In a world of spies, the sneakiest girl gets her man
Creative Staff:
Writer: Takemachi
Artist: Tomari
Translator: Nathaniel Thrasher
Editor: Anna Powers
What They Say:
Klaus reveals he is married to a member of Lamplight, but the identity of the bride remains unknown. In an effort to uncover the truth behind this strange secret, the girls review some of their recent smaller adventures to find any revelatory clues―until the investigation descends into a full-on battle royale! Get a peek into the girls’ daily lives in this collection of vignettes!
Content:
Spy Classroom takes place in a world where countries no longer fight on a grand scale; instead, small groups of highly-trained spies tussle in the shadows in a perpetual war for information and tech dominance, and no tactic is too sneaky to employ. We follow the activities of Lamplight, a team made up of girl spies who all nearly failed out of their spy schools, all working under Klaus, the world’s best spy. Bridal Royale is a short story collection featuring vignettes focusing on several of the girls during their downtime between missions…or at least, as much downtime as people who are constantly scheming against and battling each other can get.
Not having read the light novels or the manga, I tried to dive into this volume with very little information on who was who. That didn’t work: there are just too many characters introduced at once (and sometimes re-introduced, but that’s a different problem). In all fairness, this was my fault for picking up this volume ahead of the main series: sorry!
Fortunately, the anime was only a few clicks away on HI-DIVE, so I happily binge-watched the first season of the show, which just aired during the Winter 2023 season. Now knowing what was what, I went back to Bridal Royale eager and informed.
Unfortunately, while it was necessary, watching the anime kind of spoiled this collection for me. Of the five stories in this volume, the ones featuring Sybilla, Sara, and Grete are all covered in the anime. While there were some subtle changes, experiencing these stories again wasn’t terribly interesting. Monika’s story is new, and as the character who has gotten the least face time in the anime so far, it was nice to see her get her day in the sun—err, I mean, in the shadows; she’s an elite spy, after all. The last story features all the girls and is a rip-roaring good time.
There are a couple of detractions, however. The text can be clunky, which seemed like more of an issue with the writing than the translation, and many characters are introduced more than once. The big mystery of this volume is “Which of the girls is secretly married to Klaus?”, and I found the resolution of that to be underwhelming.
All that said, I’m looking forward to the next volume. I want to read more about Thea, the “seduction” expert; I imagine her story will earn that Ages 16 and Up rating. I’m also looking forward to a story about Annette, who is like Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony on some serious drugs. This series is so fantastical it makes James Bond movies look realistic by comparison, so everything is on the table. I’m not going to say that the series isn’t predictable since it uses many common anime/light novel tropes, but the way those tropes are used together works for the genre.
There’s also some potentially interesting social commentary going on here, with the whole “No More Wars” premise, but that’s probably not what most readers will be attracted to. The real draw here is the girls’ personalities, and on the whole, they deliver.
Summary:
If you like stories about spies, consider giving Bridal Royale a go. Just be aware that the best way to experience it is to start with the first few light novels of the main series and put off watching the anime for a little while.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 16 & Up
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: April 18, 2023
MSRP: $15.00 US/$19.50 CAN
