What's It About?

Haruka Yamagishi, a 43-year-old, lonely salaryman without friends, family, or love. Never very good at expressing himself, he's avoided building relationships with people and finds himself a withered old man before his time. Then one day, he wakes up in another world, only to discover he's a dark elf, and a beautiful woman at that! Despite having a body as tough as steel and a vast reserve of magical power, the timid Haruka still goes through life indecisively. Yet she (he) forms a party with fellow adventurers twice her (his) age and steadily adapts to this new world. The middle-aged man who once gave up on bonding with others opens his heart and strives to grow as his new self in another world. So the curtain rises on a twisted but classic story of adventure!

This Alluring Dark Elf Has the Heart of a Middle-Aged Man! has story by Yūhi Shimano and art by NAJI yanagida, with English translation by Kashi Kamitoma. Published by Cross Infinite World (March 31, 2025). Rated T+.

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Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Despite some title similarities and my expectations, there really isn't that much similarity between This Alluring Dark Elf Has the Heart of a Middle-Aged Man! and From Bureaucrat to Villainess. In fact, the similarities are almost entirely cosmetic: both series star a protagonist who was a Japanese businessman reborn in a female body in a fantasy world. But for Haruka Yamagishi, Alluring Dark Elf's main character, there doesn't seem to be much point to the gender swap. Sure, the beginning gets in a few jabs about his buxom new body and there are occasional mentions of how, having been used to the male privilege of safety, he runs into ne'er-do-wells intent of taking advantage of the naïve young elvan beauty. But the only actual reason for his new body seems to be the advantage of an eye-catching title.

That actually makes me a bit sorry that author Yūhi Shimano went that way, because the heart of this isekai novel is strong. Haruka, in his first forty-three years of life, didn't have an easy time of it. A latchkey kid, he knew his parents loved him but never really felt it, and he took solace in fantasy stories of heroes. When he tried, without adult guidance, to apply those tales to his real life, things didn't go well, and eventually he settled into an adult life that was fine but unfulfilling. But now as Haruka the dark elf, he has the chance to actually make those dreams come true. In his new fantasy world, his powerful magic and the more Medieval world (strictly in the D&D sense) means that he can fight monsters, defend the innocent, and be the person he always wanted to be. It heals his weary heart, and it truly doesn't matter that that heart is now in a woman's chest. Dark elf or human, male or female, Haruka is just finally getting to live his best life.

The gender issue isn't the only place Shimano slips up. They tell us that this is their first work, and that explains why there's so much unnecessary world building in the first chapters, rehashing things that any seasoned light novel reader can reasonably infer from both genre and plot. There also isn't much difference between narrative voices, which switch between Haruka's first person and third person, and there's absolutely no reason why a predatory lesbian needed to be included. (Thankfully, she's a very minor character.) But if you can look past the excessive reliance on tropes and audience-pleasing tripe, there's a very nice story in here, one about Haruka getting a true second chance, making friends, and finally getting to live the life they always wanted. It may be a bit boilerplate, but it does it well enough that it can be at least partially overlooked.