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(Tradução em português abaixo da em inglês?

English review (as of 3 volumes)

Have you ever got disappointed with a series that started as a funny and uncommitted one, but then it got serious, disregarding the initial approach, didn’t staying true to its essence?

So let me tell you right away: The Eminence in Shadow is not one of those series. Not even close. And I’ll try to explain why.

The Eminence in Shadow is a comedy, fantasy-isekai and action series written by Daisuke Aizawa and illustrated by Touzai. It was first published as a web novel series in the famous site Shousetsuka ni Narou, and later got licensed ... by a official publisher.

The synopsis is where you already know that this novel is something different. The protagonist, Cid, in Earth, always dreamed of being the final boss or the protagonist, lying low as a side character to only after revealing himself to be the mastermind of all the events that happened. That said, he trained in all sort of martial arts to become the Eminence in Shadow. Unfortunately, his dreams didn’t come true. He mistook the light of a truck with magic, and got hit and died. But he was reborn in another world! In a fantasy world! And now he will strive earnestly to reach his utmost dream.

Got you interested? Probably not. But here we go. Cid wanted to be a mastermind, right? So, he must have an organization, which works in the shadows. And that’s exactly what he does, gathering members around the world and telling them about an evil cult that they need to take down, creating Shadow Garden. But it was a lie. He made all of it with his great imagination. But you know what? Actually, everything he created was real! There is a cult, and there is a threat, but he created everything and gathered a lot of members!

Now, what you think will happen? Cid will fight this evil cult and save the world, losing comrades and everything? No. He just wants to live a life as a side character, and building up the momentum to reveal himself as the mastermind.

This is the beauty of this novel, if you ask me. How Cid, a extremely powerful and overpowered guy, goes with his life and how he hide himself, not revealing his power. In the school, he is your average guy, getting bullied by the princess (he was her dog!); but, at night, he is Shadow. The leader of Shadow Garden, and the most powerful being on the world. He doesn’t just kill everyone; he creates specific scenes to appear “cooler” in front of everyone. For example, to calculate the perfect timing of appearance to save his sister, or to simulate his phrases as Shadow to appear more intimidating. It is fantastic. It is refreshing. It is funny. It is perfect. Not only as Shadow, but as Cid the student too. He created a scene in which he sacrificed himself to safe the President of the Council, calculating the time and even his last phrase! It is amazing!

The girls of The Shadow Garden help the funny atmosphere of the novel by a lot. They have so much confidence in theirs master, Shadow, that they don’t even question him when he does something strange. Someone is attacking the QG and he is not doing anything? He is surely doing something even more important. But he is not! He is just tired! This is a common occurrence in the novel and it is just so much fun and good to read.

Seriously, it is such a great read. I could read 100 volumes and never tires myself. The prose is so fluid and natural that I don’t even see the time passes. The transition between Cid’s chapter, which are in first person, to the other people’s chapters are really smooth and never feel unnatural. Not only Cid’s, but the Shadow Garden’s girls’ chapters were amazing. I love all the girls. All of them who got a bit of development were great.

I will not talk about the plot or worldbuilding because the series doesn’t focus in that. The central focus is really in Cid and how he lives his life as Cid and as Shadow, creating scenes in his mind to employ in the real life to look cooler, and how the other characters, such as the girls of Shadow Garden, the princess, the president, and other ones, react to the impact of Shadow Garden.

As always, I'll put some illustrations here of the light novel. The art is SICK! Touzai must have more recognition!



FINAL THOUGHTS

If you want a good light novel, not too serious, with top-notch humor and an overall great read, you will enjoy The Eminence in Shadow.

Now, if you want a light novel with good plot and worldbuilding, that “is serious” enough and do not leans to the comedy side, I will not recommend this one.



Review em português com deepL


Você já se decepcionou com uma série que começou como engraçada e sem compromisso, mas depois ficou séria, desconsiderando a abordagem inicial, não se manteve fiel à sua essência?
Então, deixe-me dizer-lhe desde já: A Eminência na Sombra não é uma dessas séries. Nem de perto. E vou tentar explicar por quê.

The Eminence in Shadow é uma série de comédia, fantasy-isekai e ação escrita por Daisuke Aizawa e ilustrada por Touzai. Foi publicada pela primeira vez como uma web novel no famoso site Shousetsuka ni Narou, e mais tarde foi licenciada por uma editora oficial.

A sinopse é onde você já sabe que esta novel é algo diferente. O protagonista, Cid, na Terra, sempre sonhou em ser o chefe final ou o protagonista, deitado em baixo como personagem secundário para só depois de se revelar o cérebro de todos os acontecimentos que aconteceram. Dito isto, ele treinou em todos os tipos de artes marciais para se tornar a Eminência na Sombra. Infelizmente, seus sonhos não se tornaram realidade. Ele confundiu a luz de um caminhão com magia, e foi atingido e morreu. Mas ele renasceu em outro mundo! Em um mundo de fantasia! E agora ele se esforçará seriamente para alcançar seu sonho máximo.

Ficou interessado? Provavelmente não. Mas aqui vamos nós. O Cid queria ser um mestre, certo? Então, ele deve ter uma organização, que trabalha nas sombras. E é exatamente isso que ele faz, reunindo membros ao redor do mundo e contando-lhes sobre um culto maligno que eles precisam derrubar, criando o Shadow Garden. Mas era uma mentira. Ele fez tudo isso com sua grande imaginação. Mas sabe de uma coisa? Na verdade, tudo o que ele criou foi real! Existe um culto, e existe uma ameaça, mas ele criou tudo e reuniu muitos membros!

Agora, o que você acha que vai acontecer? O Cid vai lutar contra este culto maligno e salvar o mundo, perdendo companheiros e tudo mais? Não. Ele só quer viver uma vida como um personagem secundário, e construir o ímpeto para revelar-se como o mestre da mente.

Esta é a beleza dessa novel, caso você me pergunte. Como Cid, um cara extremamente poderoso e dominado, vai com sua vida e como ele se esconde, não revelando seu poder. Na escola, ele é um cara comum, sendo intimidado pela princesa (ele era seu cão!); mas, à noite, ele é a Sombra. O líder do Shadow Garden, e o ser mais poderoso do mundo. Ele não apenas mata todo mundo; ele cria cenas específicas para aparecer "mais fresco" na frente de todos. Por exemplo, para calcular o momento perfeito da aparência para salvar sua irmã, ou para simular suas frases como Sombra para parecer mais intimidante. É fantástico. É refrescante. É engraçado. É perfeito. Não apenas como Sombra, mas também como Cid, o estudante. Ele criou uma cena na qual se sacrificou para proteger o Presidente do Conselho, calculando o tempo e até mesmo sua última frase! É incrível!

As meninas de Shadow Garden ajudam muito na atmosfera engraçada da novel. Elas têm tanta confiança no seu mestre, Sombra, que nem sequer o questionam quando ele faz algo estranho. Alguém está atacando o QG e ele não está fazendo nada? Ele certamente está fazendo algo ainda mais importante. Mas ele não está! Ele está apenas cansado! Esta é uma ocorrência comum na novel e é muito divertido e bom de ler.

A sério, é uma leitura tão boa. Eu poderia ler 100 volumes e nunca me canso. A prosa é tão fluida e natural que eu nem vejo o tempo passar. A transição entre os capítulos do Cid, que são em primeira pessoa, para os capítulos das outras pessoas é realmente suave e nunca se sente antinatural. Não só os capítulos do Cid, mas os capítulos das meninas do Shadow Garden foram incríveis. Eu amo todas as meninas. Todas elas que tiveram um pouco de desenvolvimento foram ótimas.

Não vou falar sobre o enredo ou a construção do mundo porque a série não se concentra nisso. O foco central está realmente em Cid e em como ele vive sua vida como Cid e como Sombra, criando cenas em sua mente para empregar na vida real para parecer mais legal, e como as outras personagens, como as meninas de Shadow Garden, a princesa, o presidente e outros, reagem ao impacto do Shadow Garden.

Portanto, pensamentos finais. Se você quiser uma boa light novel, não muito sério, com um humor de primeira e uma ótima leitura em geral, você vai gostar de The Eminence in Shadow.
Agora, se você quiser uma light novel com boa trama e construção do mundo, que "seja sério" o suficiente e não se incline para o lado da comédia, eu não recomendarei este.

