Light Novel- Obsessions of an Otome Gamer: The Middle School Years Review

This series has a soft spot in my heart because it was the first light novel I ever read, 90% of the reason being because I love otome games.

I read this a long time ago but never got around to reviewing it.

The crux of it is… if you liked the first book, you will like the second one more.

The plot twists that were hinted at during the end of the first book get more fleshed out here and we can finally put a face to the puppeteer that orchestrated Mashiro’s entrance into this game world.

It’s been over a year since Cross Infinite Worlds has released this book and the sequel books aren’t even listed on their website, so I’m also hesitant to review. The regular release schedule of J-Novel Club has spoiled me on that end.

But my friend asked for light novel recommendations and I remembered this series.

The Heroine

Mashiro continues to be a joy of a heroine. She is still focused on her music, first and foremost, but she has started to let her heart open up to the male leads. Because this takes place after the events of the first book, the primary goal for her remains to be accepted into Seio Music Academy.

While she is not directly involved with the Villain like another POV character is, she is aware she is being manipulated. This is rather refreshing because the drama would be cheap and easy to do by making her block-headed. Just as the first novel, she is single-minded but not to frustration.

Music

It’s hard to talk about this series without talking about music. In fact, the absolute love and care Natsu takes to describe the music– the emotions, the technicalities, the playing — makes me feel like I can almost hear it as I’m reading. Music is one of those things that is impossible to convey with words and she does it with such aplomb that I must take a moment to mention it.

Love Interests

The two love interests mature throughout this novel. Sou is away in Germany, so he and Mashiro communicate through letters (and later, something even more special!). These small interludes are always jam-packed with feels. I went in feeling lukewarm on Sou but by the end his book became the one I had to read first! (And the general public seems to agree, as he won CIW’s poll of which book they should translate first)

Because Kou is still in Japan, he sees Mashiro a little more, but not as often as he did in the first novel. There are plenty of good moments here for Kou fans as well, though by sheer plot convenience I’d say the scales are a little tipped towards Kou for number of scenes. Kou also matures in this novel, becoming less of a haughty brat and more of a brash teen. I can definitely see him going all out against the big bad in his Kou way.

Secret Lead

The secret POV character from the first novel is back. Again, the POV segments are brief, but they bring a world of change to the tone of the novel and the machinations of the plot itself.

There’s a huge tragedy contained in this character and their arc and I felt for them so very much. Their story impacted me to the point I’m okay with calling this character a secret lead character. I’m certain by the end we’ll see the end of their arc with hopefully a happy ending (I better get my handkerchief out just in case!)

Plot

This book takes them through middle school to just before high school. The next book will fulfill the promise of the game (congrats, you get to choose your route now!)

The game board is also set for the grand puppeteer to get what they desire out of it as well (which means our poor Mashiro may not get her happily ever after if she’s not careful!)

It’s really difficult to talk about this without going into spoilers for this book, and if you read spoilers for this book, the entire first book is ruined for you.

It proceeds in much of the same manner as the first, so if you liked the relatively slow pacing punctuated with plot bombs, you will continue to enjoy this. If you found that hard to get through, you will probably struggle through this book as well.

By the end of this book I really felt like we’ve watched the characters grow up, so I’d say Natsu did a great job taking us through the childhood and preteen years. You really get to know and love these characters, especially the central cast (Mashiro, Kou, Sou, Kon). I’m ready for the next two books to see how their endings will differ and how the romance will go!

Overall

My only regret is not creating a playlist of the classical songs used throughout the novels as I read them. I don’t typically reread books unless they impacted my life and the timespan between the books is getting longer by the day without any notice of release of the final two.

This worries me.

I do remember what happened in the books enough to not be lost when they come out. Heck, I’m doing a review a year later and I still feel confident enough in the details to do one. But if it’s over one year and still no Sou, how long will it be before Kou comes out?

I’m hesitant to give this book a high recommendation without some sort of vote of confidence we’ll see the end of this trilogy (or is it technically a quartet?)

However, this book is even better than the first one, so for now, I am going to give it the exact same score, accounting for the uncertainty of future releases.

Heart Rating

My heart scale is defined as follows – 5 hearts = a story everyone will fall in love with, regardless of preferences; 4 hearts = a well-done story that people who love the concept will adore, and people who don’t may end up liking it; 3 hearts = if you like this type of story or this type of hero, then you will enjoy this, but those who do not like either of those things will probably not; 2 hearts = it had potential, it squandered it; 1 heart = just a waste of time from the get-go; 0 hearts = why was this made?