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Psycho Love Comedy #3
Psycome, Vol. 3: Murder Maiden and the Fatal Final
As the final exams for parole draw near, suddenly a transfer student appears! And the newcomer is none other than Kyousuke's little sister, Ayaka Kamiya! Ayaka could not be happier with this reunion but Kyousuke is terrified. What's more, he soon finds out that for the sake of meeting her beloved brother, Ayaka committed attempted murder. Considering Ayaka's mental state, Kyousuke resolves himself to protect her from the pack of killers he calls classmates. But, if someone, let's say Renko, were to find out that Kyousuke's most important 'Ayaka' is his sister, there'll be hell to pay... Facing dangers left and right, Kyousuke will have to be more resourceful than ever to get himself-and his sister-out in one piece.
216 pages, Paperback
First published August 30, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 16, 2018
This series is really starting to grate on me, but by now I've read half of it, with only three more novels to go, so I may as well finish it. This novel wasn't really "terrible" (Goodreads's two-star rating is apparently equivalent to "it was ok"), so much as it kind of ignored most of the cast in favor of a focus on the sole newcomer, as well as utterly betraying the other school-based plotline that followed the overall "plot" of the series (really, "school-life in a prison that trains kids to become killers").
So, anyway, the previous two volumes did exceedingly well to set this book up. The last mini-chapters of each book showed Ayaka to be horribly dependent on her brother, her life a wreck because of his absence via incarceration, and thus she concludes the only way to alleviate her pain is to kill her classmates in order to get arrested and set to her onii-chan's school. And in this novel, we see Ayaka introduced to the prison school as a transfer student to Kyousuke's class (I guess I forgot the ages don't matter for grade levels in this school?). But before she's brought into the classroom, the loli teacher teases a rather harsh sort of final exam for that trimester of the school term, with a mysterious "Ethics" course material covered on the test, in addition to the basic shit they've been studying as students. Obviously, as the summer camping trip was a trap where first-years are hunted by upperclassmen, so too should we assume this "Ethics" portion is something to be feared, a major setpiece acting as this novel's potential climax. Instead, the exam seems to just vanish in thin air, with much of the novel being focused around Ayaka and her cuntiness toward Kyousuke's many female friends.
Ayaka as a character is far more of a "yandere" than Renko could ever dream of becoming. Practically 100% of her Identity is based around her love for and reliance on Kyousuke. She pulled a shotgun on her classmates in an attempt to get arrested on purpose, not caring for the greater implications/consequences of the act. When she finally gets to the school, she is almost immediately sent into a depression, realizing her beloved brother has so many other women in his life, for whom he cares deeply - including Renko, who explicitly professes a love for Kyousuke, coupled, of course, with a deeply murderous lust. Unfortunately, all three major girls have no real role other than to offend Ayaka somehow, causing her to distrust Kyousuke further: Ayaka believes Maina's clumsy behavior is a fabrication to lower Kyousuke's defenses so she might jump his bones, and she becomes outraged when Kyousuke pats Maina's head, causing Ayaka to cuck her brother out of a delicious meal (it's not quite as silly as I've chosen to write it here); Eiri mistakenly theorizes to Kyousuke that Ayaka's merely on guard because she's surrounded by so many murderers, all of whom strongly respect Kyousuke (believing him to be the school's most infamous mass murderer), in sharp contrast to Kyousuke's previous life as the hero protecting his imouto from bullies; Renko is mainly just a vague antagonist because of her outright love for Kyousuke, though she does make a great effort to alleviate Ayaka's issues. The big push is when Shamaya (from Volume 2) comes in with a bigass bento lunch for Kyousuke and friends - Ayaka crudely slams the food to the ground, giving Kyousuke no choice but to scold Ayaka for her behavior, this being the last straw. In retaliation, Ayaka decides her brother's been practically brainwashed by the "dirty sows" around him, and plans to acquire another gun in order to kill them and keep onii-chan for herself. (It turns out she's always seen everyone except Kyousuke as "garbage," ever since she started getting bullied in middle school, and is thus unfazed by the idea of a school for murderers.) Anyway, Ayaka's second attempted murder is thwarted (by an unmasked Renko, of course), and we find out Kurumiya-sensei was behind the scenes yet again (oh shock!). Ayaka instantaneously pledges to befriend the rest of the girls.