Um conto sobre memórias e o sentido da vida

I made it in english too! It is below!

IN ENGLISH

A tale about memories and the meaning of life

I wrote the review in portuguese and I was lazy to translate it to english, so I used Google Translate. Sorry in advance for any gramatical errors!

Children of the Whales is a manga that surprised me in a positive way. I started reading it because of the art and the synopsis. I was in the vibe of looking for some manga that dealt with a “lost civilization”, and the anilist recommended it to me. And, to my surprise, it was ... much more than I was expecting!

Using the synopsis of VIZ, Chakuro is the archivist for the Mud Whale, diligently recording the lives and deaths of his people. As one of the few carriers of timia, he knows that his time is limited and is determined to leave a better track record than his predecessors. But the steady pace of her isolated existence at Mud Whale is abruptly interrupted when a reconnaissance group discovers a mysterious young woman who seems to know more about her home than they do ...

Children of the Whale is a very rich manga! The narrative begins in a recluse way, focusing more on the residents of the mud whale and on how they react to the external and new exteriors surrounding them. And it progressively advances, increasing the scope of the story at the right pace. It is worth mentioning that the storytelling of this manga is very thin! It is narrated by Chakuro, the Mud Whale archivist, so we see almost all events from his perspective, and we still have narrations during the narrative. It's not just visual, as most manga is. The addition of narrations contributed a lot to an even more enriching experience, at least for me. It gave an extra charm to the story, and I think it has become the essence of being a diary. Because the story is simulating Chakuro's records, so it makes sense to have narrations.
The characters are great! Everyone at Mud Whale knew each other, so they had a very good relationship with each other, they were all friends, and this was portrayed splendidly by Abi Umeda! She managed to convey a sense of closeness between everyone, or at least a vivid relationship, with emotions here and there.

I will say something here. The protagonist on the role is Chakuro, but in reality, in my view, the real protagonist is Ouni. Chakuro is more of a storyteller than a protagonist in itself. We followed him around and around, but in the end everything turns Ouni, literally everything.

The world is quite fascinating. The sea of ​​sand replacing the sea of ​​water gives a charm to the work, changing a lot of things. Countries at the edge of the sea have to worry about the issue of rising sea, which is the same in reality. The boats, however, are different. There are no oars, they move by calls called Nous. And this is where I'm going to start talking about the main theme of the manga: emotions.

There are several countries in the world of Sons of Whales, but the Empire, where Lykos comes from, is the most important. Why? The empire has no name. It is a country without a name. It is only as an Empire because it is imperialist, only. The country's inhabitants have no name, called by terms that facilitate militarism. Lykos herself had no name. And third and most importantly, the inhabitants have no emotions. The Nous, to work, ingredients of emotions. It's their food. Then the Empire supplied the emotions of its members, depriving them of it. Lykos suffered from this. And when she is rescued by the inhabitants of the Mud Whale, there is an immense clash of cultures. Imagine a person without emotions meeting several people with different emotions. It is quite a shock, and we see this clearly from the interactions between them.

The more time a person spends away from the Nous, the more emotions come back. So every day that Lykos passes away from the Nous, more of her emotions come back, and she will realize that she doesn't want to go back to the Empire anymore. She finally got a place that she can love and feel happy for, why would she want to run away? And then a narrative follows, with several unforeseen events, many twists and turns, exciting moments and other things.

Another point that the manga touches is about the meaning of life. As the “marked” did not live long, around 30 to 40 years old, they used their time to the maximum to satisfy the unmarked. Be it recording events or defending the Island. And the manga gets really deep at that point.
And finally, another point is about memories. This is linked to the question of emotions, about how strong they are and whether it is worth giving them up, their memories. That's one of Orca's motivations, but it's spoiler, so zip!

There are those who say that prejudice is a strong theme. I agree, but I wouldn't say it's the focus. It is present, very present, but it is an element used for narrative, not something that Abi Umeda focuses on. It is not an 86 of life, but neither is it as tight as Shingeki. It is something interesting, but nothing extremely surprising.

Closing the review then. Children of the Whales is an excellent manga, which touches on delicate subjects, but which performs them splendidly. It has a fascinating worldbuilding, along with charismatic characters that enhance the work. The narrative is great, with good pacing and storytelling stands out. In short, a great manga, which I recommend to everyone!

Children of the Whales é um mangá que me surpreendeu de forma positiva. Comecei a lê-lo por conta da arte e pela sinopse. Estava numa vibe de procurar algum mangá que tratasse sobre uma “civilização perdida”, e o anilist me recomendou isso. E, pra minha surpresa, foi muito mais do que eu estava esperando!

Usando a sinopse da VIZ, Chakuro é o arquivista da Mud Whale, registrando diligentemente as vidas e mortes de seu povo. Como um dos poucos portadores da timia, ele sabe que seu tempo é limitado e está determinado a deixar um histórico melhor do que seus antecessores. Mas o ritmo constante de sua existência isolada na Mud Whale é abruptamente interrompido quando um grupo de reconhecimento descobre uma jovem misteriosa que parece saber mais sobre sua casa do que eles...

Children of the Whales é um mangá riquíssimo! A narrativa começa de forma reclusa, focando mais nos residentes da Mud Whale e em como eles reagem às ameaças externas e às novas circunstâncias os rodeando. E ela progressivamente avança, aumentando o escopo da história no devido ritmo. Vale ressaltar que o storytelling desse mangá é finíssimo! Ele é narrado pelo Chakuro, o arquivista da Mud Whale, então vemos quase todos os eventos pela visão dele, e ainda temos narrações durante a narrativa. Não é apenas visual, como a maioria dos mangás é. A adição de narrações contribuiu e muito para uma experiência ainda mais enriquecedora, pelo menos para mim. Deu um charme a mais pra história, e acho que passou a essência de ser um diário. Até porque a história tá simulando os registros do Chakuro, então faz sentido ter narrações.

Os personagens são ótimos! Todos na Mud Whale se conheciam, então eles tinham uma relação muito boa um com outro, todos eram amigos, e isso foi retratado de forma esplêndida pela Abi Umeda! Ela conseguiu passar uma sensação de proximidade entre todos, ou no mínimo uma relação vívida, com emoções aqui e ali.

Vou dizer uma coisa aqui. O protagonista no papel é o Chakuro, mas na realidade, ao meu ver, o protagonista de verdade é o Ouni. O Chakuro é mais um storyteller do que um protagonista em si. Seguimos ele por ali e por aqui, mas no final tudo revolve ao Ouni, literalmente tudo.

O mundo é bem fascinante. O mar de areia substituindo o mar de água dá um charme pra obra, mudando bastante coisas. Os países à borda do mar têm que se preocupar com a questão da subida do mar, igual na realidade. Os barcos, no entanto, são diferentes. Não há remos, eles se movem por seres chamados Nous. E é aqui que eu vou começar a falar sobre o tema principal do mangá: emoções.

Há diversos países no mundo de Children of the Whales, mas o Império, de onde a Lykos vem, é o mais importante. Por que? O império não tem nome. É um país sem nome. Se referem como Império por ser imperialista, apenas. Os habitantes do país não possuem nome, sendo chamados por termos que facilitam o militarismo. A própria Lykos não tinha nome. E terceiro e mais importante, os habitantes não têm emoções. Os Nous, para funcionarem, necessitam de emoções. É a comida deles. Então o Império fornecia as emoções de seus membros, privando-os disso. Lykos sofreu disso. E quando ela é resgatada pelos habitantes da Mud Whale, há um choque de culturas imenso.
Imagine uma pessoa sem emoções se encontrando com diversas pessoas com diversas emoções. É um choque e tanto, e vemos isso claramente pelas interações entre eles.

Quanto mais tempo uma pessoa passa longe dos Nous, mais as emoções voltam. Então a cada dia que a Lykos passa longe dos Nous, mais emoções dela voltam, e ela vai percebendo que ela não quer voltar mais pro Império. Ela finalmente conseguiu um lugar que ela pode amar e se sentir feliz, por que ela quereria fugir? E aí a narrativa segue, com vários imprevistos, muitas reviravoltas, momentos emocionantes e outras coisas.

Outro ponto que o mangá toca é sobre o sentido da vida. Como os “marcados” não viviam muito, com cerca de 30 a 40 anos, eles usavam de seu tempo ao máximo pra satisfazer os não-marcados. Seja registrar acontecimentos ou defender a Ilha. E o mangá se aprofunda bastante nesse ponto.

