Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road
The Executioner and Her Way of Life

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This series of novels is much better than it had any right to be. In spite of problems here and there that would be common in fanfiction, it manages to maintain a consistent cast and an engaging story over all 7 volumes (that I have read so far, more to come). It certainly has some quirks that you need to accept in order to enjoy the story, but then it mostly uses those well, and knows when to move on from them.

The world building

The world is mostly medieval, but with a steampunk flavor. The reason for it is explained right in the pitch: using the ... forbidden art of otherworld summoning, ordinary, modern-days Japanese people are pulled into this world. Over the years, some of their technological knowledge spread and mixed with local magic. Description of this world's technomagic is fun, it feels original and really gives it flavor.

Other than that, clearly the author doesn't develop any detail about this world that isn't useful to the storytelling. It can be a bit disappointing for people who crave large, epic tales in lovingly detailed worlds, but it sure makes the narrative compact and efficient.

Most of the story revolves around one major plot point: when Japanese people (called Lost Ones) are summoned into this world, they're imbued with huge powers that will drive them mad over time. In fact, some parts of the world were utterly destroyed by Lost Ones gone mad… So there are Executioners roaming the world in order to locate and kill any summoned Japanese people, whether they've committed a crime yet or not.

The characters

As the title implies, the main protagonist, called Menou, is an executioner. She's proficient both with a dagger and with spells, in order to contain and kill Lost Ones. But that's not her most important aspect.

You may find her a bit lacking in the personality department at first. Without spoiling anything, there are very good reasons for that, related to the plot and to her past. Let's just say that it's very useful, since it makes her a "social chameleon", in order to get on friendly terms with Lost Ones, get them to talk, identify their forbidden power and devise a way to kill them.

The second protagonist is Akari, a Japanese high school girl. Menou locates her near the beginning of the story, doesn't waste time and proceeds to killing her right away. I'll spoil only what happens at the very beginning: Akari's power is an instinctive ability to rewind time. So when Menou kills her, time immediatly goes backward, leaving Akari alive and unaware of her predicament. So Menou has no choice but to travel with Akari long enough to understand her power and come up with a way to kill her permanently. And protect her in the meantime, against factions that'd love to get their hands on a Lost One's power.

As with Menou, Akari isn't what she seems. You may find her annoying or dumb at first, and she is. She seems to fall in love frighteningly fast with Menou (who doesn't reciprocate) for no good reason, and she does. But once again, there are plot-related reasons for that, and it evolves over times. Understanding Akari's strange personality is actually central to the story.

Over the course of the novel, a few other important characters appear, but the cast remains surprisingly small for such a series; there are never more than 5 or 6 main characters. Some of them are villains, and the author is actually quite good at making them sympathetic… and completely unhinged.

Overall, most characters except Menou are a bit crazy and quirky. Even though the plot goes out of its way to provide justifications, it's a writing style that you'll have to get used to. Some have recurring behaviors that wouldn't be out of place in a twisted or dark comedy slice of life story and that are often played for laughs: one is psychotically obssessed and protective of her boss, another keeps killing herself in gruesome ways which triggers a resurrection spell, and so on.

The plot

It's quite apparent that the author makes things up as they go. Nonetheless, it works. It is a good mix of character-induced drama, political plots, dark mysteries from the past, big combat scenes involving weapons, flashy magic, horrible monsters and too-talkative-for-their-own-good, mustache-twirling villains. Like an old-school James Bond movie turned fantasy.

The first three books are mostly about setting things up. It's never boring, things are always happening, point of view regularly switch between characters, and so on. Most of the time, it's the world explained for Akari's benefit (and ours), or intrigues followed by Menou when Akari isn't looking.

Starting with the fourth book, the plot starts to break what's established to push the story forward. Big reveals keep happening, the statu quo is irreversibly broken and the author always finds new ways to make things exciting. I was extremely pleased that nothing is allowed to go stale.

By the end of book 6, there have been world-shattering changes (figuratively speaking) that make book 7 start in a new setting (but same characters, and same overall plot).

If I had to find a flaw, it'd be how explanations for mysteries or intrigues are delivered. Many times, instead of having the characters find those answers through investigation, reasoning or interrogation, the author takes the lazy way out: either it's a villain monologuing in the middle of the fight, or it's a chapter told from the point of view of a character who knows the truth and tells it straight to the reader.

Is it yuri?

Not an easy question. Sure, almost every significant character is female. Sure, almost from the start you have Akari and Momo who, in different ways, claim to love Menou (who probably uses the facepalm maneuver ten times a day because of it). But remember that Menou doesn't seem to have a personality of her own, and she sees herself as a villain since she kills innocent people for a living. So she doesn't reciprocate anything, even though she clearly sees both women as important to her.