There isn't much to this volume at all. The balance between "psycho" and "love comedy" is pretty fucked, with so many jokes focusing on brother and sister complexes, and so little attention paid to developing most of the girls, that there is really no threat of any girl stealing Kyousuke's heart, aside from Ayaka (the only actual character in this novel) and Renko (who barely exists aside from functioning as a talking deus ex machina or something, showing up only to resolve situations that might otherwise never be solved so easily). Eiri has some prominence, but only insofar as she moves the narrative forward for the Ayaka-Kyousuke conflict. Worse, it is incredibly easy to even forget Maina exists, and Shamaya seems to have been injected into the narrative only to remind the readers that Volume 2 happened, with her main scene being chosen as catalyst for Ayaka's mindbreak "just because." It's kinda weird that they keep pushing Kurumiya as major antagonist despite never having her do anything besides brutalize Mohawk.
The most interesting thing is Ayaka's motivation. She started getting bullied in middle school when she turned down a boy's confession (because she loves her brother more), and a girl who liked that book decided to fuck with her for having refrained from cuckqueaning her (?), and all the other girls sided with the alpha bitch, and all the other boys fell in line in fear of losing favor with the girls. Kyousuke burst into Ayaka's classroom to beat the shit out of her assailants, and has attracted the attention of many a ne'er-do-well ever since. Because of her bullying, Ayaka began to see all humans as worthless trash, a nihilistic dismissal of Life so taut she can't even feel _anything_ regarding the taking of other lives - that is, "murder" means nothing to her insofar as it is just a means of trash removing other trash. She later accidentally realizes she's made friends with Renko, et al., erasing the dark feelings of her past. But the important thing is that Ayaka cannot just plainly be a Nihilist, but instead must fall into such an Ideology as triggered by bullying. She is a victim. Because we can't have a nihilistic imouto running around in our sometimes-light-hearted light novel, now can we? Sure, the main premise is some kid gets framed for murder and sent to a school for juvenile killers BUT (oh my god!) the school is really a training facility for juvenile hitmen!!! AND THAT'S NOT ALL!!!!! The main love interest was manufactured to be the most efficient killing machine, and the only thing preventing her from killing Kyousuke is that her love is as-of-yet unrequited!!!!!!! BUT GOD FORBID THE IMOUTO BE AN EVIL CUNT!!!!!!!!!!?????
Pick one route and stick with it, Mizushiro, because you don't have the talent to balance both Edgy with Silly.
So, anyway, the previous two volumes did exceedingly well to set this book up. The last mini-chapters of each book showed Ayaka to be horribly dependent on her brother, her life a wreck because of his absence via incarceration, and thus she concludes the only way to alleviate her pain is to kill her classmates in order to get arrested and set to her onii-chan's school. And in this novel, we see Ayaka introduced to the prison school as a transfer student to Kyousuke's class (I guess I forgot the ages don't matter for grade levels in this school?). But before she's brought into the classroom, the loli teacher teases a rather harsh sort of final exam for that trimester of the school term, with a mysterious "Ethics" course material covered on the test, in addition to the basic shit they've been studying as students. Obviously, as the summer camping trip was a trap where first-years are hunted by upperclassmen, so too should we assume this "Ethics" portion is something to be feared, a major setpiece acting as this novel's potential climax. Instead, the exam seems to just vanish in thin air, with much of the novel being focused around Ayaka and her cuntiness toward Kyousuke's many female friends.
Ayaka as a character is far more of a "yandere" than Renko could ever dream of becoming. Practically 100% of her Identity is based around her love for and reliance on Kyousuke. She pulled a shotgun on her classmates in an attempt to get arrested on purpose, not caring for the greater implications/consequences of the act. When she finally gets to the school, she is almost immediately sent into a depression, realizing her beloved brother has so many other women in his life, for whom he cares deeply - including Renko, who explicitly professes a love for Kyousuke, coupled, of course, with a deeply murderous lust. Unfortunately, all three major girls have no real role other than to offend Ayaka somehow, causing her to distrust Kyousuke further: Ayaka believes Maina's clumsy behavior is a fabrication to lower Kyousuke's defenses so she might jump his bones, and she becomes outraged when Kyousuke pats Maina's head, causing Ayaka to cuck her brother out of a delicious meal (it's not quite as silly as I've chosen to write it here); Eiri mistakenly theorizes to Kyousuke that Ayaka's merely on guard because she's surrounded by so many murderers, all of whom strongly respect Kyousuke (believing him to be the school's most infamous mass murderer), in sharp contrast to Kyousuke's previous life as the hero protecting his imouto from bullies; Renko is mainly just a vague antagonist because of her outright love for Kyousuke, though she does make a great effort to alleviate Ayaka's issues. The big push is when Shamaya (from Volume 2) comes in with a bigass bento lunch for Kyousuke and friends - Ayaka crudely slams the food to the ground, giving Kyousuke no choice but to scold Ayaka for her behavior, this being the last straw. In retaliation, Ayaka decides her brother's been practically brainwashed by the "dirty sows" around him, and plans to acquire another gun in order to kill them and keep onii-chan for herself. (It turns out she's always seen everyone except Kyousuke as "garbage," ever since she started getting bullied in middle school, and is thus unfazed by the idea of a school for murderers.) Anyway, Ayaka's second attempted murder is thwarted (by an unmasked Renko, of course), and we find out Kurumiya-sensei was behind the scenes yet again (oh shock!). Ayaka instantaneously pledges to befriend the rest of the girls.