E, por último, outro ponto é sobre as memórias. Isso está ligado a questão das emoções, sobre o quão forte elas são e se vale a pena abrir mão delas, das memórias delas. Isso é uma das motivações do Orca, mas é spoiler, então zip!

Há quem diga que o preconceito é um tema forte. Eu concordo, mas não diria que é o foco. Ele tá presente, bem presente, mas é um elemento usado pra narrativa, não algo que a Abi Umeda foca. Não é um 86 da vida, mas também não é algo escrachado como Shingeki. É algo interessante, mas nada extremamente surpreendente.

Fechando a review então. Children of the Whales é um excelente mangá, que toca em assuntos delicados, mas que os executa de maneira esplênida. Possui um worldbuilding fascinante, junto com personagens carismáticos que engrandecem a obra. A narrativa é ótima, com um bom pacing e o storytelling se destaca. Em suma, um ótimo mangá, que recomendo a todos!

O que você quer fazer na sua vida?

Sinto pena de quem dropou Tomozaki. Não falo isso com desprezo nem nada do tipo, mas vi várias pessoas sendo afastadas do anime por conta dos primeiros episódios, e que pena. Que pena mesmo. É uma obra tão incrível que o pessoal acabou deixando passar.

Mas por que eu acho Tomozaki tão incrível?

Vale lembrar que eu li a light novel e posso estar um pouco enviesado, ... mas tentarei me manter no anime.

Primeiro, é bom dar um contexto geral no anime. Basicamente, temos o protagonista, Fumiya Tomozaki, que é o melhor gamer do Japão num jogo chamado Atafami. Ele possuía um rival online, o segundo melhor gamer, chamado NONAME, e, após derrotá-lo várias vezes, eles marcaram de se encontrar na vida real.

Chegando lá, ele descobre que NONAME na verdade é uma mulher chamada Aoi Hinami, que coincidentemente é a garota mais popular da escola do Tomozaki. Ela fica frustrada por ver que o melhor gamer era uma pessoa que desprezava o “jogo da vida” e, após discutirem, a Hinami consegue convencer o Tomozaki de que o “jogo da vida” é um dos melhores jogos existentes, fazendo com que o Tomozaki o experimente.

Em outras palavras, o Tomozaki não gosta da vida social e despreza as pessoas populares, mas a Hinami o fez mudar de ideia. E a partir daqui ele começa a melhorar como pessoa, mudando aparência, modo de falar, postura, sendo guiado pela Hinami.

Essa é a premissa. Uma pessoa solitária, que não possuía vida social ativa, que desprezava pessoas populares, e que agora está tentando virar uma pessoa popular, está tentando aproveitar a vida.

Uma das coisas que mais irritaram as pessoas foi a forma como o anime abordou isso, comparando vida social com jogos. Eu achei ótimo porque realmente faz sentido, mas muitos acharam cringe, e droparam.

Dado isso, a pergunta se repete: por que eu acho Tomozaki é incrível?

Se eu tivesse que dizer apenas uma coisa, seria o quão bem o autor consegue retratar um ambiente escolar. Já vi alguns slice of life escolares, e nenhum me pareceu tão real quanto Tomozaki.

O que me chamou muito a atenção nisso foi análise social que é feita desse ambiente. Relações sociais, hierarquia. O Yaku-sensei tocou em diversos desses pontos, e todos fizeram sentido! Quando eu assisti/li, muita desses pontos eram muito fáceis de ser visualizados na realidade. Eu fazia um “ah, então é por isso que era assim”

Por exemplo, a questão do mood e do que é certo e errado. É algo instintivo, e por isso nunca pensamos. Por que será que, numa escola, gostar de anime é errado? Isso é errado, ou é uma construção social? Será que não é que quem é popular não vê anime, e aí criou-se esse pensamento?

Não precisa ser só anime, pode ser com qualquer coisa. Quem está no topo dita as regras, e quem tá embaixo respeita. E isso no ambiente escolar é tudo, e nunca vi uma obra tocar nisso. Vocês nunca pensaram nisso? Pensem no cara mais popular na escola de vocês. O que ele fala não é quase sempre verdade? Mas será que é verdade? Ou o mood da sala torna aquilo verdade?

Outro exemplo dessa análise é na questão de como conversar. O Tomozaki copiou o estilo do Mizusawa de “provocar” as pessoas para tornar a conversa fluida. E isso funciona pq eu sempre fiz isso kkkkkkkkkkk. Você pega um “problema” que a pessoa tem e brinca com ela sobre. Por exemplo, eu tenho diabetes, então o pessoal me zoava por causa disso. Brincadeira saldável, sem passar dos limites.

No anime, brincavam com a Hinami por ela gostar de queijo, ou com a Mimimi ser “airhead”. Esse tópico em específico é abordado mais pra frente na novel, então pararei por aqui.

Tem várias outras coisas que posso falar, como conversas no zap, redes sociais, aparência, grupinhos e panelinhas, mas já deu pra notar que o aspecto social é absurdamente bem feito e muito bem estudado, então só por isso já vale a pena conferir.
E o que seria do ambiente escolar sem os estudantes, e como cada um se porta?

Aqui é onde, na minha opinião, Tomozaki brilha. Como cada pessoa lida com as circunstâncias da vida? Como da pessoa encara os desafios em sua frente? Como cada pessoa pensa sobre isso? Usarei como exemplo alguns personagens.

Mimimi. Ela tem um arco apenas pra ela, e é nesse arco que eu me apaixonei por Tomozaki. Ela é caracterizada como uma garota brincalhona que era muito fácil de conversar, que não se abalava com nada. Mas não era bem assim...

O conflito interno dela era sobre sempre ser a número 2. É algo bem palpável para muita gente, pois todos somos minimamente competitivos. Todos nós já demos nosso melhor para atingir a liderança, mas nem sempre conseguimos e, pior, nem sempre somos reconhecidos. Mesmo sendo a número 2 em tudo: esportes, atletismo, popularidade, ela quase nunca é lembrada. Sempre lembram da Hinami, mas nunca dela, nunca. Mesmo ela tendo se esforçado. Mesmo ela tendo batalhado para isso. Mesmo ela dando seu máximo. E ninguém lembra. Os holofotes vão para a Hinami.

E não é assim na vida real? Quem lembra do vice-campeão de um torneio? Apenas o campeão é lembrado, por mais que o vice-campeão seja um excelente time também!

E, uma hora, você se cansa. No caso da Mimimi, ela nunca tentou ativamente confrontar a Hinami. Ela estaca tranquila apenas no 2 lugar, mas uma hora não dá mais para segurar. Você vai, ativamente, tentar ganhar a liderança. E foi o que ela fez: ela se candidatou à presidência do Conselho, junto com a Hinami. É uma postura muito corajosa da Mimimi, porque a adversária é a heroína perfeita. E isso não é algo fácil de se fazer. E tem algo a mais além disso. A Mimimi não mostra que está se forçando, muitas vezes chegando ao ponto de exaustão. E tudo isso porque ela queria derrotar a Hinami.

Acabei falando muito da Mimimi, mas ela merece. O Yaku-sensei trabalhou de forma muito madura uma das ansiedades mais presentes nos adolescentes hoje em dia, e eu valorizo muito isso! É muito palpável e compreensível. E a resolução desse conflito é magnífica! Me arrancou algumas lágrimas.

Outra personagem que gosto muito é a Izumi. Ela personifica uma mentalidade muito presente nos adolescentes também: a de que só aceita o que é dito. Sabe quando o pessoal na sala vota por alguma coisa, mas você não concorda. E o que você faz? Apenas aceita e não questiona. É exatamente isso que ocorre. A Izumi é o tipo de pessoa que apenas aceita o que é dito, que é levada pelo mood. Eu sou bem parecido com ela na real. É foda você querer falar que não concorda com algo e não falar por medo de ser julgado pelo mood que permeia o ambiente. Acho que todos, uma vez, já passaram por isso.

