佐々木とピーちゃん ６ 宇宙の彼方より、未確認飛行物体、来襲！ ～人類終了のお知らせ、伝えに訪れた地球外生命体は、どうやら地雷のようです～

Sasaki and Peeps Light Novel #6

by Buncololi, ぶんころり, Kantoku (Illustrator)

ヘルツ王国の王位継承問題も一段落。異世界から現代に戻ってきた佐々木とピーちゃん。
そんな彼らに上司から知らされたのは、未確認飛行物体、来襲。
早速、局に呼び出された佐々木は、阿久津課長から次なる職務として、宇宙空間に浮かんだ正体不明の機影の調査を命じられた。
星崎さんと二人静氏、同僚二人と共に駆り出された彼は、けれど、流石に今回ばかりは手の出しようがない。
ここのところお疲れ気味な二人静の意向も手伝い、向こうしばらくはマイペースに職務へ当たらんとする。
すると幸か不幸か、怠惰な彼らの判断は予想外の大当たりを引き当ててしまい……？
デスゲームに続くご新規さん、作中五つ目の勢力が堂々登場の第六巻！
宇宙をも巻き込む新展開が今、始まる。

Genres: Light Novel

382 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 25, 2022

Reviews

[S.Q. Eries · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Summary
Just when you thought the cast couldn’t get larger or more varied, alien android Type Twelve makes her appearance. The volume’s first half detailing initial UFO sightings and investigations drags and isn’t particularly original compared to other sci-fi works. However, the second half is more interesting with Type Twelve’s reactions to the planet anomalies that are psychics, Disciples, and Magical Girls.

The Review
I thought this series had hit its capacity for sci-fi and fantasy elements, but I was wrong. With Volume 6, we have the introduction of UFOs to the modern world, along with wildly advanced alien AI. And not just any AI, but the super logical type that has developed the bug called emotions, leading to terrifying destructive results. Predictably (and annoyingly), the form this AI takes among Sasaki and company is of a gorgeous teenage girl in accordance with the series’ particular brand of fanservice. (Even Hoshizaki’s younger sister calls Sasaki out as a “weirdo” who’s always hanging around young girls in this volume).

Anyway, this UFO arc reads sluggishly overall. Unlike the situation with the Octodragon, the UFO has no connections with Sasaki or his varied friends. As such, there is a lengthy setup with the Bureau calling Sasaki, Futarishizuka, and Hoshizaki to do an independent investigation of the UFO; a bunch of data crunching by the sparrow starsage; and Futarishizuka showing off her knowledge of radio equipment. This finally culminates in an unexpected and funny alien abduction in a swan boat. However, the three Bureau members apparently aren’t the only humans involved in this first contact. So once aboard the UFO, there’s again a ton of passive observing and random chatter before Sasaki and his psychic colleagues encounter their alien host, Type Twelve, a super advanced android with the emotional maturity of a baby.

In terms of their exchange, it’s not particularly original. The Bureau employees’ special powers aside, the encounter is fairly similar to other sci-fi works where humans must deal with computer systems destabilizing due to the introduction of “feelings.” The conversation tends to drag due to all the information dumped in, and as if to make up for it, the story shifts into overdrive when the alien ultimately decides to destroy humanity and jettison all the abducted humans into outer space.

Thanks to psychic/Magical Girl powers, many of those humans, including all of Sasaki’s group, survive, only to have to tell their respective organizations the planet is in imminent danger. Once again, the pace slows to a crawl as the narrative details everyone’s responses. Then things rev up for a final nighttime Battle Royale involving all the paranormal elements thus introduced into the series. Unfortunately, creating a clash where our main character get mixed up with government agencies, Magical Girls, an Angel/Demon isolated space, psychics, and an alien takes a while. So despite the fate-of-the-world-depends-on-it stakes, this epic fight gets a bit slow (and confusing) toward the end.

The first eight pages, which contain illustrations and a thread from Lady Elsa’s social media, are printed in full color. Extras also include a summary of events thus far, nine black-and-white insert illustrations, an afterword, a character profile of Type Twelve, and a text exchange between Peeps and Sasaki about the anime adaption.

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