everything she says on the page after this tesadora is still unbelievably even-keeled. dunno what i would've done in her shoes but it wouldn't've been pretty

[runawaymun]

the tightrope "bridge" across the Celebrant is so fucking funny to me. Like I get the whole "times are dangerous and so we do not build bridges anymore" thing but like, have you guys not heard of a drawbridge? a gated drawbridge, even?

[bijoumikhawal]

Saying "one of the major parties in a country trying to genocide trans people is the "most pro trans" major party in the world" as a statement of fact should inspire fear and terror, not be a call the be thankful to that fucking party. Anyway Biden is partially responsible for the current T drug class

[13lizardsinatrenchcoat]

If a not-vote for Harris is a vote for Trump then maybe I should just select Trump on my ballot. Since they're the same thing and all.

[living-in-a-fantasia]

Hugh