Agora, vou falar sobre 3 personagens pra poder exemplificar o título da minha review: O que você quer fazer na sua vida?
Primeiro, Tomozaki. Quem viu o anime, viu como ele mudou absurdamente. O discurso dele contra a Erika é o maior exemplo disso. Ele passou de uma pessoa que odiava o jogo da vida pra alguém que o experimentou e gostou! E a Erika cagou pra isso! Ela personificou a ideia de falar mal de algo que nunca experimentou e negar os esforços das pessoas, e isso enraiveceu o Tomozaki, porque ele é a prova viva de que esforços são capazes de mudança.

Ele mudou seguindo as tarefas passadas pela Hinami. Uma delas em específico mexeu com ele, que era a de namorar a Kikuchi. Ele realmente gostava da Kikuchi? Era isso o que ele queria fazer?

Esses questionamentos vieram do Mizusawa. Ele era um personagem parecido com a Hinami, de ser “perfeito” e sempre conseguir o que queria. Mas houve um problema: ele gostava da Hinami. E ele se declarou pra ele, e foi rejeitado. Mas ele desistiu? Não. Sendo a primeira vez que ele não conseguia algo, ele tomou a decisão de perseguir seu sonho, de ativamente buscar o que ele queria. E isso mudou o pensamento do Tomozaki

Porém, isso ia contra os da Hinami. Ela priorizava o pensamento lógico e racional, não se importando com o sentimento das pessoas. Fazer o que você quer? Pffffffft, pra ela isso não existia. Havia apenas um caminho, que era o caminho de sucesso, racional e lógico.
Eles discutem e bla bla bla, até o final que é quando o Tomozaki fala pra ele que ele vai provar, que você pode ter sucesso na vida buscando o que você, de fato, quer fazer!

E essa é a mensagem que eu tiro de Tomozaki. O que você quer fazer na sua vida? Você quer seguir um caminho que te leve para o sucesso, mesmo negando seus desejos e vontades pessoais? Você quer focar nos seus desejos e não no caminho de sucesso? Você quer tentar ambos?

E é isso. Resumindo, Tomozaki é uma ótima representação do ambiente escolar, sendo extremamente fiel ao que o compõe e retratando de forma madura as consequências disso e em como cada estudante é afetado. Não só isso, é uma ótima história que nos ensina que esforço traz resultado, e que só reclamar na cadeira que a vida é ruim não vai adiantar de nada.

Então, sim, vale a pena ver Tomozaki e recomendo a todos que vejam. De quebra, vocês podem ir ler a light novel também hehe.

Review Wortenia Senki

Have you ever wondered that the protagonists of LNs tend to be too good for their own? If yes, try Wortenia Senki, to see what I would call a ruthless MC.

That’s not to say that the LN is edgy. In fact, it goes way afar from it. But I will develop it further.
Hey guys, nice to meet you all again. This will be the ... review of Wortenia Senki, a light novel written by Ryouta Hori, and illustrated by bob.

Explaining a bit of the premise, Ryoma Mikoshiba, a 16-year high school student, is suddenly summoned to another world. But, in the real world, his grandfather taught him martial arts and things related to politics and military, so he had a good grasp of this things when he was summoned. And then, he simply shook off his summoners, by killing them.

Yes, a 16 years student killed 4 adults. While you may think it was forced, it was not. In fact, it was really reasonable, considering the context. But yes, this the premise. A guy that is not afraid of killing is summoned to another world, and then the story continues.

“But the story will become edgy? The purpose of it is just to give us readers some gore and that’s it?” NO. Absolutely not. It may fool you, but Wortenia Senki is one of the best LNs that has militarism and politics as it main focus. Comparing to the others kingdom building series or war series, the only one I can think of that rivals it is Youjo Senki, but they go to different directions, which is not the interest here.

Wortenia Senki has one hell of a plot. It is heavily focused on militarism, politics and strategies affairs. If I do say myself, it is very detailed and well thought. Ryouta Hori delves on militarism themes, mingling it with politics, and explaining things in a way that show to us readers the consequences or benefits, and not just tell. He just tells sometimes, I’ll be honest, but, in the end, it’s not a big deal.

We get a lot of politics machinations, with what some nobles and commoners want, to a strategic view of a large-scale war, or some skirmish on a forest. We get an ambush on a mountain, and on the other hand a monster attack. Wortenia Senki has all of these things. So, if you want a LN that goes on militatism and politics affairs, you don’t have to read this review, just go read the LN.

However, there are some flaws with the narrator. There were passages, for example, that we entered in the mind of a noble, to understand why he wasn’t obeying the Queen. We comprehend his motives, and the circumstances that he was put in. It wasn’t told to us. It was shown. And it keeps going throughout the volumes. Each time we jump to a different character, to give us insights on different views.

However, it has some flaws, and, depending on the person, it can affect your experience. The narrator is in third person, but it is not the kind of narrator that is a POV. No, he is an omniscient one, in other words, he knows ALL of the feeling of all the characters in view. Which means that the author makes jumps of POVs, which really, really affects your experience. He kind of improved in the later volumes, but in the beginning was really a hassle.

Like, the scene has 3 different characters, with the 3 of them being enemies to each other. And, while they were negotiating, the narrator, first, shows us the inner thoughts of a character, named X. And then, it jumps to the character Y, and, finally, to the character Z. In the end, you lost the grasp of these characters and you don’t know what each one of them was feeling, and that’s bad! Really bad.

As I said, it improves, but never fades, unfortunately.

Strangely enough, the writing is good. Albeit the prose sometimes becomes iffy in the POV’s jump, the technical level of the writing is high. Above average of the LN’s I’ve read, which is not many, but whatever.

About the pacing, we have another problem. The volumes are too small. They have like 50k words per volume, which, for me, is small. For comparison, a Re:Zero volume has 80k words, and 86 has 70k~80k words. So, yes, Wortenia Senki has small volumes. And the problem lies in the pacing. When the narrative starts to gets good, it is abruptly interrupted by the volume. Many times, there was stops like that, which broke the pacing. If the volumes were larger, like, 2 volumes in 1, it would be sooooo much good.

That’s down to preferences, for sure, but it was a bad thing imo.

Ah, let’s talk about characters. Ah, the characters.

Here we have two problems. A lack of characterization. And a lot of unnecessary POVs.
I felt that, while reading, that the characters didn’t differ that much. We have a lot of characters that are nobles, which means having the same interest. We have the warrior’s faithful types. It’s more that the author used the tropes and didn’t develop them.

The Malfist sisters. Damn. If you asked me to differ those two, I wouldn’t be able to. They are twins, yes, but they don’t have a unique trait. They are the same. And they don’t have motivations, just the passion for Ryoma. Nothing else. The background of these two exists, but is nearly irrelevant. They don’t talk about it. They just exist, nothing else. And that truly annoys me, because they had potential!

Well, on the other hand, we have Ryoma, which has a strong characterization and one of the main reasons why I enjoyed Wortenia. He is a bit of a Gary Stu, but he is such an enjoyable character. And his thoughts are really well defined, so all of his decision are reasonable. He is ruthless when the time calls. Not evil, not good. Anti-hero. Ryoma is really enjoyable haha, and he is not averse to sex and these things too!

So, the characters are not a strong point in Wortenia. So, if you want good characters, Wortenia maybe is not for you, but you could check it regardless.

The worldbuilding is good enough to sustain the plot. Since we have a lot of politics, it is necessary a good worldbuilding to give base to it, and Wortenia has it. So, no problems here.

There’s in fact a good thing about it. Wortenia Senki uses well the isekai genre. It is not a singular world. It is not detached from reality. It has meaning. Anything beyond that is spoiler, so I’ll refrain myself, but keep in mind that the world of Wortenia Senki is not a detached world.

I think I already talked a bit about Wortenia Senki. So here are my final thoughts, if you are still wavering.

If you want a LN that focuses on military and political affairs, rather than the inner conflicts of characters, or an awesome worldbuilding, Wortenia Senki is a good fit for you.

If you want a LN that focuses on inner conflicts of the characters, or an awesome worldbuilding, Wortenia Senki is not a good fit for you.

However, even if you want a LN with good characterizations, I think Wortenia Senki is worth a try. Mostly because of the politics and militarism in it, since it is a rare theme on LNs and mangas.

A refreshing, wonderful and entertaining light novel.
For all of you who are fed up of fantasy or school’s setting, give a try to this novel!

Ok, for starters. I found this light novel for pure chance almost a year ago. I was starting to read light novels, and the theme sure piqued my interest instantaneously: spy girls. Just that was enough to buy me. And, wow, I never expected it to be that good. I literally love all the things, from the characters to the prose.