There isn't much to this volume at all. The balance between "psycho" and "love comedy" is pretty fucked, with so many jokes focusing on brother and sister complexes, and so little attention paid to developing most of the girls, that there is really no threat of any girl stealing Kyousuke's heart, aside from Ayaka (the only actual character in this novel) and Renko (who barely exists aside from functioning as a talking deus ex machina or something, showing up only to resolve situations that might otherwise never be solved so easily). Eiri has some prominence, but only insofar as she moves the narrative forward for the Ayaka-Kyousuke conflict. Worse, it is incredibly easy to even forget Maina exists, and Shamaya seems to have been injected into the narrative only to remind the readers that Volume 2 happened, with her main scene being chosen as catalyst for Ayaka's mindbreak "just because." It's kinda weird that they keep pushing Kurumiya as major antagonist despite never having her do anything besides brutalize Mohawk.
The most interesting thing is Ayaka's motivation. She started getting bullied in middle school when she turned down a boy's confession (because she loves her brother more), and a girl who liked that book decided to fuck with her for having refrained from cuckqueaning her (?), and all the other girls sided with the alpha bitch, and all the other boys fell in line in fear of losing favor with the girls. Kyousuke burst into Ayaka's classroom to beat the shit out of her assailants, and has attracted the attention of many a ne'er-do-well ever since. Because of her bullying, Ayaka began to see all humans as worthless trash, a nihilistic dismissal of Life so taut she can't even feel _anything_ regarding the taking of other lives - that is, "murder" means nothing to her insofar as it is just a means of trash removing other trash. She later accidentally realizes she's made friends with Renko, et al., erasing the dark feelings of her past. But the important thing is that Ayaka cannot just plainly be a Nihilist, but instead must fall into such an Ideology as triggered by bullying. She is a victim. Because we can't have a nihilistic imouto running around in our sometimes-light-hearted light novel, now can we? Sure, the main premise is some kid gets framed for murder and sent to a school for juvenile killers BUT (oh my god!) the school is really a training facility for juvenile hitmen!!! AND THAT'S NOT ALL!!!!! The main love interest was manufactured to be the most efficient killing machine, and the only thing preventing her from killing Kyousuke is that her love is as-of-yet unrequited!!!!!!! BUT GOD FORBID THE IMOUTO BE AN EVIL CUNT!!!!!!!!!!?????
Pick one route and stick with it, Mizushiro, because you don't have the talent to balance both Edgy with Silly.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 18, 2014
This one was a bit taxing to read. Don't get me wrong it was a good read but when the new student,his sister, arrived(from volume 2 and cover it should be obvious) most of the conflicts came from a heap of misunderstandings and unnecessary Jealousy bordering to psychotic which I understand it was the point considering this is a romantic comedy among murders. However I personally found it to be ridiculous to read in certain areas such as the cooking class incident and the Syamaya incident. I'm just happy that it did lead to a big clash between with the main cast thus giving a point in build up so it wasn't so bad i suppose. Once again we find out that the sadistic loli is at the center of everything. However I an way she kinda preventing things from getting worse, but at the same time instigating everything. This volume really helped showcase Renko's character in a way since she played a big part in resolving the tension amongst the group which is somewhat of a surprise given her character. Towards the end the major foreshadowing was(in my opinion) probably one of the best parts. All and all it was still a good read however if you are like me when it comes "yanderes" as in you can care less for them read with a grain of salt. Still look forward to volume 4
November 26, 2019
5.5/10
Usually I would start this review with a short summary of the plot and then move on to my personal evaluation of the whole thing, but this Volume didn't even have any plot to speak of. This doesn't really mean, that the entire book had to be terrible. It was just more character driven, which can be a good thing if done right, but after finishing the novel I didn't get the feeling that I really learned so much new of Ayaka Kamiya. Let me elaborate.