In spite of this, I wouldn't call this yuri-bait, because things start to change (slowly) in later books. But I wouldn't expect a full-on, shoujo-style romance. When Menou and Akari's relationship starts to change, let's say that so far it's more magical than physical. ;)

You have some strange, ill-defined relationships between other characters, starting with Ashuna and Momo (also one involving Manon, one involving Flare…) So if you extend "yuri" to include friendship or rivalry, then yes, you have plenty of those. Some sane, some… not so sane.

So, I originally had Shokei Shoujo no Ikiru Michi sold to me as a "yuri-themed action-adventure" and after completing four volumes, I'm glad I picked up the LN, rather than getting influenced by the anime reviews.

Story - 10/10

Undoubtedly the main strong point of Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road. Although the author does admit in an afterword that they do sort of make up elements related to worldbuilding as they go along, thus far, I've found the events and world factors pretty consistent, though quite bizarre. The way which the adventure of Akari and Menou is told is very good; though following a linear path, it ... is peppered with events from previous points in time, to help (partly) explain the mysteries which get thrown up as things progress. The way that the story is written is so that you get just enough information to form an idea for the bigger picture, but not so much that events become in any way predictable, which I absolutely love. Suspense and tension are definitely the two most used literary devices in this series and if I'm totally honest with myself they're used pretty well (to the extent where at times I was genuinely concerned for the outcome of the protagonists) along with the ever-present prospect of bloodshed and mortal danger...
There are healthy amounts of yuri content, though maybe more platonic than some will be expecting (personally, I think it's the perfect way to go, given that it doesn't throw the story out of balance and reflects the characters' behaviours really well).
In the beginning, I did think Virgin Road would be a tale that looks at the other side of the whole "isekai MC comes to a different world and causes widespread damage/ disruption" scenario and while there are elements of this throughout the story, so far, I'm pleased by how it firmly feels like it revolves around the misadventures of the heroines and their adversaries in this fictional world.

Art - 9/10

Well, it's an LN; there aren't massive amounts of art, but the artworks that are there do their job at helping illustrating the nearby events very well, which I appreciate.

Character - 9/10

I'll not sugar coat it - all of the characters are at least a bit nuts. Pandæmonium and Momo being slightly more than a bit nuts... Flare and Flarette being self-declared villains... You know things are weird when it could be argued that the strength-seeking Princess Knight, whose primary weapon could probably level a city or Akari (a yandere with control over ridiculous levels of power) are the least nutty characters in the world of Virgin Road.
The characters are all nuts, but they are all very entertaining as well, it must be said. Oddly enough, for me, I feel like the main character (Menou) might actually be least entertaining, despite having countless engaging battles, very good combat and operational abilities as well as the interesting psychological background and upbringing. As the English title for LN suggests, Menou does also provide a fair amount of interesting philosophical discussion as well, which is a nice change of pace at times.
Akari brings forth many a mystery and as the story progresses and some impressive character development (depending on how you define development). Akari also contributes quite heavily to the more humorous exchanges throughout the series, which has been great to see.
Ashuna is undoubtedly the character of convenience. Though, to me, she has the best presence of the four heroines, partly owed to her demeanour and partly owed to her combat abilities (the less said about her outfits however, the better, I think, heh)
Momo is without question one of the most unhinged yanderes I've seen in a while. Made all the more worse by her unrestrained anger/ attitude problems. If you've come seeking rage-driven verbal exchanges and fury-driven battles, Momo will certainly keep you very entertained. (She does sometimes calm down and do wholesome things as well, but they're few and far between)

The "antagonists" - yeah; they're towards the more nutty end of the spectrum, though not so crazy as to be easily defeated in battle, fortunately. Maybe with the exception of one, these antagonists do have convincing motivations as well, helping make them more believable (at least in the context of this bizarre world).

Enjoyment - 10/10

The world is bizarre, yet somehow everything feels in-place, given that it's a mashup of your average RPG-type world, our world, and a high-tech, science-fiction realm rolled together as one. It's good, because I feel like it's left the storytelling opportunities very open, allowing for the discussion of familiar concepts and familiar plotlines as well as more abstract concepts and events/ dynamics. Also on the note of world-related writing (going back to my comment on anime reviews); the level of description for both the fictional world and the concepts that it's founded by is very detailed. Some may not enjoy the challenge of trying to understand the abstract concepts and sci-fi elements that get regularly discussed but personally, I love the mental stimulation that's come from trying to wrap my head around them so far. Some may also not enjoy how the yuri content is mostly explored through symbolisms and metaphors throughout the series, some of which are quite nuanced, but personally, after taking the time to fully understand them, I found them really beautiful and adorable. Also, before I forget, the series does also do a pretty good job of progressing across a variety of moods, from light and occasionally silly, to incredibly tense and grim/ bloody; it's not for everyone, but hits the right spots for me.

Overall - 10/10

I came for the yuri action-adventure and stayed because of the impressive world building, the interesting discussions of familiar topics through abstract concepts and metaphoric storytelling, the oddly charming characters and the sheer quality and engaging manner with which the story has been written. It's been a very long time, since I've been able to immerse so thoroughly into a fictional setting and enjoy all that it has to offer.