So, what is Spy Room? To give you a quick summary, seven girls were reunited to form a special team of ... spies, and the objective of this group was to conclude an Impassable Mission, in other words, a mission with 99% chance of failure. And the interesting thing is that all of the girls were close to drop out of their institutional facilities. So how are they going to conclude this mission? And then the story goes.

Got interested? If yes, you can go immediately and read, or you can read my review, which I will just talk about things I like, WITHOUT spoilers. You can rest assured.

Why do I like this series?

First, it would be, obviously, the theme/setting. Spies. I love spies. I love 007, and Cold War. Oh man, I really loved studying Cold War, with all the spies, the devices and strategies. And so, after entering in the anime world, wondered: where are the spies animes/mangas/LNs? I just watched Princess Principal (go watch, an amazing anime). After this, I read Spy x Family, but it was just comedy; not actual espionage. And then I came across Spy Room. Summing up, it was love at first sight.

And then I read. And holy crap, the volume 1 was AWESOME. Incredibly well-written, with loveable characters and an insane storytelling, which contributed directly with the plot. Do you know, when you read something, that the author may has been diverting your attention? It is in the same level. It was deliberate, and it was incredible seeing the structure crumbling apart as you read more and more. Truly amazing! It has, probably, one of the most amazing plot twists I have ever seen!

After vol 1, vol 2 and 3 were equally amazing. And vol 4 ended the first season of Spy Room with an awesome volume.

Now, talking about things more specifically.

Continuing about the theme, it is espionage. And, for me, the best work of espionage I have ever seen on a Japanese media. I have yet to read a few more of it, but Spy Room sure is amazing.

It delves on devices and themes spies face, such as friendship or resolution with the mission. No only that, it shows us the steps of espionage, that is gathering intel, gathering information about everything, and then strike.

Not gonna lie, it has a bit of shonen present there. The girls have “powers”, which doesn’t exist in the real world. But it does not affect the plot significatively. They are not Deus Ex-Machina, so I don’t see a problem. On the contrary, it is really amazing how each one of them uses their power.

Now, since we are talking about them, let’s talk about characters.

Oh man, I love the girls from Spy Room. Each one of them. Sure, I have my preferences, but all of them are really loveable and entertaining to read.

And not only that, they are well-written. Each one of them has their own struggles and inner conflicts, and Takemachi develops them in a really good way. I was surprised to see Tia’s development, for example. I didn’t expect that!

And it goes on. All of them will get their development, in one way or another. My favourite is Tia. Oh man I so fucking love her. But I love all the others. Annette and Elna are sooooo cute.

Ok, enough of characters. Let’s talk about worldbuilding.

Honestly speaking, I found it a bit lacking. It is not bad by all means, but I think that we needed a bit more of geographic context to understand better the world and the threats. Albeit we do have a good explanation on the Empire, the rest of the world are a bit too vague in my opinion.

On the other hand, the description of the Republic of Deen is good. And when there is the comparison between it and The Federal State of Musaia, we see that it was really well-done.

Not only the descriptions were accurately and distinctive, the reaction of the characters posed a really heavy weight on it. For a quick example, they didn’t know what was a metro haha.

The last thing is the prose, storytelling and these kinds of things.

I would be lying if I said that it is not one the charms of this light novel. The prose was somewhat nice, not that great nor something to ramble a lot about it, but I will have to talk about the storytelling.

When something has a really good storytelling, you will know. It is not something that can pass unseen. And that is what happened with Spy Room.

The structure of Spy Room is amazing. I already talked about it a bit ago, but volume 1 was incredible, largely thanks to the storytelling. It dictated the pacing and understanding of the story, and when you finish, you will be “Oh, so that’s what it was about.”, and something “click” on your head. So you go check if you didn’t miss something, and you definitely missed, but is passed unnoticed. And that’s the time when you realize how good it was. Can’t talk too much because it is a huge spoiler, but go read it :)

Volume 4, too, had an insane structure. Vols 2 and 3 were not that remarkable, but they used the structure/storytelling on a different way, which is obviously a spoiler, so no comment.

Ops, sorry, forgot something. The illustrations! This is pretty important for light novels, so I will put some here, and be surprised, Tomari has a great art, that fits really well with Spy Room!

And that’s it! I think I already talked a bit too much, as always. So, final thoughts!!
If you want a refreshing and enjoyable light novel, with a light read and good content, Spy Room is perfect for you! The characters are great, the pacing is good, the plot and storytelling are amazing, and the theme is what really shines!

Torture Princess

It’s time for a story.
It’s the story of a boy who was brutally killed by another, and a story of a monster who cruelly killed others.
Or perhaps it’s a story of a child who was abandoned by his parents, and a hero who was abandoned by the world.
Either way, it’s a story of admiration and folly.
It’s a story of love, but not a story of romance.
Someday, it will likely be remembered as a tale from long, long ago.
A horrible, tragic little anecdote.
One that was far too twisted to pass off as a fairy tale.
...

I assume that everyone who are reading this review have read a lot of books or mangas, so I will ask you all a question: When you finished a book, or an arc, have you ever felt a feeling of fullness? Not the normal feeling that you feel when you finish something and become sad that there are no more chapters to read. I’m talking about the feeling when you can say with 100% that the story impacted you and changed your perception on some things, or that you can feel a real end to the fictional word. Just like Lord of the Rings, for example.

When I finished vol 6 of Torture Princess (which are the latest one released in English), I felt this way. I can’t even start to describe how I have felt when I finished it. A sensation of fullness assailed me. I was sad, happy, mad, pleased, amazed, destroyed, shattered, full. Full. This is the word. It was just a perfect ending for the arc, so well-thought, so befitting with the setting, the storytelling, the journey, the narrative, all of things. It fit so well that I can’t really complain about anything.
So, since probably no one have read this volume, or even the vol 1 of Torture Princess, I will stop to talk about it and focus on the review. Just for curiosity, I will make a first section with a non-spoiler review, and then a review with spoilers, where I will go into details on the things.

NON-SPOILER REVIEW

Torture Princess is a light novel written by Keishi Ayasato and illustrated by Ukai Saki. Giving you all an insight in what is this light novel: after living 17 years foi constant abuse and pain by his father, Kaito dies and was summoned to another world by none other than Torture Princess, a peerless sinner. She was slated by the Church to slay the 14 demons that haunt the world, and she ordered him to serve her and assist her in this journey.”

I’ll be honest, when I first came upon this light novel, I was more attracted by the cover, which was dazzling, than the synopsis, but let me tell right away: don’t think like this! The cover is dazzling, sure, but the text was even more amazing, I can assure you. But why it was amazing? Heh, I will tell you, and when you finish this review, you will want to read this!

Before talking about the points, I have to make a statement. Torture Princess is a isekai, but not your typical isekai. It does not have your common storytelling and common worldbuilding, they are totally different. It is the perfect use of a isekai. It was just a mechanism to bring Kaito to Elisabeth, nothing more. Just a guy, who was killed without commiting any sin, trying to live in another world. It gives a Subaru’s vibe, but not quite it. I will try to explain it further.
So, what will make you, who are reading this review, develop a will to read this light novel?

• Worldbuilding/setting

First thing, the setting/worldbuilding. Keishi Ayasato creates a unique and distinctive world, with its own rules and beings. In this world, which is a medieval setting, the magic is obtained by inflicting pain on others. What do I mean? If you hurt someone, your magic powers increase. Alongside this system of magic, which is really creative, the world is infested by 14 demons. And you know what they do, riiiiight?
They commit massacres, slaughters, killings sprees, and all this kind of things. It is truly horrific. And the good (depends on what you think it is good) thing is that Keishi Ayasato focus on describing these scenes, to give you, reader, a sense of what is happening. I’ll put a quote of what I’m talking about:

These descriptions are not uncommon, so I advise you to not read it, if you don’t like this kind of grotesque descriptions. And I can say that they really enhance your experiences. Every time Kaito and Elisabeth (the two protagonists, I’ll talk about them later) went to a place and saw the massacres, every time the descriptions were different but equally grotesque, creepy, disgusting, dark and real. They were real. It was not some edgy quote just to made the work look dark. These descriptions enhance your perception and gave life to the scene, so you would comprehend what was happening and to make sure that the demons were demons.
There are some other aspects of worldbuilding. Since there are demons, there are God and Diablo, and they were real in this world. They existed and have specific rules to each of them. I can’t talk too much because it is a spoiler, but they have key roles in the story, so if you are interested, go read it!
Another thing are the races. In this world, there are the beastfolk and the demi-humans. But let me tell you: it is not what you imagine. When they appeared, I was really surprised, and what they did in the volumes was truly amazing. Each race had a distinctive role, and they played it well. Can’t talk more, sorry!
Oh man, this non-spoiler review is really annoying me, I want to talk about a lot of things aaaaaaaaaa.
So, last warning before the characters/plot. It is a dark fantasy, a really dark story, so if you don’t feel good with this kind of scenes, I advise you to not read it. It is truly dark haha.