Immediately after Ayaka is introduced we pretty much don't get a page without her. She always sticks to her big brother and acts like the cardboard little sister that everyone already knows and despises of other Harem stories and there really is no deviation of that in this novel. Now, after already reading two volumes of Psycome, we know that the author at least tries to give the usual tropes some sort of twist to make them interesting again. So what did he make of Ayaka? Obviously, she had to fill in the gap of beeing the maniac yandere who decides to kill all of Kyousukes friends. And it's not like anything of that is sudden in any way. It just happens and you are not really shocked about it, since you already knew by the Epilogue of Volume 2 that something wasn't right with her. Maybe I'm a bit harsh on this whole thing but I pretty much detest yanderes and the way that they are romanticised in the Otaku culture. The fact, that there are people who seriously would love to date people like Yuno, or even like Ayaka (ignoring the fact, that she already has the looks of a four year old) makes me sick. On the other hand, when I have to deal with a yandere I'm really thankful WHEN the writer achieves to make it seem realistic or at least understandable, that said character would go on a rampage. Shion Sonozaki from the Higurashi series is a good example of that. But what is the reason of Ayaka to attempt murder? Because… she can't… handle… that there are girls who are surrounded by her… big brother…? Pretty much the most superficial yandere that you can write, don't you think? The fact that Ayaka is a pretty annoying character and has about five tantrums was seriously frustrating. Maybe if she wouldn't have been the focus of the entire novel I wouldn't have minded that much, but unfortunately she was important through the whole run. And most of the problems felt like repetitions. Kyousuke would be kind to another girl -> Ayaka would lose her shit and be angry to him -> Kyousuke would try to apologize to her -> Problem solved. Ayaka wouldn't stop acting selfish and I really held my hopes up, that there was a more deeper meaning to her unreasonable acting, but there wasn't. She really just acted shitty, because the cardboard yandere has to act that way. Heck, even Yuno Gasai was written better and I found her as a character to be pretty shallow. And yes, I know, this is a Harem RomCom with a dark spin, which doesn't take itself way too seriously, but think of the first Volume again. Now think of this Volume. Which of those had more twists and tried to develop their plot in a specific situation? Furthermore, what did the author even do to Shamaya? She appeared for around five pages and disappeared again with no real purpose, as if Mizuki didn't really know how to include her into the story, which is pretty sad, since she felt like an important character in the last novel, which would stay relevant in the following volumes. Bob, Chihiro and Michirou also didn't really get any screen time. Seriously I know novels, which introduced way more characters and still achieved to give all of them some decent development in 200 pages. The only good thing I can say is that Renko truly achieved to show her best side and go against Ayaka, while being more then fair with her. Same goes for Eiri and Maina.
I think I don't have to say that this volume felt more like a mess then a true continuation of the story. There were less boob jokes, which I'm thankful of, but there are still enough other things that will be annoying, so just be aware of that. I'm relieved that the epilogue gave me something I could look forward to and that the next volume will focus on Eiri and her family. At least that way I'll have to deal with a character favorite and I really do think that they could go into some interesting territorium and development for Eiri. Yes, this was the worst volume and now I can see why. Fortunately it can only get better from now.
Usually I would start this review with a short summary of the plot and then move on to my personal evaluation of the whole thing, but this Volume didn't even have any plot to speak of. This doesn't really mean, that the entire book had to be terrible. It was just more character driven, which can be a good thing if done right, but after finishing the novel I didn't get the feeling that I really learned so much new of Ayaka Kamiya. Let me elaborate.
