Lycoris Recoil: Recovery Days Review

The highly popular Lycoris Recoil returns in light novel form with a new collection of short stories following the adventures of Takina, Chisato and the other members of Café LycoReco. But what’s in store for the cast this time? Let’s find out!

While this isn’t a direct sequel to the previous light novel, Ordinary Days, it does follow the same format, presented in the form of 5 short stories along with a chapter 0 and ‘post-credit scene’. And we kick things off in true Lycoris Recoil fashion with Chisato talking about one of her favourite subjects:  movies. Our heroine wants Takina to go to the cinema with her and get the true big-screen experience, but Takina is unenthused about the whole idea. But once Chisato gets an idea in her head, there’s no stopping her and even when an urgent mission threatens to get in the way of their trip to the cinema, Chisato will still find a way forward…

Other stories in this collection include our duo helping the mangaka Itou, who is, as always, battling against deadlines. She’s drawing a one-shot with characters based on Chisato and Takina, but she just can’t seem to get the poses right. Left with no other choice, she begs the girls for help in posing for her so she can get her draft perfect.

And then we have the tale of Chisato catching a cold and Takina being tasked with looking after her, which is easier said than done when Chisato is the type who lives life energetically and wants to be up and about. Especially with board game night happening at the café.

And it’s not just our usual leads that get a chance in the spotlight; there’s also a chapter dedicated to Fuki and Sakura. We saw quite a lot of these two in the original TV series, particularly as Fuki used to be partnered with Chisato, but this is the first time we’ve seen them take on a mission by themselves.

While Ordinary Days felt like it was trying to stay away from depicting the action-packed Lycoris missions, Recovery Days instead incorporates the action while keeping the slice-of-life vibe we got from the first book. I think this works out better since although I love the cast, it doesn’t feel right when they don’t occasionally find themselves embroiled in some kind of gunfight. We never hit the kind of high stakes we’re used to from the original TV series, but this is more than thrilling enough all the same.

Written once again by one of the original creators, Asaura, this is a collection that fits into the universe perfectly. The stories still seem to be set before the end of the anime, meaning it’s relatively easy to jump in even if you haven’t finished the original work. It’s definitely not newcomer friendly, but even compared to the previous book, I feel it does a better job of explaining what Lycoris are and the background of the setting. And just in case you’ve forgotten who’s who, there’s a great colour spread at the start by illustrator Imigimura which shows a list of characters. The interior illustrations throughout are great this time, perfectly capturing the charming vibe of our cast and the antics they get up to.

On the whole, this just feels so much better balanced than the first book, to the point where I’d encourage people to come back if they might have decided against following the novels after the first. Asaura clearly has a lot of love and ideas for these stories, and it feels like they’ve gotten over some of the hurdles they faced originally.

Lycoris Recoil: Recovery Days comes to the West thanks to Yen Press under the Yen On imprint and has been translated by Kiki Piatkowska. Having worked on the previous novel, Piatkowska’s translation continues to be excellent and conveys the voices of the cast perfectly. I can almost hear the voices of the Japanese cast as I read along; that’s how well the dialogue flows when compared to the original work. Extras for this release are colour pages at the beginning.

Over in Japan, there has recently been a new light novel released called Lycoris Recoil: Gluttony Days, but that isn’t on the English release schedule so far (too new, I assume). But hopefully that will follow in due course.

Overall, Lycoris Recoil: Recovery Days is a fun addition to the universe that offers readers some highly entertaining short stories. It’s a better mix than the first collection, and that makes it a whole lot easier to recommend to fans who might not be as into the franchise as I am. If you want to see more of the LycoReco group’s antics, then this is perfect for you!

Our review copy was supplied by the publisher Yen Press.