If you ever had a lot riding on one paper, you can relate to Mia. Chances are, however, that you didn’t believe your research was the one thing that could save your mother.
Set in the mythical Kingdom of Isea, village girl Mia is accepted as a pharmacology student at the national academy. While many of her classmates are content with getting a thesis topic from their instructor, Mia is insistent on doing her own idea and getting money for her research. She can’t do her Grand Plan alone though, and when she reveals she wants to do her research on the plague known as Demon Claw, she finds herself not only isolated but threatened as well. Fortunately, she manages to get three students to join her team: Felix, a law student repeating his first year, Henrik, a blunt but practical medical student, and Felix’s mage friend (and babysitter) Mathias.
Right away, some of you are probably rolling your eyes. Another harem story where everyone is interested in the heroine. Well, first off, Mathias is only in the group because of Felix. Secondly, the story never dissolves into being a fullblown romance. Mia isn’t a complete dunce when it comes to romantic interest, but she is focused on her research goals. She is also concerned Felix has just become attached to her because she helped him during a panic attack. Many main love interests have emotional scars, but we don’t often see an actual condition like PTSD. It’s Henrik who has more of the standoffish qualities typically found in the main hero/heroine, but both are rather supportive of Mia. Felix in particular throws his full weight into fulfilling Mia’s dream, and it’s been a long while since I’ve seen someone be that determined to help, especially in a non-gushy or light love story like this.
Also unlike many current licensed light novels, Mia and the Forbidden Medicine Report is a stand-alone story. It is very much what the title says: Mia and her report, not Mia and her years-long study or career. Perhaps author Yamamoto will write a sequel one day, but for now, the story covers the four students trying to get a grant despite opposition and lack of research materials on Demon Claw.
It’s a bit of a different feeling, as other authors would have spent volumes on Mia and her team narrowing down a topic, pouring over files for clues, creating a proposal, and trying to implement social change. There’s a lot that needs to happen with a mission as ambitious as Mia’s, and it takes a little while for the story to find its groove. The early chapters are a bit heavy on explanation, but medical jargon and whatnot are virtually nonexistent. There is some skipping or shortening of scenes and some perfectly-aligned sets of circumstances. If the story were ever adapted to some other medium, I’d love to see the dramatic moment when Mia finally presents her stubborn professor with a finished Grand Plan or really show the months ticking by. The ending is conclusive enough to be a full story, but there is still plenty of room for the author or even fans to build upon.
Case in point: the steampunk setting. I remember feeling shocked when robotic guards were suddenly mentioned about 40% of the way through so I didn’t get that impression at all when I was reading, although looking back, there are a few easily-missed references to “autobikes” and the like. I just assumed it was a typical fantasy world with some modern conveniences like automobiles. Robots obviously aren’t a huge issue when the subject of the story is about researching human diseases, but if the author was going to have automatons, I wish the story would have done something with them. At the very least, you’d think the major academic facility would have a department where students work on new or improving technology.
Or, you know, it felt pretty unnecessary considering the light novel was rather unique. I mean, not having someone whisked away to a land of magic is already fairly uncommon in the current light novel market, but an average girl whose only special ability is hours of memorizing herbs and treatments? It makes Mia and the Forbidden Medicine Report have a surprising realistic feel to it despite the existence of magic and mages going berserk. It’s rare to not have “beating the demon lord” as the ultimate goal to stop a disease. Plus, the artwork was perfectly placed in the story, and the dialogue felt more natural compared to some other Cross Infinite World works. I believe it’s also shorter than some of their other recent releases, so I’m sure that played a factor.
You may think that a story about writing a report is about as much fun as actually writing a report, but good characters, a deep-seated mystery, and a dash of magic make Mia and the Forbidden Medicine Report a light novel worth reading.