Immediately after Ayaka is introduced we pretty much don't get a page without her. She always sticks to her big brother and acts like the cardboard little sister that everyone already knows and despises of other Harem stories and there really is no deviation of that in this novel. Now, after already reading two volumes of Psycome, we know that the author at least tries to give the usual tropes some sort of twist to make them interesting again. So what did he make of Ayaka? Obviously, she had to fill in the gap of beeing the maniac yandere who decides to kill all of Kyousukes friends. And it's not like anything of that is sudden in any way. It just happens and you are not really shocked about it, since you already knew by the Epilogue of Volume 2 that something wasn't right with her. Maybe I'm a bit harsh on this whole thing but I pretty much detest yanderes and the way that they are romanticised in the Otaku culture. The fact, that there are people who seriously would love to date people like Yuno, or even like Ayaka (ignoring the fact, that she already has the looks of a four year old) makes me sick. On the other hand, when I have to deal with a yandere I'm really thankful WHEN the writer achieves to make it seem realistic or at least understandable, that said character would go on a rampage. Shion Sonozaki from the Higurashi series is a good example of that. But what is the reason of Ayaka to attempt murder? Because… she can't… handle… that there are girls who are surrounded by her… big brother…? Pretty much the most superficial yandere that you can write, don't you think? The fact that Ayaka is a pretty annoying character and has about five tantrums was seriously frustrating. Maybe if she wouldn't have been the focus of the entire novel I wouldn't have minded that much, but unfortunately she was important through the whole run. And most of the problems felt like repetitions. Kyousuke would be kind to another girl -> Ayaka would lose her shit and be angry to him -> Kyousuke would try to apologize to her -> Problem solved. Ayaka wouldn't stop acting selfish and I really held my hopes up, that there was a more deeper meaning to her unreasonable acting, but there wasn't. She really just acted shitty, because the cardboard yandere has to act that way. Heck, even Yuno Gasai was written better and I found her as a character to be pretty shallow. And yes, I know, this is a Harem RomCom with a dark spin, which doesn't take itself way too seriously, but think of the first Volume again. Now think of this Volume. Which of those had more twists and tried to develop their plot in a specific situation? Furthermore, what did the author even do to Shamaya? She appeared for around five pages and disappeared again with no real purpose, as if Mizuki didn't really know how to include her into the story, which is pretty sad, since she felt like an important character in the last novel, which would stay relevant in the following volumes. Bob, Chihiro and Michirou also didn't really get any screen time. Seriously I know novels, which introduced way more characters and still achieved to give all of them some decent development in 200 pages. The only good thing I can say is that Renko truly achieved to show her best side and go against Ayaka, while being more then fair with her. Same goes for Eiri and Maina.
I think I don't have to say that this volume felt more like a mess then a true continuation of the story. There were less boob jokes, which I'm thankful of, but there are still enough other things that will be annoying, so just be aware of that. I'm relieved that the epilogue gave me something I could look forward to and that the next volume will focus on Eiri and her family. At least that way I'll have to deal with a character favorite and I really do think that they could go into some interesting territorium and development for Eiri. Yes, this was the worst volume and now I can see why. Fortunately it can only get better from now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2018
We continue with the much anticipated reunion of Kyousuke with his crazy attached sister Ayaka.
Throughout the book, there's this tension you feel every time a moment happens between a female character and Kyousuke as Ayaka is watching. You know it's going to boil over at some point, but you just don't know when. I thought the way this was presented was a bit weak, only because the tension gets resolved each time somehow or another. I think it would have been better if things weren't resolved and the tension pot just continued to be stirred ever slowly. The ending was solid though.
It's a decent volume, though the one thing I didn't like was how much it pushed on of the female characters forward in the "competition" for Kyousuke. I feel like it's way too early to play your cards at this point as the author and single out a best girl if you want this to be a triangle / Quadrangle. There's still 3 more books left in this series. Next volume focuses on Eiri, so this is pretty much her last chance to impact that outcome I would say, and based on previous interactions (her whole Tsundere thing) I doubt she'll be able to do anything impactful romance wise.
Throughout the book, there's this tension you feel every time a moment happens between a female character and Kyousuke as Ayaka is watching. You know it's going to boil over at some point, but you just don't know when. I thought the way this was presented was a bit weak, only because the tension gets resolved each time somehow or another. I think it would have been better if things weren't resolved and the tension pot just continued to be stirred ever slowly. The ending was solid though.
It's a decent volume, though the one thing I didn't like was how much it pushed on of the female characters forward in the "competition" for Kyousuke. I feel like it's way too early to play your cards at this point as the author and single out a best girl if you want this to be a triangle / Quadrangle. There's still 3 more books left in this series. Next volume focuses on Eiri, so this is pretty much her last chance to impact that outcome I would say, and based on previous interactions (her whole Tsundere thing) I doubt she'll be able to do anything impactful romance wise.
January 31, 2018
I came into this volume with really low expectations. After the first 50 pages I thought "yup just as expected...". Then the Psycho on Psycome amped up quite a lot and that made the story feel less creepy and more insane as it was supposed to be. Made for a fun read, and definitely better than volume 2.
April 18, 2019
More brutal fan service, but this time the fan service was toned down a bit. In it's place we get a little sister. The crazy ride continues.
August 3, 2020
Funny, ecchi, and full of big brother complex 😂
June 3, 2024
ill blow smoke for my brother
November 3, 2022
why is she attracted to her brother.... and why do these little girls have their hugee tits bouncing everywhere.
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