• Characters/plot

I wanted to split this part into characters and plot, but, since Torture Princess is a character-driven story, I can’t see why. So, let’s talk about characters, and with them I’ll talk a bit about the plot, without spoiling, of course!

First, Kaito Sena. Our protagonist. He lived in our world, but died by the hands of his own father, after 17 years of constant abuse, just to be summoned by the Torture Princess, to live a second life. Well, you can tell that he doesn’t want to live in the start, it is obviously painful to see him just wanting to die after a live of abuse.

But things start to happen, and he, slowly, starts to change. He starts to develop a feeling that he can live in this world with a happiness inside him. A person that him admires. A person that he loves. People that he doesn’t want do die. And it goes like this. It is a complete journey, one that made me tear a lot, and it is really difficult to make me tear.
It was a complete story, one that I can boast to be a masterpiece. The development of Kaito is natural, you understand why he is doing this and that, and you agree with him! It is the kind of story that you are really cheering the character. Oh man, I just want him to be happy! Something along these lines.

And seeing him starting to change, to develop good feeling toward other, improving as a person and finally deciding what he wants to do is a truly, truly magnificent experience. Kaito became one of my favorite characters of all times.

Second, Elisabeth Le Fanu. The Torture Princess, the proud wolf and the lowly sow. She is indescribable. Such an amazing character. Extremely well-written. She was a common child, but one day she slaughtered her fiefdom. Torturing people, massacring people, killing people: harnessing their pain. And, after annihilate her fiefdom, she boasted immense power and became the Torture Princess, a woman who was on par with the demons. After that, she was imprisoned by the Church and was slated to slay the 14 demons, and after that she was to be put in the stake.

The curious thing, in the start, is that she accepted it fully-hearted. She didn’t question this decision. She burdened all the sins she committed, all the hatred of the world, and didn’t complain. She would fight alone, if not for Kaito. She was alone, and she would be forever. She became the Torture Princess, and she would die in the name of humanity. And I think that you already have a general ideia on what the plot will head. I’ll stop here, but let me tell you that it will completely blow your mind.

To illustrate her, I think this quote defines how people perceive her:
“You tortured the entire population of your fiefdom! You dismembered their bodies, ripped out their still-beating hearts, stitched every orifice in their bodies shut, carved into their bones, melted their flesh, gouged out their eyes, severed their tongues, and when you ran out of ideas, you killed parents and children, the elderly, and men and women alike! In the end, your sins reached even the nobles! Torture Princess! Elisabeth Le Fanu! Who would believe anything that came out of your filthy mouth?!”

She is an anti-hero, and what a anti-hero she is! An anti-hero, normally, is a complex character, with a lot of layers to work and develop. And with Elisabeth, it is just like that. I already gave you a general idea in the pre-previous paragraph, but rephrasing it in an easier way: she is not evil. If you get the previous quote, you might say: she is undoubtedly evil. But the story progresses, and you see her interacting with Kaito, and you get to learn more about her, you are unable to not love her. She is a woman, a fine woman, which burden the hatred of the world, but, even so, she is focused on her task. She is probably one of my favourite female characters of all times. A complex character, an enjoyable character, a character that you feel sympathy toward her and start to loves her. Oh man, I could go hours and hours talking about Elisabeth, she has so many aspects and layers to talk, but unfortunately, I can’t, due to spoilers. Well, if you are interested, I’ll make another review with spoilers, and there I’ll talk about Elisabeth and Kaito, and a lot of other things.

The relationship between Kaito and Elisabeth is amazing. It was developed in a perfect way, and I really, really enjoy it sooo much. I’ll cut to the chase: there is not romance between them. And this is a good thing. The feeling that Kaito has for Elisabeth surpasses that of romance, it is a pure and genuine feeling, one that it is not easy to have. Well, I am repeating myself, I’ll stop here hahaha.

The other major character is Hina. Differently than Elisabeth, HIna is a cheerful girl who lightens the mood. Almost all of the comedy comes for her. And she is such a enjoyable character. She is not that well-written than those two, I’ll be honest, but she is great, cute, lovely, adorable, fierce and all the kind of objectives. She plays a major role in Kaito development, and I found it truly lovely. Well, can’t talk, stop, aaaaaaa.

There are other great characters, such as Izabella Vicker, which was reaaaaally well-written, and Jeanne de Rais, which, too, was well-written. But I can’t talk about them because it is spoiler terrain, but the relationship between these two are wonderful. Izabella is a great character, and Jeanne development is amazing! Oh man, I really love these two and how they interact with each other.

Another great one is Vlad. Oh man, Vlad is a really nice character. He is your typical mad character, one who you can’t comprehend his actions based solely on madness. But he is enjoyable. He plays a key role in the story, which I am not going to talk about it, but keep in mind: he is a important existence to Elisabeth.
So, talking in general, the characters in Torture Princess are all well-written. Each one of them gets a bit of development, and you almost sympathize with them all. It is disturbing how all of them have good motivations to do what they do.

• Prose

In my previous review of Kumo Desu Ga, Nani Ka?, I didn’t make a prose section because I didn’t found it that great to make a specific one. But in Torture Princess, holy crap, the prose is amazing.

The quality of a prose is really subjective, it is not a certain thing, so don’t sweat if you disagree with me. A good prose, for me, is the one that sparkle your eyes. It is the writing that you feel delighted to read, you feel amazed by the quality of it. I am thinking of Tolkien here, you know? Something that you read and can say for sure; “Crap, this is amazing.” And I got the same feeling with the writing of Keishi Ayasato.

What another method than show quotes to illustrate the prose? I’ll put here some quotes that I found really nice and that sparkled my eyes.
First, the descriptions of the massacres. I really loved how Keishi Ayasato portrayed the insanity and cruelty of the demons. It became really clear to me that they were the personified evil. The detailed massacred, the detailed defiled corpses, the detailed environment, all of these were present and it was one of the things that make Torture Princess what it is.

“You tortured the entire population of your fiefdom! You dismembered their bodies, ripped out their still-beating hearts, stitched every orifice in their bodies shut, carved into their bones, melted their flesh, gouged out their eyes, severed their tongues, and when you ran out of ideas, you killed parents and children, the elderly, and men and women alike! In the end, your sins reached even the nobles! Torture Princess! Elisabeth Le Fanu! Who would believe anything that came out of your filthy mouth?!”

“There were men and women, young and old, their bodies mutilated and cast aside. Their hands and feet had been twisted off like those of broken dolls, their chests ripped open, their limbs torn off. Eyes, ears, teeth, and tongues were all missing.”

“There was a man whose top half was fully carbonized. An old woman with not only her head but her entire spine ripped out. A woman with her breasts cut off. A young boy whose face had been torn clean off. A half-dead child with their arms severed who had likely been trying to crawl away.
None of them retained so much as a shred of human dignity. All their deaths were gruesome. Unlike the beast, their corpses were comprehendible. That was precisely why the spectacle was so horrific, why the cruelty of it sank into one’s brain. The urge to retch welled up in Kaito’s throat before he finally managed to swallow it down.
There was no mistaking it. This was Hell.
This was a place filled with the worst things one could imagine.”

“In the dining hall, people covered in the Governor’s spices were eating one another, all of them on the verge of death. The kitchen featured a man afflicted by poison, dead after cutting open his own chest and slurping at his innards in search of food. Down in the dungeon, a young mother had committed suicide after leaving a note detailing how she’d eaten her own baby. A young girl was slumped over a couch, her organs shredded after she’d eaten pastries filled with nails. And the courtyard’s pool was filled with the bodies of children who had drowned in a sea of cake and suffocated.”

