A young human swordsman breaks into the palace to demand Sariphi’s return.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yu Tomofuji
Translation/Adaptation: Paul Starr
What They Say
Hoping to take vengeance for the murder of his childhood friend Sariphi, the young Ilya infiltrates the royal palace. He’s captured, and the King shows him mercy, sparing his life. When Ilya learns that Sariphi herself is still very much alive, he demands her return. Sariphi refuses, only to be kidnapped by Ilya, who intends to bring her back to human territory. The King is then confronted with a dilemma: If he truly wishes for Sariphi’s happiness, is it kinder to pursue her…or to let her be returned to her own people?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Previously, Anubis had presented Sariphi with a list of requirements in order to gain acceptance as queen. By the end of Volume 2, she accomplished the first task, and I assumed Volume 3 would usher in Task Number Two. Well…I was wrong. Instead of continuing to have Sariphi prove her worth to the skeptics, it takes a big detour by introducing Ilya, a human swordsman who’s in love with Sariphi. In fact, the entire volume is taken up by this young man’s efforts to bring Sariphi back to the human realm.
The sudden appearance of this childhood friend is somewhat jarring. Up till now, Sariphi’s never mentioned human friends of any sort and behaved as if Leonhart’s palace was the first place she experienced kindness. After she got kicked out of the human village in Volume 1, she couldn’t come up with a single person to help her. As such, Ilya feels like an afterthought.
Even if you can get over his abrupt introduction, Ilya’s hold over Sariphi’s heart isn’t strong enough to result in a real love triangle. The past that the two humans share do cause Leonhart emotional angst, but it’s equivalent to Sariphi’s self-doubt during the beast princess arc. Sariphi cares about Ilya, but she’s not attracted to him. In fact, even though Ilya’s love is patently clear to everyone else, Sariphi is too innocently dense to recognize it until he bluntly tells her halfway through the volume.
Because Sariphi and Leonhart’s bond is too strong for Ilya to create genuine romantic tension, Tomofuji-sensei gives him a tortured past to stir things up. If Leonhart is the broody restrained type, Ilya is the broody hothead. While Ilya’s personal tragedies arouse some sympathy and also shed light on human prejudices against beasts, his temper results in him roughing up Sariphi more than once, and I am not a fan of men manhandling their supposed love interests. As such, when the arc comes to a close, I’m quite happy to see Ilya go.
Extras include embedded author’s notes and the bonus manga, “The Beast Princess and the Regular King.”
In Summary
The story shifts from subjecting Sariphi to magical trials to putting Leonhart through the emotional wringer. The introduction of a human boy in love with Sariphi means Leonhart gets subjected to the same insecurities Sariphi suffered when the beast princesses showed up. Watching two guys compete over a girl usually adds excitement to a romance, but Ilya clearly never stands a chance of winning Sariphi’s affections so it falls short.
Content Grade: B-
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: October 30th, 2018
MSRP: $13.00
