This book is a lot longer than your usual light novel. As the title suggests, it covers the entirety of the elementary school years for the four protagonists and ends with them about to enter middle school.

This is another “I’ve been reincarnated into the world of an otome game” type of story. I particularly love these as a fan of otome games. They’re usually written by people who seemingly have the same adoration of the genre as me and include lots of little in-jokes for avid players.

The game Mashiro was obsessed with and subsequently reincarnated into was notorious for how difficult it was. There were only two romanceable characters and she was never able to get the good ending for either of them. Well, she wasn’t interested in Sou (blue hair) entirely, so unlike some of the other novels of this trope I’ve read Mashiro doesn’t have much knowledge of the game itself to try and manipulate events. She dies by falling through a manhole while looking at a billboard for the remake of the game. (It’s meant to be tragically comedic haha) Because of the regrets of her former life being wasted, she decides to not focus on romance at all and instead focus on music.

This makes her extremely likable as a protagonist and avatar. She still ends up befriending the game characters, but because the game only took place in high school and it seems to take place in the remake’s world we’re more-or-less on the same ride she is. She has a single-minded determination that leads to some moments where she appears clueless but it’s never to the point where you’re screaming about how dumb she is.

Mashiro is very much aware that she is 18 in her mind even if the body isn’t there. As such, she acts mature for her age and often acts more like a big sister to the two boys, especially Sou, who has the more tragic backstory of the boys. She is also determined to not fall in love with either of them, no matter how lovable they are (even as children they still have the “otome game” flirty lines). In particular, her decisions involving her relationship with Sou are not those of a normal 8 year old.

I’ve talked a lot about Sou, but the other lead, Kou, is also funny. He’s more straightforward and the one that acts more of his age than the others, like teasing the girl he likes or being brash. Kou is the guy she liked in the initial game but her first impression is that while those haughty men might be fun to play, in the real world they come across as jerks, and thus she doesn’t put much stock into anything he says or does.

There is a secondary plot involving the sister of Kou and Mashiro’s friend, Kon. You find out pretty early that Kon has a secret of her own and she knows more about the game’s world and its inhabitants than she’s letting on. Kon’s subplot is very interesting and it’s sprinkled throughout the novel at just the right pace. Kon’s plot points to a darker future for Mashiro and the boys and I can’t wait to get there.

Because this is a trilogy, there won’t be any resolutions to arcs, however, each character does grow through the story, even Mashiro. It’s full of cute moments and the author’s love of classical music shines in her descriptions. This pure love translates to Mashiro and the reader can feel the excitement and passion of the novel’s characters.

There is no traditional romance here and she has scenes with both of the boys at an equal pace. This novel series is unique in that we will have this novel, the sequel covering middle school (7-9 grades), and for high school the reader will pick to either romance Kou or Sou in two different books. This is like a real otome game and I love that it’s being released like that.

Currently, Cross Infinite World is doing a survey on whose to translate first. Both will get translated, but they will not get a simultaneous release. Part of me is miffed about that, but I can see the business perspective behind the choice.

All in all, I enjoyed this immensely and highly recommend it for otome fans.

P.S. Let me know who you ship! I’m leaning more to Sou at the moment because he seems like he has the most room to grow even though Kou is the archetype I like more in otome games.

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?