"What had been particularly horrific was the state of the small theater designed for the children of wealthy merchants to hold singing recitals at. The Church had invested in the construction of the building—and as a result, had been able to place restrictions on what could be performed there—which boasted a grand design. Its delicate stained-glass windows cast vivid lights onto the stage. When the ----- had burst through the wall behind the boys and girls lined up on the stage, it had devoured them from the waists down and merged all their brains and organs together.
They’d been transformed into blasphemous, repulsive objets d’art, completely unrecognizable as human. Heightening the horror of the scene was a statue of the bloody tear–shedding Saint hanging from the domed ceiling, symbolically watching over them.
Each time they were cut, the children cried out, occasionally lending their youthful voices to cherubic, haphazard songs."

I think you already got what I was talking about. These descriptions are common in Torture Princess, and I really appreciate it. I already saw people saying that they are too “edgy”, but I don’t think so. It would be edgy if it didn’t have a meaning, but in Torture Princess it has meaning. It goes as I have said, if gives life to the massacres and make you understand the magic system.
Another good thing of the prose is the quotes of Elisabeth. She has a distinctive way of speaking, which is a bit archaic, and she is really aggressive. So here are some quotes of her. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of that many, even in my reread, so I apologize for that.

“O Sinless Soul, stricken down in a manner most foul. From this day forth, you shall be my loyal servant. I am the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu. I am the proud wolf and the lowly sow.”

“Despots are killed, tyrants are hung, and slaughterers are slaughtered. Such is the way of the world. The demise of torturers should be garnished with their own screams as they sink to Hell with no chance for salvation. Only at such a time is a torturer’s life truly complete. Yet, you tortured, not understanding that in the slightest? You embarrass yourself, ----.”

“You and I—we are fated to die, forsaken by all of creation.”

“I had no right to take the light of a single person in this world. Every person I killed led a vigorous life, a life they had every right to carry out as they pleased. They were innocent, and I murdered them. I killed them cruelly, gruesomely, mercilessly, and unreasonably. ’Tis as you say, Marianne. Not even my death will be punishment enough. I became the Torture Princess with full knowledge of what that entailed.”

“I am the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu. I have tortured and killed more than any other, been captured by the Church, and been tasked with slaying fourteen demons. And once I’ve executed them all, I myself will be put to the stake. I have harmed, oppressed, and killed mercilessly, brutally, and arrogantly. And now the feast and feaster have switched places. Mankind has the right to use me up and slay me as they please. That is what I decided.”

“A single young woman stood before them.
She was beautiful and wore a provocative bondage outfit. Her appearance was like the coming of a messiah or perhaps a tyrant, and her lustrous black hair and dress with scarlet-dyed interior fluttered in the wind.
Her chest was concealed by thin leather straps but was otherwise practically bare. Her erotic attire was a far cry from that of the Suffering Saint from the people’s faith. However, the beauty and solemnity of the person who had arrived in that hell made it impossible to imagine her as anything but a hallowed figure.
Hearing the people’s supplicating voices, though, the woman scowled.
“And just who do you think you’re calling a saint? Hold your tongue if you’re going to refer to me in such a repugnant manner!”

I could keep going on and on with quotes of Elisabeth or about her, but I think you already get it. The prose is really good when dealing with her, it is very pleasing. Another thing that I really like is the presence of the narrator in third person. In most of the light novel, the narrator is in first person, which is good in a way that you become intimate with the character in question; but on the other hand, you lose the quality, versatility and usefulness of the third person. And Torture Princess, which is in third person, uses really well it, giving quotes that illustrate really well Kaito’s mind, Elisabeth’s behaviour, world’s affairs, Hina’s love, and so on. To illustrate it, more quotes (I don’t know if you are liking it, you can skip this part if you want to. It is just for illustrations of my point):

“Loathsome Elisabeth, repulsive Elisabeth, cruel, hideous Elisabeth!
A curse upon you, a curse upon you, a curse, a curse, an eternal curse upon you, Elisabeth!”

“What would happen if you tied someone’s limbs together with barbed wire and then pulled on them until they reached their limit?
What would happen if you stuck tentacles into someone’s abdomen while they were still alive and then churned them around?
What would happen if you squeezed someone’s body until their bones broke and they vomited up all their organs?
Within that building, all those questions had been thoroughly answered.”

“There stood a fierce Valkyrie, a being who defied all logic.
Her wedding dress stained a deep red, the bride was holding her executioner’s ax at the ready.”

“Harboring hope is worthless. Trust only in despair—and fight back against it, so that you may find a chance to destroy it.”

“The most effective method by which to unite people is to give them a common enemy. The Torture Princess has slain far too many. Burning her at the stake should prove a fitting symbol.”

“And my nightmare is finally over as well”.
And then, with the time she had left to her,
the Torture Princess wove a gentle lullaby.”

“A town had died, and the Torture Princess had been born.
It was like a cruel, twisted fairy tale.

And yet at the same time, it was the bitter truth.
As proof of that, Elisabeth was currently visiting that place.”

“Within it, something was sleeping.
Whatever it was, human vocabulary was ill equipped to describe it.”

“Flocks of sheep were, fundamentally, stupid. And that was the way things ought to be.”

“There exist shepherds who would gladly cast themselves into the fire just to catch a glimpse of a miracle. And most of their sheep will blindly follow after them. Only when the situation becomes irreparable will the people first cry out. How did things get to this point? they will say, one and all.”

“All someone had to do was possess incredible power, and others would instinctively show them deference, fear, and respect. Even if the end of the world hadn’t been nigh, the number of people following that person would probably be above zero. They would be like demon worshippers, true, but demon worshippers had existed for countless ages, after all.”

“The things responded with laughter. (And they were screaming, too.)
The things sang a song. (And they were silent, too.)
The things composed a prayer. (And they were jeering, too.)
The things wept loudly. (And they were laughing, too.)
The things responded with laugh ( too.)
The things ( ?)
The ( !)”

Ok, I will stop. I think you already get it, and if you read all of the quotes, congratulations! Hahaha
Last thing, the torture devices. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of the names of the torture devices, so I will not quote it here. But Elisabeth summon a lot of torture devices and is really intriguing seeing them in action.

• Plot

I already spoke about it, but the plot is centered on Kaito and Elisabeth. It has a external plot, a great one actually, but the focus is on Kaito and Elisabeth. So, I’m not going to talk anything. Just bear in mind two things: one, it has a McGuffin. If you don’t know what this term means, go search it. And second, it has a marvelous foreshadowing. So yeah, it is just this that I wanted to talk.

• Art
When we talk about light novel, the illustrations really attract a lot of attention and potential new readers. And Torture Princess has a astounding art, the best art that I’ve ever seen in a light novel. Can't put some illustrations here, but if you go to anilist, i have a review there with illustrations!


• Language

You already saw on the many quotes. Torture Princess has a fairly difficult language, with a lot of metaphors, adjectives and descriptions. I’m a Brazilian, and I struggled a bit in the beginning, even with my good English, so if a Brazilian or another person who isn’t a native English, bear in mind that it is a bit difficult.

• Own experience

What can I say? I love this light novel! It became on of my favorite, almost surpassing Re:Zero (which is my favorite). She is firmly my solid top 2. Elisabeth and Kaito became two of my favorite characters, and I really love all of the other characters. I love all of the things about this light novel. I really can’t think of a negative thing, really!

• Read it or not?

Well, what can I say? Yes, read it, 100% YES. It is a masterpiece of storytelling and character development, along with an awesome worldbuilding and awesome prose. It is a dark fantasy, and it does really well the “dark” thing. So, if you want a good story, a original and intriguing story, with good characters and good storytelling, Torture Princess is the light novel for you!
I have to make a statement though. I already said that, but if you don’t like the grotesque descriptions, I highly recommend you don’t read it. It goes into details on corpses, deaths, slaughters, massacres and desecration.
So, this was my review. I found it a bit big, I’ll be honest, but I hope you enjoyed reading it. I will write another one, but this will have spoilers, so I’ll be able to talk more freely about some things. So, if you read this one and are curious, go read it and then read my spoiler review! To finish my review, the best quote of Torture Princess for me, which is in the beginning also:

It’s time for a story.
It’s the story of a boy who was brutally killed by another, and a story of a monster who cruelly killed others.
Or perhaps it’s a story of a child who was abandoned by his parents, and a hero who was abandoned by the world.
Either way, it’s a story of admiration and folly.
It’s a story of love, but not a story of romance.
Someday, it will likely be remembered as a tale from long, long ago.
A horrible, tragic little anecdote.
One that was far too twisted to pass off as a fairy tale.

Kumo Desu Ga, Nani Ka ( So I’m a Spider, So What? )
“Don’t judge a book by its cover!”

Well, I think everyone once looked to a book and said “What a lame cover/premisse, there is no way this book is good.” And I confirm it, I already did it once, but regreted when I ... actually read the book ( it was a manga actually, Oyasumi Punpun for the curious ). So, after learning the lesson, I never judged a book by its cover, and then, when I came across Kumo Desu Ga, Nani Ka, I thought “Hm, an isekai when the girl reincarnates as a spider? Unusual, I’ll give a try.” At the time, I would never thought that this novel would completely obliterate my expectations and become one of my favourites.
Kumo Desu Ga is a light novel written by Okina Baba and illustrated by Tsukasa Kiryuu. The synopsis is: “When a explosion occurs on a Japanase classroom, one of the high schoolers reincarnates as a spider on the most dangerous and bigger dungeon on the alternative world, the Great Elroe Labyrinth. Thus begins a little spider's journey of clawing, biting, and plotting her way to the top. Forced to confront the powerful beings that reign over the Great Elroe Labyrinth and beyond, she will gradually uncover the truth behind the mysterious fantasy world and the explosion that sent her there.
So yeah, this is the synopsis and, albeit it does not look that compelling, since the MC is a spider and all, but I can say for sure that it is a lot better than you think.
I’ll split my review and sections, and then I’ll talk about each of them. I will maybe break and talk about a section in another section, but I’ll try to focus on the respective section. I read 10 volumes of the LN, just to everybody know. This review is spoiler-free, so rest assured to read. I just comment some things indirectly, so don't worry that it won't ruin your experience.

• Plot , storytelling and narration

First things first, I think everybody, when wondering if it is worth to read a book, thinks of the plot, especially when the book in question is fantasy. And, man, Kumo Desu Ga has a huge and wonderful plot, enhanced by the storytelling. What I mean by this? Plot is what happens, while storytelling is the way the plot is told to us, readers. That’s the reason that most novels are better than others. Some can have better plots, but the storytelling plays a huge role on the quality of it. Ok, I’m not here to talk about this, so let’s focus on Kumo Desu Ga.
The plot of Kumo Desu is wide, huge, unpredictable and much deeper that I though. I mean, when I saw that the novel is an isekai with a spider, I didn’t expect to have a huge plot. I was expecting something akin to a surviving history and maybe somethins else, but it sure blew my expectations. I am not gonna spoil anyone, so rest assured, but I can say that it is the closest to be a desconstruction of the isekai genre. I mean, Re:Zero and Torture Princess are more different from most isekais, but they focus more on the fantasy world than the classic isekai tropes. Kumo Desu does not only that, but includes the fantasy genre to make something else. For the curious ones that don’t mind spoilers, you can check vol 7 and vol 9 to know what I’m talking about, albeit I recommend you to read all of the series before searching for spoilers. Especially in vol 9, when I gave 10 to the series. Maaaaaaaaaan, this is not what apparently is! That’s all I can tell for you without spoiling.
Well, I think for the plot this is what I can tell, but, for me, the storytelling plays a major role in the novel. The first phase of the novel consists in Kumoko trying to survive in the dungeon and leveling up, getting strong to fight tougher enemies. And this is really compelling! The system of skills, which is the basis of this world,, is one of the things that keep me hooked. Wanting to know what will happen when certains skill level up is really nice and addictive! And the evolutions is another thing. When certains creature reaches a level, they can evolve, and this got me hooked too.
The change of POVs is reallt good and enhances your understanding of the world. On one hand, you have Kumoko and her jouney of surviving in the dungeon. On the other hand, you have Schun living in the royal surroundings. These two POVs complements each other and enhances the novel, for me. And it is not limited to these two. The POVs reaches almost all of the main and secondary characters. I’ll talk more about it in the Characters section.
And, lastly, the narration. Kumo Desu has a 1 person narration and, albeit I usually don’t like it too much, here is it perfectly done! What I mean? Well, for starters, it didn’t focus on one characters. 1 person narration is usually done to close the space between the reader and the characters, so you usually focus the book almost entirely on the main characters. But here in Kumo Desu there is no such a thing. The POVs changes every chapter and focus on different characters, and this didn’t affect Kumoko, our protagonist. On the contrary, we have different positions about her ant her actions. And we get to know the other characters a bit more. I’ll save this for the Characters sections too.
Kumoko’s narration is great!! “Naaaai waaaaa.” This is the classic phrase of her, and we know because she talks this a lot of times! Being close to her, hearing her thoughts, reading her actions, make us, readers, survive with her, fight with her, cry with her, be happy with her! Man, I can’t convey my thoughts very well, but you know when you get so close to a character that you start to fell what they fell? Yes, Kumoko is one of this characters!

• Characters

Let’s talk about characters. Characters are the most important part of a book. Albeit there are some plot-drive books, even they have to have good characters, because they are what make us want to read the book. And Kumo Desu has a wide arsenal of awesome characters! The majority of them has a great development and growth, and when I say majority, I really mean this! And the others that don’t have any of this, are lovely on their own way. Seriously, all of the characters are good and nice!
Kumoko is a really good character and protagonist! We are so entranced by her that we start to feel what she feels. There is a certain scene in vol 1, that she felt so lonely, so sad, so lost that I started to cheer for her. “She made something bad? I don’t care. Go, Kumoko! Go get what you deserve!” I thought things like this a lot of times in a single volume, and I generally don’t cheer characters like this. Like, I feel sad for them, be happy with them, but actively cheer them is unusual. Her personality is one of the things that I like about her. Really cheerful, passionate, lovely, cute, determined, focused, twisted ( hehe ) and human. Yes, she is a spider, but she is actually a human, and we can feel her sorrow, her determination in survive the dungeon, and I relly felt that.
Also, in vol 9, we get a revelation about her, and maaaaaaaaaaaaan, that was when I gave 10 to the series and fuck the world! Truly amazing and well-done!
I focused on Kumoko, but there are a lot of good characters. Sophia, Ariel, Potimas, Dustin, Ronandt, 4 little spiders, Merazophis, Wrath, Guli-Guli, Ms. Oka, Fei, Katia. All of them are good characters on their own way. If I can say which one is the better, aside from Kumoko, I would say Ariel. She is AMAZING! Truly lovely and the best character, for me! You start hating her, but then, with the volumes going by, you don’t even know but you are loving her!

• Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding. I think this is a fairly topic when talking about high fantasy. Another world, another creatures, another social ethics, another world. Kumo Desu Ga creates a wonderful world, which has his own rules, history, culture, geography and politics.
The system, which reigns the world, is the best feature for me, since it provides a leeway to the writer works on it. And the story behind it is one of the mysteries of the world.
The history of the world is one of the biggest mysteries for me. I mean, we got glimpses of it, but it is not what is supposed to be. Vol 7, I think, gave us hints on what the world is, but we don’t know yet. And it is promising to be amazing!
The secrets of the world are something that is gonna take a while to be reveled, since it is such a bigger mysterie of the novel, but I can say for sure that is going to be amazing. Vol 10 gave us hints about it too.

• Language

The language os this light novel is easy. As a brazilian, I can say for sure that this novel has a fairly easy language. The only things that I had to look on the dictionary was a few skill’s names and titles. Aside from that, even the scenery description was easy, albeit good.


• Style

The author does not have a distinctive style of writing. But this is not something bad. On the contrary, it is normal. Few author have a distinctive style that you came upon one paragraph and can tells “oh, this is x author.” Just saying for the sake of the review.

• Overall: 10/10

After saying all of this, I came to give the verdict. Should I read Kumo Desu Ga? YES. Totally. 100% YES. This novel is a fucking masterpiece, a subversion of the isekai fantasy medieval genre, or at least the closes to do this. The novel keeps you hooked on the story, makes you want to read more and more and more and never stops, and when you read the last thing you can, you enter in a depression state because you can’t read more!
My tip would be: read without expectations. I think it is for the best, but yes, read it, it is totally amazing!